To provide all students with a comprehensive school counseling program, which gives them an opportunity to gain an understanding of self and others, and to participate in educational and career planning so that they may reach their potential as productive human beings and function successfully as 21st century learners.

The Regional School District No. 10 Comprehensive School Counseling Program is designed to address the developmental needs of all students. It is in alignment with the goals established by the Connecticut’s Common Core of Learning, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Standards for School Counseling Programs. Employing a planned and systematic program, each student will develop his/her individual potential in the areas of academic development, personal/social development, and career development. The counseling program is an integral part of the total educational program through which students prepare for meaningful and rewarding lives as productive members of a changing society. In so doing, counselors will function in a number of different capacities, including: counselor, consultant, teacher, manager, and role model. Counselors work as a team in conjunction with teachers, administrators, parents, and community members to assist students in the achievement of these goals.

COUNSELOR : Counselors help people to learn to understand themselves better. They help them solve their problems and make important choices about their lives. Sometimes, counselors give advice, but their most important job is to listen carefully to the people who talk to them. School counselors help students learn study skills. They help them learn about careers and how to get along with their friends, teachers, or families.

-From the Children's Dictionary of Occupations

• PAW Time Advisory fosters student cultural, academic, career, and personal/social growth and development.

• Students and advisors meet in small groups to engage in meaningful activities that are built upon mutual respect and interpersonal connections.

• The PAW Time plays an important role in supporting the Student Success Plan legislation and aligns with Har-Bur Middle School’s School Climate goal.

Why Middle School Counselors?

Today's young people are living in an exciting time, with an increasingly diverse society, new technologies, and expanding opportunities. To help ensure that they are prepared to become the next generation of parents, workers, leaders, and citizens, every student needs support, guidance, and opportunities during adolescence, a time of rapid growth and change. Early adolescents face unique and diverse challenges, both personally and developmentally, that have an impact on academic achievement.

Middle School Students' Developmental Needs

Middle school is an exciting, yet challenging time for students, their parents and teachers. During this passage from childhood to adolescence, middle school students are characterized by a need to explore a variety of interests, connecting their learning in the classroom to its practical application in life and work; high levels of activity coupled with frequent fatigue due to rapid growth; a search for their own unique identity as they begin turning more frequently to peers rather than parents for ideas and affirmation; extreme sensitivity to the comments from others; and heavy reliance on friends to provide comfort, understanding and approval.

Meeting the Challenge

Middle school counselors are professional educators with a mental health perspective who understand and respond to the challenges presented by today's diverse student population. Middle school counselors do not work in isolation; rather they are integral to the total educational program. They provide proactive leadership that engages all stakeholders in the delivery of programs and services to help students achieve success in school. Professional school counselors align with the school's mission to support the academic achievement of all students as they prepare for the ever-changing world of the 21st century. This mission is accomplished through the design, development, implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive, developmental and systematic school counseling program. The ASCA National Standards in the academic, National Model: A Framework For School Counseling Programs, with it's data driven and results-based focus serves as a guide for today's school counselor who is uniquely trained to implement this program.

Courtesy of ASCA website:
http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=231