Students in the Del Norte Unified School District are supported by seven full-time certificated school counselors and three full-time counseling technicians. Their positions are funded by the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), which has increased counseling staff over the past several years. 

School counselors are professionals who assist students with developing the academic, social, and behavioral skills they need to have in order to be successful in school.  From mediating peer conflicts to providing in-class social skills lessons, to assisting with schedule changes and helping students explore career interests and options, school counselors can vital roles in the daily educational experience of students. 

Below are some of the common daily responsibilities of our school counselors:

• work with administrators, teachers, support providers, and community agencies, as needed to identify and provide interventions for academically at-risk students including Special Education students.
• collaborate in the creation and implementation of a comprehensive tiered school counseling program that serves all students.
• provide school staff with training in violence prevention curriculum and how to identify students exhibiting signs of distress, depression, and anxiety as well as barriers and/or triggers that may exacerbate student crisis.
• collaborate with administration, teachers, and other mental health professionals to create and implement a data-driven system of referral for academic, attendance, and behavioral needs screening, assessment, and delivery of the appropriate preventative intervention.
• actively participate in school site-level Data-Based Decision-Making teams (DBDM) and other professional learning communities as directed by site administration.
• conduct initial baseline screenings of all students to identify “at-risk” students and monitor individual student progress.
• identify and refer to appropriate agencies and resources, individual students requiring therapeutic and/or crisis counseling (i.e. substance abuse, child abuse, suicide, pregnancy, etc.).
• attend IEP’s when possible. If attendance is not possible, provide a brief write-up of present levels of performance addressing counseling goals prior to the meeting.
• work with site administration to prioritize students in need of counseling.

Counseling Services (2021-22)