School Counselor

About This Role

Supporting scholars' academic and social-emotional development is the core of this School Counselor role, which provides counseling services and leads prevention and intervention supports to improve attendance, reduce chronic absenteeism, and strengthen school culture. This position partners with families, teachers, and school leaders to remove barriers to attendance, delivers Tier 1–3 counseling and SEL supports aligned to ASCA best practices, and uses data to target services and monitor impact.

Responsibilities

• Provide targeted counseling supports for scholars with attendance risk factors (anxiety/avoidance, trauma, peer conflict, school belonging, executive functioning), using evidence-informed strategies and progress monitoring
• Provide individual and small-group counseling aligned to academic, social-emotional, and behavioral needs
• Facilitate re-entry conferences and short-term reintegration plans for scholars returning from extended absences or crisis events
• Support scholars with goal setting, emotional regulation, and problem-solving skills
• Deliver counseling services aligned to ASCA best practices
• Serve as an active member of the MTSS team, leading counseling/SEL components of Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports and ensuring alignment with academic and behavioral interventions
• Co-lead the school’s tiered attendance intervention workflow (early warning identification, tier placement, intervention planning, and follow-up) in partnership with AP Scholar Support, Deans, and the MTSS Coordinator
• Contribute to intervention planning and progress monitoring
• Implement and monitor attendance interventions for chronically absent scholars (case management routines, goal-setting plans, check-ins, and barrier removal supports), documenting actions and outcomes
• Support teachers with classroom-level strategies that strengthen belonging and engagement (Tier 1) and reduce avoidance-related absences
• Conduct structured family outreach for attendance concerns to identify root causes (transportation, housing instability, health, safety, school climate, caregiver barriers) and connect families to school/community resources
• Facilitate attendance-focused family meetings for chronically absent scholars and document attendance plans, responsibilities, and follow-up cadence
• Partner with families to support scholar well-being and development
• Facilitate meetings related to SEL supports, attendance concerns, and crisis response
• Provide families with resources and guidance as appropriate
• Analyze attendance data to identify early warning indicators and chronic absenteeism trends (schoolwide, grade-level, and subgroup), and use findings to target counseling groups, supports, and prevention efforts
• Maintain an attendance intervention tracker (as defined by the school/region) documenting tiered supports provided, barriers identified, services/referrals made, and progress toward attendance goals