Grant Elementary School's Mission

I teach first grade at Lowe Elementary School; my class is made up of twenty-four very diverse seven year-olds; they come from all over the city of Louisville, from a variety of socio-economic situations. Each student brings a unique personality to our classroom community, and they all work hard to become “smarter and smarter” and to “go to college”. Thirteen students are boys and eleven are girls. Of these twenty-four students, three of them are English Language Learners. Additionally, eight students receive tier two interventions and two receive tier three interventions in reading. In math, five students are tier two and four are tier three. I also teach one student who receives ECE services for a developmental delay. Within my class there is a wide achievement gap.

In order to provide a comprehensive school counseling program (CSCP) that meets the unique needs of Ocean Elementary School, the school counselor must understand the needs of the school. Therefore, conducting a needs assessment can help a new school counselor to evaluate the CSCP in order to plan, implement, and improve the effectiveness of the program (Astramovich & Coker, 2007). Additionally, utilizing the accountability bridge counseling program evaluation model, a continuous evaluation cycle helps to improve services based on stakeholder feedback, the needs of those served, and outcomes (Astramovich & Coker, 2007). Within this model, a needs assessment must be conducted in order to plan and develop services that address the needs of the students (Astramovich & Coker, 2007). Thus, by utilizing assessment questionnaires, the school counselor can gather information from the diverse population of students, parents, teachers, and administrator to determine how the CSCP can best support all students’ needs (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2012). Additionally, the use of other data, such as observations, standardized test scores, absentee rates, and student referrals can support the feedback received on the questionnaires. Based on the data, the school counselor can evaluate the school counseling program in order to improve the program in the domain areas of academic, social/emotional, and career development. Thus, within the accountability bridge counseling

My pursuit of becoming a School Counselor led me to apply to the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland, College Park. I am a former student at University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. After graduating and teaching for two years in Prince George’s County Public Schools, I discovered my true passion lies not only in the classroom and students’ academics, but playing a pivotal role in the growth of their career, social, and personal development. Although I am no longer teaching full-time at the moment, my interaction with students from diverse backgrounds left an indelible responsibility to continue making a difference in our students. The objectives and mission of the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland can best help my goal of becoming an effective counselor and leader who is an agent of change to students and service the mental and emotional well-being of the younger generation.

Our current school, Crestview Elementary, is located in Gainesville, Florida. Gainesville is a mid-size suburban community situated in Alachua County, which found in the northern part of Florida. Crestview Elementary has been a part of the Gainesville community for 60 years and served approximately 340 students in grades one through five. The school in located near serval low-income housing apartments, as well as an established housing subdivision. Ninety-seven percent of the student population is served by our free and reduce lunch program. The ethnic makeup of our school includes 90 percent African-Americans, 6 percent Hispanics, and 4 percent whites. Historically our school’s grade has fluctuated between a ‘C’ and ‘D’, with

According to the Afterschool Alliance, research reveals that after school programs should employ resources that implement strategies and activities designed to enhance academic achievement, actively engage participants, and expose participants to enrichment activities. Therefore, the YouthWorks ML2 Program provides strategies, resources, and activities via coordination, physical resources (community center, materials, supplies, etc.), technological resources (computers, internet, printers, etc.), mentoring services, partnerships, pre-and posttest assessments (SC PASS, SC-Alt., county exams, etc.), tutoring, summer camps (ML2 Computer Exploration, ML2 Coding & Game Design, ML2 Robotics, etc.),

The East Irondequoit Central School District is a small district with around three thousand students. Eastridge has around one thousand of those students in its nine through twelve building. Out of these students, fifty-one percent identify as being in poverty where, as New York defines it, “the point at which a family would have to spend more than a third of its income on food.” Because of this, many students are given free or reduced lunch. Many students also bring many household problems to school. Many students are traveling from house to house and explaining that their parents are fighting again or in jail. The spirit of these children, however, are extremely positive and they take this issues with great optimism.

