Guidance and Counseling Services
Our guidance services reflect the commitment of this department to meet all students’ needs. The Guidance Office’s primary goal is to helping students gain the maximum benefit from their educational experiences while meeting their academic and personal needs.
The Guidance Office offers individual and group counseling for students from the first to the twelfth grades upon teachers’ referrals. We study each case individually - especially those of students with low academic achievement - and coordinate meetings with parents and teachers to come up with various alternative methods to help students improve. We also coordinate a tutoring program to help these students and refer them to specialists that help students dealing with learning disabilities, emotional disturbances or other issues that affect the students' performance in school. In addition, the counselor monitors students’ academic records and performance from first to twelfth grade and schedules meetings with the parents of students at risk of failing. This process takes place at the end of the first semester of school (the halfway mark of the school year) and is followed up closely during the second semester of the school year.
Through the guidance office, elementary, middle school, high school teachers and the counselor coordinate a character education program that seeks to integrate moral value throughout the school's entire curriculum.
The largest part of the counselor’s role is devoted to college counseling for high school students. College counseling begins in the ninth grade as students receive transition guidance and some training and orientation to be able to take the PSAT. As freshmen and sophomores, students are introduced to the beginning of college life, get to know what the PSAT is, take the exam and interpret the results with the counselor. In the eleventh grade, the counselor guides the students to start their college search, learning about colleges but also thinking about financial needs. Students take the PSAT in October to qualify for scholarships. During the spring semester, they plan their testing schedule and prepare for the SAT, ACT, and TOEFL. As they start the twelfth grade, we have an individual meeting with each student and his/her parents to complete applications and get financial aid information. After that, students and counselor fill, revise, complete, and send out college applications. The counselor supervises and guides in every case the college search, application process and sends all official documents to different colleges and universities. Other activities include writing letters of recommendations, school reports, calculating grades for transcripts, mid-year reports, and updating the school profile that is enclosed with every transcript.
Finally, the Guidance Office coordinates admissions. Entrance exams are administered to all applicants. The entire first grade class is selected in May, and we process applications for grades 2-12 according to space availability.
- Parental communication and consultation
- Referrals for outside services (all)
- Access to Internet career/college search materials
- Liaison to college and financial aid representatives
- Career and interest exploration
Important Links
Upcoming Events
April 15- 17 -Mazapan MUN
April 19th - Holiday (Day of the Americas)
April 22nd - Progress Reports go home
April 23rd - Progress Reports return signed