|
![]() |
Frequently Asked Questions about the Guidance and Counseling Program
| | |
|
|
| What do the counselors do?
School guidance counselors have many roles/duties. They deliver classroom guidance to students, consult with parents and staff members, work with outside agencies, and conduct individual and group counseling. In addition to these tasks, the counselors at Euchee Creek maintain a webpage, publish a newsletter, assist with attendance issues, and coordinate and administer gifted tests. We also sponsor a career fair.
What is the difference between guidance and counseling?
Guidance is the process of helping individuals understand themselves and the world. In the school setting, guidance focuses on creating an optimal learning environment for each student. Guidance is done with the whole class on a regular monthly basis.
Counseling is a confidential between the counselor and a student or a small group of students. Students participate in counseling to help them resolve or cope constructively with their problems and developmental concerns. Counseling (individual or small group) only occurs with parental permission.
School counselors, however, are not trained psychotherapists (although some are). We don’t do “therapy” with students. What we do is help students solve or cope with whatever problems are keeping them from doing as well in the classroom as they should be.
Does the counselor need my permission to see my child?
Counselors can see a student one time without obtaining permission from the parent. Often this occurs when a student or the teacher has a concern that warrants the counselor’s immediate intervention. If the counselor is to continue working with the child in individual sessions or in a group, written permission is needed from the parent or guardian. The counselor sends a permission letter to the parent for the parent to sign before a second session with the student is scheduled.
What topics are discussed in classroom guidance?
School guidance and counseling include three broad areas: academic, personal/social, and career planning. Columbia County and the state of Georgia have specific standards or objectives that the counselors follow (within those three broad areas). For example, some of those standards include study skills, decision making, getting along with others, bullying, communication skills, and career exploration. Please visit the state’s website on these standards for more information: www.georgiastandards.org
What types of small groups are offered?
Group sessions are dictated by the needs of students, so group offerings at any given time can vary. Groups meet once a week for 30 minutes for six to eight weeks. We have conducted groups for students on each of the following issues: organizational/study skills, new students, grief, anger management, friendship, changes in the family, and building self-confidence. We also have groups on being retained and transition to middle school.
Do elementary school counselors in Columbia County test children for the gifted program?
Yes, the program is outlined below.
GIFTED TESTING PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Gifted Testing occurs at two times (fall and spring) during the school year. This testing is administered by the counselor(s) at the student’s school.
Fall Testing is reserved ONLY for students in Kindergarten and students NEW to Columbia County. The results from this testing arrive close to the Holiday Break in time for eligible students to begin the program in January.
Spring Testing is open to all students grades K-5. Results from this cycle of testing arrive in May (usually the last week of school), with eligible students beginning the program the following school year.
There are four parts to each Gifted Testing Cycle:
1. Nominations/Referrals
2. Evaluation Process
3. Scoring
4. Notification of Results
Sometimes, we have students who move to our school who were in a gifted program in another school (in GA or another state). Teachers and parents are asked to please report this information to the school counselor immediately. Any student who meets the Georgia eligibility criteria for gifted education services in any public school system in the state shall be considered to be eligible to receive services in the Columbia County School System. Students having participated in gifted programs outside Georgia may be placed immediately into the program ONLY if the Georgia criteria for placement have been met. Otherwise, the student will need additional testing for placement.
Nomination/Referrals:
Students can be nominated for testing by teachers, administrators, parents or guardians, self, and/or other individuals with knowledge of the student’s abilities.
Evaluation Process:
After a student is nominated for gifted testing, their parents or legal guardian will be notified in writing of a student’ s consideration for gifted education services, and given the opportunity to discuss the evaluation process and other concerns with the gifted contact (the school counselor) in the local school. When written parent permission is secured, data will be collected by the school in the areas of mental ability, achievement, creativity, and motivation.
Scoring:
After nominated students have been tested, the instruments will then be scored. Scoring results can take a significant amount of time to reach the local school after testing. As soon as the scores are received by the local school, the next phase of the cycle, Notification of Results, begins.
Notification of Results:
Parents or legal guardians will be notified in writing of the eligibility status of their child. If their child meets the criteria, permission must be granted for their child to receive gifted education services. If the child is not eligible to receive gifted education services, the child may be renominated and retested after 2 years. For example if a child was tested in the spring of his or her 1st grade year, he or she may not be retested until the spring of his or her 3rd grade year.
| |
|
|
