The primary responsibility of a school counselor is to ensure resources of the Guidance Program are directed to assisting students with their educational, social, personal and career development. The school counselor is primarily directed to fulfilling the roles of guidance, counseling, consultation, coordinator, assessment and professionalism through the four program components which are: Guidance Curriculum, Responsive Services, Individual Planning, and System Support.

In addition to a school counselor's responsibility the following should be completed:

• Conduct needs assessments to assist targeted areas of need on their campus.
• Create Guidance plans that cover the four components and incorporate the seven student skill goals.
• Turn in Guidance plans at the beginning of the year and update them as needed.
• Evaluate your plans at the end of the year to ensure all student needs are met.
• Participate in planning, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive developmental guidance program to serve all students and to address the special needs of students
• To include students who are at- risk of dropping out of school, becoming substance abusers, participating in gang activity, or committing suicide
• Consult with a student's parent or guardian and make referrals as appropriate in consultation with the student's parent or guardian;
• Consult with school staff, parents, and other community members to help them increase the effectiveness of student education and promote student success
• Coordinate people and resources in the school, home, and community
• With the assistance of school staff, interpret standardized test results and other assessment data that help a student make educational and career plans; and assist with the implementation of assessments.
• Deliver classroom guidance activities or serve as a consultant to teachers conducting lessons based on the school's guidance curriculum.
• Ensure all higher education goals are met to include counseling regarding higher education

The At-Risk Counselor will provide campus support through the supervisory services necessary for planning, development, implementation and evaluation of an effective at-risk program in order to work with students, K-12, at-risk of dropping out of school.

• Identify, review and maintain accurate student information for state criteria of students at-risk of dropping out of school (Criteria #1 – 13).
• Create academic, behavioral and social goals to serve, support and address needs of students necessary to help them become academically successful.
• Develop and maintain a cumulative record and track and monitors students served. Communicate with parent-guardian regarding the progress and concerns.
• Creates an at-risk committee to evaluate low-performing students' academic strengths and weaknesses, identifies and monitors the implementation of interventions.
• Leads, develops and implements an at-risk parent program that will provide parents with the information, skills and resources necessary to positively support their children's learning and development.
• Collaborates with administrators, counselors and social workers and provide training to support the implementation of social and emotional programs students.
• Develops unique concepts and character education plans to encourage and motivate students.
• Promotes learning through designing innovative/tailored/learning opportunities and resources for at-risk students
• Serves as the campus McKinney-Vento liaison
• Provides support and collaboration to outside agencies and district staff regarding services for students.

School social workers are the link between school, families and community in order to provide and coordinate services to students, families and staff to assist and help improve academic and social emotional success.  The school social worker collaborates with school administration and staff in forming mental health intervention, crisis management, and support services. As part of the interdisciplinary team to help students succeed, school social workers facilitate community involvement in the schools while advocating for student success.

• Assess factors in the home, school and/or community that are impacting a student’s education success and assisting in reducing those barriers to learning by providing social work services, crisis intervention, developing intervention strategies to increase academic success, facilitating conflict resolution and developing anger management skills, and helping students develop social emotional skills.
• Complete  social  work  assessment  in  order  to  determine problems/barriers affecting the student’s education.
• Support parents to understand their student’s developmental and educational needs to effectively advocate for their student in school, and to understand available education services.
• Assist parents to support their student’s school adjustment and help alleviate family stress for the student to function more effectively in a school.
• Consultations with teachers and other staff in understanding a student’s cultural and familial factors and help staff to meet the desired educational outcomes of diverse learners.
• Assist teachers by providing or directing educators to appropriate resources and assisting teachers with improving positive student behaviors in a classroom setting.
• Assess students with mental health concerns and provide/coordinate systems of care and wrap-around services.
• Develop programs and interventions for at-risk students as well as in-service training programs.
• Coordinate community/agency resources and school collaborations in order to meet student needs and help district receive support from social and mental health agencies.
• Collaborate with counselor in determining services for students.
• Provide individual/group counseling and case management services.

College and Career Readiness Counselors will work directly with all students to provide connections and services that encourage exploration of college and career goals, as well as supports and address the student’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive needs, so that students meet graduation requirements and are prepared for college or a career pathway.

