POSITION DESCRIPTION

School Counselor

 

 

REPORTS TO:    Principal and/or Chief Student Services Officer

 

PURPOSE:         To help all students develop skills in the areas of personal-social growth, educational planning, and career and vocational development. To promote student success, provide preventive services, and respond to identified student needs by implementing a comprehensive school counseling program that addresses academic, career, and personal/social development for all students. To incorporate the North Carolina State Board of Education’s guiding mission that every public school student will graduate from high school globally competitive for work and postsecondary education, and prepared for life in the twenty-first century.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field with a Master’s degree in counseling or any equivalent combination of training and experience that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Must be licensed by the State of North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in counseling or be able to obtain licensure in this area.

 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work collaboratively with all school staff to create a positive learning community.
• Implements improvements in counseling services by staying current with research and best practices. 
• Create an environment that is inviting, respectful, supportive, inclusive, and flexible. 
• Responds to and stabilizes crisis situations on an individual and school-wide basis.
• Actively participates in the school MTSS process to assist at-risk and underachieving student populations.
• Coordinates 504 and Homebound services, where applicable.
• Participates in and leads professional development opportunities.
• Provides classroom group guidance sessions.
• Discusses the comprehensive school counseling program with the school administrator
• Develops and maintains a written plan for effective delivery of the school counselling program based on the NC Comprehensive School Counseling Standard Course of Study
• Communicates the goals of the comprehensive school counseling program to education stakeholders (i.e., administrators, teachers, students, parents, and community/business leaders)
• Maintains current and appropriate resources for education stakeholders
• Uses the majority of time providing direct services through the Guidance Curriculum, Individual Student Planning and Preventative and Responsive Services, and most remaining time in program management, system support and accountability (National standards recommend 80% of time in Guidance Curriculum, Individual Student Planning and Preventive and Responsive Services and 20% of time in program management, system support, and accountability(American School Counselor Association, 2005) 
• Uses data to develop comprehensive programs that meet student needs
• Provides leadership and collaborates with other educators in the school-wide integration of the guidance curriculum
• Implements developmentally appropriate and prevention-oriented group activities to meet student needs and school goals
• Incorporates into their programs the life skills that students need to be successful 
• Assists all students, individually or in groups, with developing academic, career, and personal/social skills, goals, and plans
• Accurately and appropriately interprets and utilizes student data
• Collaborates with parents/guardians and educators to assist students with educational, career, and life planning
• Provides individual and group counseling to students with identified concerns and needs
• Consults and collaborates with parents/guardians, teachers, administrators, and other educational/community resources regarding students with identified concerns and needs
• Implements an effective referral and follow-up process as needed
• Accurately and appropriately uses assessment procedures for determining and structuring individual and group counseling services
• Provides appropriate information to school personnel related to the comprehensive school counseling program
• Assists teachers, parents/guardians, and other stakeholders in interpreting and understanding student data
• Participates in professional development activities to improve knowledge and skills
• Uses available technology resources to enhance the school counseling program
• Adheres to laws, policies, procedures, and ethical standards of the school counseling profession
• Conducts a yearly program audit to review the extent of program implementation and effectiveness
• Collects and analyzes data to guide program direction and emphasis
• Measures results of the comprehensive school counseling program activities and shares results as appropriate interventions
• Performs other duties as assigned by the School Administrators

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1.   MAJOR FUNCTION:     Program Planning
   

The school counselor establishes the school counseling program and develops activities and resources to implement and evaluate it.

 

The school counselor involves other school staff in making decisions about the school counseling program.

  

2.   MAJOR FUNCTION:  Counseling

The school counselor provides individual and group counseling services to meet the developmental, preventive, and remedial needs of students.

 

3.   MAJOR FUNCTION: Consulting

The school counselor consults with students, parents, teachers, and other school and community personnel to help meet the needs of students.

 

4.   MAJOR FUNCTION:   Coordinating
   

The school counselor coordinates all counseling services for students and assists with the coordination and implementation of student services in the school.

 

The counselor also assists teachers with the Guidance Curriculum.

 

5.   MAJOR FUNCTION:   Professional Practices and Development

The school counselor adheres to ethical standards of the counseling profession and abides by the laws, policies, and procedures that govern the schools.

 

The counselor also participates in professional associations and upgrades professional knowledge and skills when 

 

 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS OR STANDARDS REQUIRED TO PERFORM ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS
 

Physical Requirements:

Must be physically able to operate a variety of equipment, including computers, typewriters, copiers, calculators, etc.

 

Must be able to exert up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to lift, carry, push, and pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body.

 

Light Work usually requires walking or standing to a significant degree.

 

Data Conception:

Requires the ability to compare and/or judge the readily observable, functional, structural or composite characteristics (whether similar or divergent from obvious standards) of data, people, or things.

 

Interpersonal Communication:

Requires the ability to speak and/or signal people to convey or exchange information. Includes receiving instructions, assignments, or directions.

 

Language Ability:

Requires the ability to read a variety of correspondence, reports, forms, press releases, etc.

Requires the ability to prepare correspondence, reports, forms, etc., using prescribed formats and conforming to all rules of punctuation, grammar, diction, and style.

Requires the ability to speak before groups of people with poise, voice control, and confidence.

 

Intelligence:

Requires the ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions; to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagrammatic form; and to deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

 

Verbal Aptitude:

Requires the ability to record and deliver information, to explain procedures, to follow oral and written instructions.

Must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently using a variety of technical or professional languages, including counseling terminology.

 

Numerical Aptitude:

Requires the ability to utilize mathematical formulas; to add and subtract; multiply and divide; utilize decimals and percentages; and to apply the theories of descriptive statistics.

 

Form/Spatial Aptitude:

Requires the ability to inspect items for proper length, width, and shape.

 

Motor Coordination:

Requires the ability to coordinate hands and eyes rapidly and accurately in using office equipment.

 

Manual Dexterity:

Requires the ability to handle a variety of items, such as office equipment. Must have minimal levels of eye/hand/foot coordination.

 

Color Discrimination:

Does not require the ability to differentiate between colors and shades of color.

 

Interpersonal Temperament:

Requires the ability to deal with people beyond giving and receiving instructions.

Must be adaptable to performing under stress and in emergency situations.

 

Physical Communication:

Requires the ability to talk and hear: (Talking: expressing or exchanging ideas by means of spoken words.

 

Hearing:

Perceiving nature of sounds by ear.) Must be able to communicate via telephone.

 

 

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• General knowledge of the ethical guidelines applicable to the position as outlined by professional organizations and/or federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations.
• General knowledge of the principles of organization and administration.
• General knowledge of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.
• Skill in counseling and motivating students.
• Ability to plan, coordinate, and evaluate the effectiveness of student programs.
• Ability to coordinate the efforts of support services personnel and outside agencies.
• Ability to use standard office machines and popular computer-driven word processing, spreadsheet, and file maintenance programs.
• Ability to maintain complete and accurate records and statistics and to develop meaningful reports from them.
• Ability to effectively express ideas orally and in writing.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships as necessitated by work assignments.

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Term of Employment:      10 Months

 

FLSA Status:                     Exempt

 

Salary Grade:                   NC School Guidance Counselor Salary plus Local 

                                         Supplement

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DISCLAIMER
 

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees for this job.

June 20, 2023

August 2025

  

Camden County Board of Education, Camden, NC  27921