Define Success

Success requires a beginning.

One thing many school counselors love about working in schools is the dynamic life-cycle of the year and the opportunity it inherently affords for reflective improvement year after year. Each August dawns with the promise of graduation on the distant horizon. School counselors all across the nation gear up for the work ahead. Promise is everywhere!

Many new school counselors do not have the luxury of prior experience on which to draw as they craft their professional identities and programs. Carolinas School Counseling may be especially helpful for them. Each week, common sense tools & tips will be shared to support school counselors’ important work. (Students attending high schools without school counselors may also find some of these tools helpful.)

CSC Tip #1: Calendar & Schedule

Develop a calendar that scaffolds toward graduation for all students. This will help you visualize the year ahead and begin to identify calendar traffic jams.

• Drop in key dates that are pre-determined (ex. school breaks, required weekly meetings, test dates, etc).

• Choose a calendar that works best for you (paper or electronic). One veteran counselor suggests a hybrid starting with a paper calendar created over the summer to “rough draft” the school year and identify the year’s “traffic jam” times to be worked around.

• Include key things that will impact your students, your school and your school counseling team (ex. rough in a target window for registration meetings, teacher appreciation week, and monthly or quarterly focus for large-group counseling events).

• Set a weekly schedule for August to include essentials and a soft outline of time to work on essential start-of-year tasks:

  • Required meetings (faculty, department, etc)

  • Required training (crisis response, threat assessments, suicide protocol, mandated reporting)

  • Transcript reviews/graduation audits (start with seniors)

  • Student schedules (if not yet finished)

  • New enrollment scheduling and onboarding

*There is currently no charge for the tools shared by Carolinas School Counseling. Users are asked to credit Carolinas School Counseling by maintaining the tool’s watermark and link to our website so that other school counselors can follow & benefit.