WHS School Counseling Advisory Committee

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WHS School Counseling Advisory Committee

Purpose  

The Advisory Committee acts as a task group to support the work of the Guidance & Counseling Department and as an additional communication channel between the schools’ constituents and the department. Its purpose is to:

  • Provide feedback and input regarding the department’s goals and programs
  • Engage with the public to act as a liaison with the school counseling program
  • Communicate concerns of the school community to the department and, in turn, provide a sounding board to hear the perspectives of the school counseling staff
  • Work through various subcommittees on topics that support the school counseling program and services to benefit the students
  • Review data that informs the work of the department

Profile of the Committee

The School Counseling Advisory Committee is comprised of the following representatives:

  • The Head of Guidance and one high school counselor
  • Parents/guardians of WHS students representing each of the four high school grades
  • A parent/guardian representing METCO (may be one of the grade level representatives)
  • A parent/guardian representing students in Special Education (may be one of the grade level representatives)
  • Four students, each representing one of the four high school grades (one to be a student in the METCO program)
  • Two teachers, one representing general education and one special education
  • METCO liaison for the high school

Membership, Commitment and Focus Areas

Parent/guardian, student, and teacher representatives each serve a two-year term (after the initial year of the committee in which some will serve one-year terms). The committee meets at the high school quarterly in September, December, March and June. Additional time commitments are dependent on subcommittee involvement, but may also include evening programming sponsored by the Guidance & Counseling Department. The Head of Guidance will serve as co-chair with two parents (one from each “term”).

Each spring, an email notification is sent to parents/guardians with students in grades 8-11 detailing the openings for the following year. Interested parents/guardians submit a brief application of interest which is reviewed by the School Counseling Advisory Committee’s leadership team. The final selection is based predominantly on maintaining a balance of student profiles represented by the committee, including demographics, grade levels, academics, and extracurricular activities.

Topics discussed at the School Counseling Advisory Committee meetings might include departmental communications, events and programming, new student orientation and transition, college/career planning resources, and support for course selection. Other topics may arise, either suggested by committee members, parents/guardians or students. Confidential and/or sensitive issues and those related to individual students are not discussed, but rather brought to the attention of the appropriate school personnel.