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Mountain View School District is committed to educating the whole child and is honored to have an outstanding team of 13 School Counselors who are dedicated to supporting the academic and social/emotional needs of all students. The District is proud to have school counselors at each of its eight
schools, as well as a counselor for foster youth, providing exceptional service to students and families.
This week, February 6-10 is National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), which focuses public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and personal well-being. This year’s theme
for the week is “School Counselors: Helping Students Dream Big” and that’s what MVSD’s school counselors do!
According to Stacey De Knikker, MVSD’s Director of Student Support and Special Education, the important work of MVSD’s 13 school counselors plays a vital role in the educational process for all students.
“Our school counselors provide tremendous services to support our students,” said De Knikker. “They are an integral part of the school team, addressing the social-emotional and academic needs of students. The many challenges brought on by the pandemic has created a heightened need for social-emotional support and we are fortunate to have one or two counselors at each of our schools providing comprehensive services and helping students with their social-emotional development. They provide a much-needed resource for students, parents, teachers and administrators.”
In addition to individual and small group counseling, the school counselors coordinate a variety of activities and events at their school sites including Kindness Week, Unity Day, Buddy Programs, parent workshops, and more, and they also maintain the Virtual Calming Room on the District’s website. This year, they are participating in Hatching Results training which focuses on developing standards-based grade level counseling lessons.
“As a result of this training, our counselors will be developing five lessons that will be taught throughout the district. The lesson plans will be implemented by each counselor on all campuses in every classroom, enabling every student to receive a social-emotional lesson by their school counselor,” said De Knikker.
MVSD is grateful to its school counselors for their dedication to students and families and the integral role they play in the success of students.