COUNSELING PROGRAM

Our counselors:

...welcome new students and their families to the middle school family, coordinate orientation activities, arrange for peer buddies and schedule students into appropriate classes.

...introduce new students to their new teachers, providing teachers with background information.

...advise and assist with long range academic planning.

...serve as a parent resource for individual consultation, parent information, educational or support meetings, as well as facilitate parent/teacher/student meetings.

...advocate for student’s social and emotional well-being, crisis intervention, student transition concerns, and referrals to appropriate resources. All educators at ISB have a professional and ethical obligation to support children who need help or protection.

...support/consult with teachers regarding student needs.

...represent student’s well-being in school-wide program planning.

...monitor standardized testing.

Individual Counseling

The counselors are available to meet with students on an individual basis. Students are encouraged to visit the counselors for help with academic planning, class scheduling, or confidential personal counseling. The meetings can also be utilized as a way to aid students in developing problem solving skills, coping skills, and address other social/emotional needs.

Group Counseling

Throughout the year different student groups will be offered. Some of these may include: new student lunch groups, friendship groups, transition groups, etc.

Parent Education

Counselors are available to provide support and education to parents. As needed, counselors are also able to provide more structured parent educational opportunities throughout the school year.

Consultation

Counselors will meet with staff regularly throughout the year to address specific student needs. ISB counselors collaborate with teachers (Classroom, Intensive Studies, ESL) and with the School Psychologist, Administrators, and the Speech and Language Pathologist. Parents will also consult with counselors in creating individual plans for students.

Wellness

ISB Middle School students will participate in a yearlong Wellness Program. Counselors collaborate with teachers in creating and delivering Wellness lessons. The Wellness Program was developed using both the Wellness and the School Counseling Standards and Benchmarks. This class fosters in students the knowledge and understanding, the positive attitudes and values, and the competent self-management and interpersonal skills that lead to a healthy and fulfilling life. The course is designed around the overarching concepts of connectedness, balance and change; students will be inspired to:

• Achieve their academic potential

• Be passionate reflective learners

• Become caring, global citizens

• Lead healthy, active and fulfilling lives

Assessment And Curriculum At Isb

Assessment is the process through which we gather, record and analyze a body of student evidence with the primary goal of improving student learning. When assessments are used and interpreted properly, the results provide information that is valuable in designing challenging educational experiences that promote student learning and the ability to meet the needs of all learners. Studentcentered assessment, including purposeful, timely feedback, motivates, encourages and inspires students’ passion for learning.

At ISB, we have a set of required assessment practices that are used across the school to ensure we are assessing for understanding and that students transfer their learning in a new situation. Our assessment principles and practices reflect current research and seek to foster a growth mindset in our students.

Additionally, our assessment practices align to ISB’s Vision, Mission and Definition of Learning and are based on the following principles:

• Effective assessment reflects ISB’s value of meaningful and transferable learning.

• Effective assessment generates formative feedback.

• Effective assessment is transparent and fair.

• Effective assessment develops talent rather than selects talent.

Curriculum Development At Isb

When we talk about curriculum we look at it through two different but related lenses, the macrocurriculum (Prekindergarten-Grade 12) and the micro-curriculum (unit level). The macro-curriculum identities the big ideas that run through all the grade levels within a subject or across subjects.

A macro-curriculum provides coherence across grades so all teachers within and across a subject understand how we define learning to ensure we are all working toward our identified learning goals. We frame our macro-curriculum as long- term transfer goals, key questions and key understandings. All students are working toward the same learning from the macro-curriculum, but they are doing it at age appropriate levels within their classes (micro-curriculum).

For instance, here is an example of macro-curriculum goals for reading:

• Read and comprehend a range of complex texts and media developed for various audiences and purposes. (Long-Term Transfer Goal)

• What do effective readers do? What do effective listeners do? How can I be an active viewer of media? (Key Questions)

• Effective readers, listeners and viewers use appropriate strategies to independently make meaning from a variety of texts and varied media to enhance their comprehension. (Key Understanding)

The micro-curriculum identifies the learning goals for that year. Our micro-curriculum is organized by units of study that are deliberately sequenced across the year to maximize learning for the students. Our micro- curriculum units are aligned to the big ideas in the macro- curriculum and are developed using the same components of a macro-framework.

Our macro and micro curricula are aligned to the standards we have adopted here at ISB. The standards are the key learning outcomes organized by units of study, grade level and course. It is important to note that standards alone are not the curriculum, they are the blueprint for our curriculum. The units of study that are taught within the grades are how we design learning to help students meet the standards and come to the broader goals from the macro-curriculum.