Washington Middle School Counseling

Each year Seattle Public School students fill out a school climate survey, which covers various aspects of day-to-day life at their school. These areas include general climate (e.g., feelings about school, safety, teachers belonging, school interest), Bullying, Decision Making, working with others, and problem solving. Today we comparred the 2007 and 2008 results for Washington.

Here are some results that stood out for us:

• There are almost an equal number of boys and girls attending this year.
• the population of African American students declined by 4%, to 13% of the population. We wondered about the reasons for this.
• Anywhere fro 5% to 10% of the student body is at academic risk at a given time. We discussed ways to be helpful to this segment, and also discussed what services to provide to the other 90%. Our charge as school counselors is to address the academic, career, and personal/social development domains for all our children. The sheer size of the Washington student body (over 1,000 students), the class schedule and personnel resources all impact the delivery of services. I’ll be discussing this issue in more depth here in future posts.
• Although there were improvements in how students feel about belonging, getting help, and having adults around who cared, the numbers were still below an outright “yes”. We’d like to continue this trend to reach and then exceed that goal.
• The numbers on bullying are encouraging. there has been upward movement in all areas. Fewer students report being bullied, more students are speaking up when they are bullied, and the feel more adults in the school are trying to put a stop to bullying. We’d like to see the anti-harassment classes, currently offered to all students once a month, expanded and made more frequent, as they seem to have played a key role in increasing safety at our school.
• Decision making skills need more work, even though students report an increase in use of options, thinking before they act, etc.
• Finally, the school needs to do a better job of informing parents when their student does something well.

If you have any comments about any of these areas, we’d like to hear them. Just click on the comments link just below this post.

The three grade-level counselors are visiting each of the LA classes in their grade to introduce themselves and explain our services. These 15 minute intros at the beginning of the year remind students about our goals for them (safety, learning, social connections, fun, planning, etc.), review confidentiality guidelines, describe issues students bring to our offices, and tell students how to get in touch with us. There is then a question and answer period. We reach virtually every student in the school in this way, and demystify the counseling process, thereby (we hope!) making us more accessible and useful to the students.

College Bound Scholarships are open to any middle-school student in a low-income home or foster care. In exchange for pledges to maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average through high school and stay out of trouble with the law, the state will pay for up to four years of tuition and books at any accredited public or private college, community college or vocational/technical program in Washington.

Students must apply while in the seventh or eighth grade. The scholarship doesn’t guarantee acceptance to a particular college, and the student’s eligibility hinges on his or her family’s financial status at the time of graduation. These caveats aside, this is an almost unbelievable opportunity for students to acquire a 4-year college degree, especially for those for whom such a goal seemed unattainable for financial reasons.

For more information and to get applications, speak to your grade-level counselor, or go online to the College Bound web site.

Over 1,000 energetic middle schoolers enjoyed the new floors, shades, lockers and fresh paint of the newly-remodeled Washington Middle School on their first day of the 2008-2009 school year. Great weather, lots of parent volunteers, PTSA support, and a well-prepared staff made for smooth sailing. Positive comments from students and parents lifted our spirits, and helped us through some difficulties with end-of-the-day transportation. Everyone made it through, and if the first day is any indication, we have a terrific school community to look forward to this year.

The Washington Middle School (Seattle, WA) Counseling Department is in the process of constructing its first web site. The site will have information about the department’s services, bios and contact info for all the counselors, resources for parents and students, grade-specific news via blogs, and, eventually, a forum for parents and students to post questions and comments. Right now, the site is the page you’re looking at, but stay tuned, and we will celebrate our launch sometime after the next academic school year begins in September.

If you have ideas about what you’d like to see on such a site, please send us an (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and let us know. We’d love to hear from you as we plan this new venture!

In the meantime have a safe and great summer.