Guidance
The foremost emphasis of the Carroll County Elementary Guidance Program is on developmental and preventive counseling. This is implemented through the following five unique components which include: full school programs, classroom guidance, small group counseling, individual counseling, and parent counseling.
- Full School Counseling: These are designed to infuse the guidance program into the entire school. Frequently it is based on a theme and conducted for a specific period of time. Full school programs can cover topics such as school spirit, self-esteem, interpersonal skills, helping others, responsible behavior, and developing understanding of self and others. Full school projects cannot exist and be successful without the facilitation of the guidance counselor and the active participation of students, parents, and the entire school staff.
- Classroom Guidance: This focuses on prevention of potential problems by teaching children constructive behavioral alternatives in a large group setting. Lessons address pro-social skills, understanding feelings, peer relationships, decision making, problems solving, organizational sills, career awareness, and other pertinent issues.
- Small Group Counseling: This addresses specific needs of students who share common concerns. The guidance counselor facilitates group meetings focuses on such issues as death, low self-esteem, making friends, motivation, anger, and family problems such as coping with separation and divorce, drugs, alcohol, abuse, and suicide. These issues can also be handled on an individual basis.
- Individual Counseling: This stresses the one-to-one support by the counselor in a more confidential setting. Guidance may be provided on a crisis intervention or short-term basis which may be initiated by student, faculty, counselor, or parents.
- Parent Education: This deals with the presentation of parent classes on a variety of parenting concerns. Topics include: sibling rivalry, divorce issues, self-esteem, behavior management, responsibility, and cooperation.
- Programming: Also important to the guidance program is the implementation of effective programming activities. The counselor must develop a comprehensive program this is successfully planned, coordinated, systematized, and evaluated. Programming activities ensure maximum delivery of service to the largest number of students.
- Consulting: Consulting is an additional facet of the guidance program. The counselor engages in two types of consulting activities. First, the counselor initiates contact with parents, teachers, administrators, and professional colleagues to share pertinent information or insights about a particular students. Second, the counselor responds to inquiries or requests from parents and staff who have specific concerns about a student or students in general.
- Assessment: An additional facet involves both formal and informal activities. These activities are performed by the school counselor in order to help students, parents, and staff make decisions regarding educational planning and behavior management.
- Information Management: The final component of the counseling program entails information management. The counselor gathers, evaluates, interprets, organizes, and disseminates information to meet student, school, and community needs. Information is utilized to link the school community to the community at large.
School Wide Initiatives
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"Shakespeare for Kids"
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Team Building
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Character Education/Code of Respect
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Morning Television Show/WMUNK
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Community Service
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Multicultural Diversity
Grade Level Overview
Kindergarten, Grade One, and Grade Two
- Classroom guidance/Curriculum Integration with focus on self-esteem, feelings, helping others, uniqueness, conflict resolution-character education, and multicultural diversity.
Grade Three
- "Free the Horses" - a self-esteem adventure in unit design, featuring problem solving, character enhancement, and curriculum integration.
Grade Four
- Conflict resolution
- Acceptance of diversity
- Team building
- Character education
- Communication
- Organization and study skills
Grade Five
- Team building
- Conflict resolution
- Mediation
- Integration of social studies to guidance themes
