The purpose of a school counseling program is to promote and enhance the learning process, improve attendance, behavior and academic achievement. RSM's school counseling program supports student development in three broad areas: Academic development, Career development, and Personal/Social development. School counselors support the educational mission of RSM by assisting students to become effective learners to achieve the high academic expectations established by national, state, and local standards. As a district, we are in the process of aligning our school counseling program with the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) model. There are established school counseling standards, just as there are standards for all curricular core areas, which direct our intentional counseling activities.

• Reaches every student
• Is preventative in nature
• Is comprehensive in design
• Monitors student progress
• Uses data to drive intentional counseling activities
• Seeks improvement each year based on results data
• Is implemented by a credentialed school counselor in collaboration with other educators, families, and the community
• Uses the ASCA national standards as the foundation for guidance curriculum

Counseling Programs/Activities

Our counseling activities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Grade level counseling presentations. These presentations are conducted in September to review G.P.A. calculation, Intermediate academic expectations, High School graduation requirements, college admission requirements, post-High School options, and school success strategies. 
• Identify and work extensively with students who are struggling to met SVUSD's academic expectations - Use data to evaluate for placement in various intervention programs.
• Monitor all students for SVUSD academic expectations 
• Facilitate parent teacher conferences
• Facilitate Student Study Team Meetings (SST)
• Facilitate and coordinate 504 Plan meetings
• Coordinate Peer Tutor Program
• Conflict Resolution
• Crisis Counseling
• Group Counseling
• Brief Intervention Counseling
• Mandated reporting - required by law to report suspected child abuse to Child Protective Services
• Assistance League Referrals - Teen Spree
• Attend monthly meetings - leadership, district counseling meetings, staff meetings, professional growth and development, including Trish Hatch ASCA national model training
• Collaborate with staff, administrators and parents to ensure the success of all students. Support Professional Learning Community (PLC) philosophy
• Signs of Suicide Presentation
• Work Permits
• Parent Educational Presentations