• Works closely with the student and family to ensure the student has opportunities to attend a college and/or career field of choice. .
• Uses the  student’s  personal  graduation  plan  to guide  students through successful goal setting plans to help them meet their individual goals in college and career planning
• Provides individualized support and guidance in exploring careers and methods of funding endeavors that are college and career focused.
• Works with and supports the advisory teacher in providing appropriate methods of supporting, guiding and monitoring post- secondary exploration.
• Collects and provides student data and progress monitoring information for the assigned students for review and discussion – college and career acceptance rates, scholarship amounts, post- secondary data.
• Provides workshops on career and college information to parents
• Assists with college and career development events(College and Career Fair, guest speakers)
• Provides student individual or small group college and career coaching services
• Host parent/student events: FAFSA, scholarship process, etc.
• Plans and coordinates field trips to career and post – secondary sites.
• Monitors student progress throughout the year with a final report of caseload to indicate graduates, promotions, college, and career information.

The McKinney-Vento Program supports and helps students and families that are in homeless or transitional living situations maintain educational stability, remain in school, and graduate with the skills necessary to pursue college, career programs or obtain employment. Our program is committed to ensure all JISD children and youth in homeless situations have the opportunity to attend, enroll, and succeed in school. Students identified as homeless as outlined in the guidelines of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act have the right to:

• Go to school, no matter where they live or how long they have lived there.
• Right to attend the school of origin or the local school.
• Be enrolled immediately, even if lacking paper work normally required.
• Receive transportation to and from their school origin.
• Receive preschool services, free school meals, service for English language learner, special education, Title 1 services, vocational/technical education, gifted and talented, and before and after school program because they are homeless.
• Get information and referrals from local liaison, including information about all available educational programs; information for parents on how they can support their children’s education; and referrals to health, mental health, dental, and other services.
• Have opportunity to meet the same high academic achievement standards as all children.
• Our goal is to identify McKinney Vento students upon registration and provide services immediately.

The Foster Care program supports and helps students and foster parents maintain educational stability, remain in school, and graduate with the skills necessary to pursue college, career programs or obtain employment. Our program is committed to ensure all children and youth have the opportunity to attend, enroll, and succeed in school.

• Students right to remain at school of origin if in a child’s best interest
• Students right to receive transportation to school of attendance.
• Students right to immediate enrollment even without required documentation and paperwork.
• Coordination of enrollment (including procedures for awarding credit), district training, and collaboration with outside agencies.
• Students right to attend Pre-K program if in foster care or have ever been in foster care in Texas.
• Students right to receive college tuition and fees waived at Texas state-supported colleges or universities, public medical schools, public dental schools, public junior college, and public technical institutes.

SAPP supports and helps teen parents stay in school, return to school, and graduate with skills necessary to pursue college or career programs and employment.

• Provides services to pregnant and parenting teens to include case management, academic support, individual and group counseling.
• Assist teen parents with learn parenting skills that will enhance the development of their child (ren).
• Compensatory Education Home Instruction (CEHI) Services are provided to female students during the postpartum period and prenatally when medically necessary
• Referrals and supportive social services to district and community agencies are provided as needed.
• Reduce the occurrence of truancy and drop outs due to teen pregnancy or parenting.

The Military Family and College Readiness Specialist provides services to military connected students and families.

• Provides professional development and awareness to district staff on the laws of the Military Interstate Compact and the Military Child Education Coalition.
• Responsible for the collection, documentation and reporting of the Judson ISD Federal Impact Aid Program to the Department of Education and the military preparedness component of the CCMR accountability for the Texas Education Agency.
• Facilitates peer support group services for transitional, academic and behavior for 5th, 8th and “Rising 9th Graders.”
• Academic and post-secondary planning at all high school campuses, college planning boot camps for incoming 9th graders, promotes student learning opportunities and family involvement activities.
• Individual consultation/conferences with military students & parents
• Provides transition support to families experiencing Permanent Change of Assignment (PCS).or a deployment on all campuses.
• Ensure no disruption of school enrollment of in-processing and out-processing students in transition, provides referrals for families in crisis, to Joint Based San Antonio (JBSA) Family Advocacy Program, and Assist with the JISD initial referral process of students and families with disabilities to the Joint Based San Antonio Exceptional Member Program (EFMP) of Active Duty Parents

Communities in Schools will serve as a resource to assist and support school counselors and social workers as needed.

• Provide community resources to identified schools to empower success for all students by removing barriers for students at risk of dropping out, keeping kids in schools and on the path to graduation.
• The majority of the assistance will be provided to students who participate in CIS and are part of the case manager’s case load.
• They will also assist with attendance initiatives and help reduce dropouts and increase graduation rate.