Website Live Oak School
The Middle School Counselor strengthens the capacity of the school to promote a healthy and inclusive school climate. This role facilitates ongoing communication among parents and guardians, students and staff to ensure that support services and programs are integrated into the school community setting. The Middle School Counselor remains current on trends in mental health and wellness services, including the latest educational research findings, and brings successful practices to the school that promote wellness and services for students and staff.
Our ideal candidate desires to:
● Shape a just and inclusive school that supports and upholds the well-being of middle school students.
● Act with intentionality to build and support trusting relationships with students, colleagues, and families.
● Communicate effectively across multiple domains in order to deepen the school community’s understanding of best practices in social emotional development.
● Pursue their own professional growth as a member of an engaged learning community.
Key responsibilities:
● Act as a proactive and responsive resource for students, families, faculty on issues that arise involving social-emotional wellness in the middle school community.
● Support middle school advisory programs through planning, curriculum enrichment and advisor development training.
● Serve as a resource for school, faculty, staff and parents when trauma or emergency events impact the Live Oak community.
● Collaborate with faculty and teachers to identify students in need of outside mental health services and make those referrals.
● Coordinate the overall program planning related to Puberty Education, Adolescent Health and Resilience Education.
Qualifications:
● Minimum of Master level education in counseling psychology, social work or school counseling.
● May be licensed in the state of California or counseling intern with appropriate supervision.
● Counseling experience in a school setting, preferably Middle School.
The Middle School Counselor position is 100% time and reports to the Middle School Head. The Middle School Counselor works collaboratively with the Middle School Head, the Learning Services team, the Lower School Counselor, the Lower School Head and the Middle School faculty. The Middle School Counselor serves the student body of Live Oak School’s 5th-8th grade community.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
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● Act as a proactive and responsive resource for students, families, faculty on issues that arise involving social-emotional wellness in the middle school community.
○ Meet with students 1:1, in small groups, and parents on a short-term basis to determine/assess appropriate therapeutic support. In this work, supporting student coping strategies, resilience, and social-emotional skill development.
○ Serve as case manager or team member for students who need additional therapeutic, behavioral, and/or social-emotional support
○ Observe students in classrooms and at recess and work with teachers to develop support strategies to increase success in these social and academic settings.
○ Serve as a resource and offer leadership for faculty in developing middle school social emotional curriculum.
● Support middle school advisory programs through planning, curriculum enrichment and advisor development training. Organize and document Advisory curriculum/material to be distributed to advisors and grade level deans.
○ Support and contribute to middle school assembly topics and presentations throughout the year.
○ Engage in development and maintenance of SEL scope and sequence.
○ Provide expertise on identity development and conflict resolution in a multicultural community.
○ In conjunction with the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the Middle School Head, support awareness and sensitivity to aspects of diversity, specifically the “Big 8” aspects of identity (race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, ability, socio economic.)
● Coordinates the overall program planning related to Puberty Education, Adolescent Health and Resilience Education. This is done with outside educators, however the Middle School Counselor will meet with these educators to review current student community climate and areas of need. They will also communicate with the parent and guardian community offering resources and coordinating an informational presentation with our consultant educators.
● Serve as a resource for school, faculty, staff and parents when trauma or emergency events impact the Live Oak community.
● Collaborate with faculty and teachers to identify students in need of outside mental health services and make those referrals.
○ Partner and communicate with outside mental health agencies, specialists and therapy providers to ensure partnership and maintain individual support plans for students. Collaborate with mental health professionals to best meet the needs of individual students.
○ Maintain an up to date referral database of mental health service providers and act as liaison between school and outside professional support.
● Grow Parent Education resources and determine community needs on a yearly basis. Present and/or coordinate faculty and parent education events focused on social-emotional development.
● Participate in schoolwide and middle school division meetings and professional development.
To apply for this job please visit recruiting.paylocity.com.
