Social Emotional Support

Recognizing that COVID-19 profoundly impacted our students’ well-being, counselors were vital in maintaining the overall mental health of our learning community this year. The focus and location of our social-emotional counseling services may have shifted; however, our commitment to supporting the social-emotional well-being of students and families remained the same. Counselors hosted virtual lunch groups, held office hours, contacted students individually, and worked directly with families in addition to maintaining the services available prior to the pandemic.

Every student at ISB has access to a social-emotional counselor. The services provided by the counselors differ based on the developmental level of the students and their needs. This support can be provided through in-class lessons (e.g., safeguarding, conflict resolution), small group support (e.g., families in transition, friendship, self-regulation), or on a limited 1:1 basis when necessary.

Beyond providing direct support to students, our social-emotional counselors also advocate for students, support the development of inclusive policies and practices, and support the holistic needs of the school community. They do so in various ways, including presentations, parent sessions, book clubs, professional development, and committee work. Our counselors also review social-emotional data from our Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to help identify students who may need additional support and/or make programmatic changes.