The purpose of a school counseling program is to promote and enhance the learning process, improve attendance, behavior and academic achievement. Serrano'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 Serrano 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 guidance 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 counseling curriculum

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

• Grade level planning guide presentations. These PowerPoint presentations are conducted in September/October to review Intermediate promotion requirements, High School graduation requirements, college admission requirements, post-High School options, and school success strategies. Educational Planning Guides are available.
  • Serrano 7th Grade Welcome to Intermediate School Presentation (August - September)
  • Serrano 8th Grade College & Career Exploration Presentation (August - September)
  • Serrano 8th Grade Planning For High School and Beyond Presentation (March)
• Identify and work extensively with At-Risk Students - Use data to evaluate for placement in various intervention programs.
• Collaborate with 6th, 7th, 8th grade teachers - to identify At-Risk students for appropriate placement and intervention. Participate in incoming 7th grade parent orientation.
• Monitor and track 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
• Work with designated student populations:
  • Special Education - collaborate with case carrier
  • English Learners (EL) collaborate with site EL coordinator
  • Honors students - assist with honors placement
• Assist with 8th grade end of year activities and promotion
• 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 (Parent University)