Counselors in the Middle

According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), students succeed when schools foster social-learning environments that facilitate healthy development and discourage high-risk behaviors.  These efforts to help students feel valued and connected to school are critical for students’ health and academic well-being, a concept that our middle school counselors embody every day in their work.  The three years of middle school fall seemingly in the “middle” of everything: growing up, growing away, and growing into the young adults yet to come.  Middle school counselors “help kids who are already developmentally in the middle of major changes to navigate some of the biggest transitions yet, ” explains Michele Chin, a Counselor at Terman.

PiE funds have significantly enhanced counseling resources in PAUSD middle schools and the counselors’ ability to help with these transitions, particularly as students leave the comfort of their families’ close involvement in elementary school.  They are developmentally primed for separating from their parents, but it is never a clean break.  “We see a great deal of progress over three years, but also regression, as kids take steps toward their independence,” explains Kerry Smith, a Counselor at Jordan.

Middle school counselors begin preparing for new students when the kids are still in fifth grade.  They meet with fifth-grade teachers from each feeder school, and review student information, before assigning them to an appropriate core classroom. And with the addition of PiE dollars, all three middle schools have reintroduced looping: the practice of assigning one counselor per grade who will progress with that class for the full three-year term.  “Looping is the best thing that we can do for our kids,” enthuses Ryan Ealy, a Counselor at JLS.  “We get to know the class and their families, and we are naturally very invested in their success at school over the course of their time here.”

Contributing to student success in the middle school years is the recent PAUSD focus on implementing the Search Institute’s “41 Developmental Assets”, a framework of positive values and experiences that describe the ideal conditions in which youth can thrive.  These assets, according to Terman Counselor Michele Chin, dovetail seamlessly with the school’s mission, with its emphasis on “respecting diversity in a positive school climate.”  Chin’s colleague, Bhavna Narula adds, “We frequently use Developmental Assets terminology in our conversations with students and teachers. It is truly part of the Terman culture.”  All three campuses also promote a “growth-mindset,” coined by Stanford Professor of Psychology Dr. Carol Dweck, where setbacks are seen as opportunities for growth, not attributable to fixed traits.

Counselors meet on a weekly basis with teachers, to provide support and receive information about any student who may need early intervention or additional services.  They are also active participants in student life on campus.  All three JLS counselors supervise a student-run club, Be The Change, or BeTCha, which trains middle school students to become leaders in the community.  As one 7th grade student active in the program explains, “It feels like I have some say in the running of the school.”  She is especially excited about the Hopes and Dreams banner, which will line a corridor and invite comment from fellow dreamers. At Terman, TASK (Terman Acts of Social Kindness) gives some fifty eighth-graders at the school the chance to help plan events and activities that further the school’s mission. Every Wednesday, a TASK member speaks over the school’s loudspeaker about a core value that contributes to good character.

Parents have seen a difference since PiE dollars enabled counselors to spend more time with their students.  “Counselors are a wonderful resource for my family,” said one grateful Jordan parent.  “I am watching my second child go through middle school now, and I rely on his counselor as I did with my first child, to help usher him through the rites of passage away from home: like losing his first election…then his second, and third!  They are truly an extension of a caring home environment.”