Washington Middle School Counseling

We’re happy to announce that all three grade level counselors will return to WMS this coming school year. This is no small feat, given the number of layoffs occurring in the District, and we had some anxious moments right through the end of the school year. Mr. Bilides will become the 6th grade counselor, and Ms. Jackson and Mr. Goldstein will move up to 7th and 8th grades respectively.

Representatives from the Dartington Social Research Unit in Great Britain, plus other high-ranking educational and children’s social service agencies, as well as a member of Pariliament, met with WMS counselors David Bilides and Corey Goldstein, Health teacher Amy Miller, and principal Jon Halfaker as part of a U.S. study tour on prevention and intervention. They were specifically interested in our bullying prevention program.

We discussed not only the Olweus Anti-bullying program, but also our Health Education classes, Peer Mediation Program, Equity Committee, and other prevention efforts.The director thanked us, writing, “Our group has been inspired, informed and challenged in equal measure.” She also posted an interesting article about their visit to WMS on their web site.

I found the visit to be refreshing, to take a few moments during the school day to sit and describe what we’re trying to do and what we’re actually doing to help children. I also enjoyed hearing what was happening in Britain, and answering non-trivial questions about our work. These were intelligent, thoughtful policy makers and researchers, who found something at value at WMS and in Seattle in general.

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.

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.