Certified School Counselor

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Design and implement a data-driven, comprehensive school counseling program for all students to address barriers to student learning.
• Spend a minimum of 80 percent of time providing direct and indirect services and 20 percent in program planning and school support activities.
• Direct services include, but are not limited to, school counseling core curriculum, individual counseling and student planning, classroom lessons, small group counseling, and preventative and responsive services.
• Indirect services on behalf of students include, but not limited to, referrals for additional assistance and consultation/collaboration with parents, teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders to create a learning environment promoting educational equity, access, and success for every student.
• Deliver programs that promote students’ development of essential mindsets and behavior standards including, but not limited to, learning skills, social skills, self-management skills, and college/career readiness skills.
• Review and disaggregate student achievement, attendance, and behavior data to identify and implement interventions with current knowledge of grade level promotion and retention criteria (HIGH SCHOOL - graduation requirements).
• Use school data to identify and assist individual students who do not perform at grade level and do not have opportunities and resources to be successful in school.
• Create yearly, data-driven goals that advance student outcomes in areas of academic, social/emotional, and college/career development.
• Use the skills of leadership, advocacy and collaboration to create systemic change to improve the academic, social/ emotional, and post-graduate success of all students.
• Credits checks with students and monitors at-risk students to ensure on-time graduation.
• Act as a system change agent in collaboration with the school leadership team to ensure a safe, supportive, and respectful school climate that promotes the social/emotional and academic development and success of all students.
• Foster family and community partnerships to support the social/emotional, academic and career development of all students.
• Infuse cultural competence, ethical and professional competencies in planning, organizing, implementing and evaluating the comprehensive school counseling program.
• Provide preventative education and skill building along with counseling for students during times of transition, separation, heightened stress and critical change.
• Use appropriate responses and a variety of intervention strategies to meet the needs of the individual, group or school community before, during and after crisis response.
• Support the continuum of mental health services, including prevention and tiered intervention strategies, and collaborate with both school-based and community mental health providers to enhance student success.
• Develop and communicate a school counseling mission statement that is specific, concise, clear and comprehensive, describing a school counseling program’s purpose and vision of the program’s benefits for every student in alignment with the school, district and state missions.
• Use student data to demonstrate a need for systemic change in areas such as course enrollment patterns; equity and access; and achievement, opportunity and/or information gaps.
• Advocate for student equity and access to a 21st century education that fosters college and career readiness and promotes post-secondary success.
• Analyze and report outcomes of the school counseling program and goals, which are presented in the context of the overall school and district performance.
• Utilize technology effectively and efficiently to plan, organize, implement and evaluate the comprehensive school counseling program.
• Use legal and ethical decision-making based on standards and principles of the school counseling profession and educational systems, including district and building policies.
• Collaborate with school staff in the analysis of student performance data, rigorous goal setting, and development of effective action plans for improving academic, social/emotional outcomes for all students.

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in School Counseling
• Hold a valid Florida Educator Certificate in School Counseling (PK – 12)

Required Skills

• Demonstrates the ability to design, implement, analyze, and document outcomes of a comprehensive school counseling program based on national and state standards.
• Demonstrates the ability to support student achievement, social/emotional development, and college/career readiness.
• Demonstrates the ability to work with diverse groups.
• Demonstrates knowledge of technology and software applications appropriate to job responsibilities.
• Demonstrates strong computer, written and verbal communication skills, including presentations, publications, and report writing.
• Demonstrates competence in data analysis to identify student issues, needs and challenges.
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with students, parents, school-based staff, and community members.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment in handling problem situations with competence in interpersonal relations skills.
• Ability to engage in physical activity appropriate to the required task, except for temporary disability.