GUIDENCE+COUNSELOR+INTERVIEW

Absolutely. We meet with kids regarding personal/emotional issues on a daily basis.
 * 1. Do students ever come to guidance counselors for emotional support in addition to academic advice?**

Trouble in classes, with peers or teachers, frustration at home, boyfriends and girlfriends.
 * 2. What kinds of issues do students usually come to you with?**

We meet with students individually, we run small group counseling, we facilitate conversation between parents, teachers, other students, we refer them to outside resources like counseling or other support systems. We follow up on a regular basis.
 * 3. What does the guidance office actively do to ensure the happiness of the students?**

After a recent survey of the students, we found that the students felt that [the guidance office] was a strong area in our department.
 * 4. Are students satisfied with the role the guidance office plays in their school career?**

Yes, as a result of our recent survey we found that students felt comfortable making recommendations and that we are now considering them.
 * 5. Do the care enough to suggest changes?**

I am sure that not all students are aware of all the services that we offer. This is an area we continue to work on. If we do we hope more students will benefit from our programs.
 * 6. Are students aware of all the services the guidance office has to offer? Could we benefit more from programs we're ignorant of, things that could improve our school lives?**

New counselors have had different training in order to more effectively pinpoint student's needs. A new study has started to gather demographic data about students. It will be a longitudinal study in which the data will only be albe to be collected after a period of a few years. New ideas have been circulating throughout the office about manditory interventions for students with poor attendance records or behavioral issues. They will be used as a punishment instead of the standard fine. The interventions will act as either mass or individual counseling sessions, hopefully improving the student's overall wellbeing. The recent surveys were used as a public relation tool to get the student's perspective on the guidence office and promote their already in place programs.
 * Additional notes:**