Mrs. Alice McLoughlin-Doro is a Special Education teacher at Downers Grove South High School in Downers Grove, Illinois. The community is known for its excellent school districts. According to the 2010 census there were 47, 833 people living in Downers Grove with approximately 19,000 households and 13,000 families. The racial makeup of the school was reported to be 88% White, 3% African American, 5% Hispanic, 0.2% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 5% Asian, and 1.6% from two or more races. About 1.7% of families were below the poverty line. The school district report card reports the following racial/ethnic background for the school: 68.1% White, 10.3 African American, 11% Hispanic, 7.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, and 3.2% two or more races. The elementary schools, middle schools, and high school all perform very well academically receiving above state average scores on standardized tests. She has been working there for 10 years and is currently a Case Manager of 17 students, all with an IEP, all with different needs and goals in the LD department. She co-teaches two general education classes in English intervention, all freshman. Although she is a Special Education teacher, she works with all the students. She also teaches a READ 180, Tier 3 reading and english intervention. This is where we will be focusing on for this

School counselors should be able to distinguish the differences between individual and group dissimilarities and strive to value all students and groups equally. They should advocate for the equitable treatment of all students in their school and in their community. If a school counselor wants to be successful in ensuring an equity-based program, they should consider the role of culture, ethnicity, race, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and other factors (Curry & Milson, 2013). Any student regardless of background can face developmental and emotional issues that can be detrimental to their success. Some students slip through the cracks because they feel that there are no adults available whom they can trust. They

The mission of Robert A. Cross Middle Magnet School is to educate students in a safe and active learning environment where all students will become responsible, achieving citizens. The faculty and staff of Robert A. Cross believe that educating students for responsible citizenship is necessary for preserving democracy. We believe that in a democratic society, a person must value his country and what it stands for, understand what it means to be a responsible citizen, and have the fundamental skills necessary to participate in the society. We also believe that all students are capable of learning what is needed to be productive United States citizens. We recognize that students have individual differences and unique needs which must be

Miss Kane’s first grade class at Lutie Lewis Coates Elementary School (also known as Coates Elementary) has twenty students and seventeen of them are considered English Language Learners (ELL) (E. Kane, Personal Communication, October 4, 2016). This is very frustrating for both Miss. Kane and her students because it is very difficult to communicate with many of her ELLs. Out of Miss Kane’s twenty students eight students are Hispanic, five Indian, five Black, and three White. Miss Kane’s class is very diverse and this allows students to feel more accepted because not all students are similar. Coates Elementary as a whole is very diverse: Asian 28.86%, Black 18.26%, Hispanic 37.32%, and White 12.08% (Fairfax County Public Schools, 2015). Miss Kane’s classroom reflects similar diversity as Coates Elementary does. Both Miss. Kane and the Coates staff really show their appreciation for diversity and attempt to treat all children equally giving all students equal opportunity. Coates Elementary is a Title I school; about fifty percent of students receive free and reduced lunch (Fairfax County Public Schools, 2015). This school was placed in the center of poverty and many of these students who participate in the free and reduced lunch program are English Language Learners.

A majority of the students in Middle Tennessee Public Schools come from a low- income family household. The school in which I work, Clearview Middle School is not only low- income, but is also a “priority” school. Priority schools are in the bottom five percent in being in the category of lowest- performing in the school district. The population of students at Clearview Middle School are majority African- American, but the cultures among the school are rich and diverse. Many students at Clearview Middle School have high potential of achieving great academic success, but fall short due consistent classroom disruptions throughout the day.

Comprehensive developmental school counseling programs provide education, prevention and intervention services, which are integrated into all aspects of children’s lives. Early identification and intervention of children’s’ academic and social/emotional needs is

Currently, I am student teaching at Alfred E. Zampella PS #27 School in the district of Jersey City. The school is located in a busy city, next to John F. Kennedy St. which is especially busy in the morning and during rush hour. This results in several late students on a day to day basis. On the other hand, this school is also highly accessible and as a little over a thousand students. The school has grade levels from kindergarten to 8th grade, and has a mix of general, special, and inclusion education classrooms. Typically, families that enroll their students into this school are of lower-middle socio-economic class, and tend to be majority Hispanic, Indian, and African American, with few Caucasians and Asians. This school provides a variety of special programs for their ESL students and special need students. Students may be offered speech language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, ESL programs, reading recovery, and counseling.

My recommendation is to focus on the parents of the low-income teenagers who attend Glenville High School, which is where this free program will be held. This intervention will consist of 8 sessions led by trained professionals who have experience with helping caregivers improve their parenting skills and teaching parents how to communicate with and help their adolescent children.

Lastly, the districts community outreach programs for the amount of ELs in the district is outstanding, with one-on-one meetings and communication, the families are constantly kept in the loop and current with their student’s learning. Along with that, the school also provides summer camp for ELs and additional supports. There are no improvements that I would suggest to this portion of the program at this time.