Position Title: School Counselor

Term of Employment: 10 months

Reports To: Principal

Pay Information: State Salary Scale

General Statement of Job

Through leadership, advocacy, and collaboration, school counselors promote student success, provide preventive services, and respond to identified student needs by implementing a comprehensive school counseling program addressing academic, career, and social/emotional development for all students. The major functions of the school counselor job description 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.

Essential Job Functions

(These duties represent a sample and may vary by position.) 

• Develops and manages a comprehensive school counseling program based on the NC Comprehensive School Counseling Standard Course of Study and current individual school data to meet student needs. 
• Counsels with students individually and in small groups for specifically identified needs as endorsed by a recognized guidance curriculum. 
• Assists all students, individually or in groups, with developing academic, career and personal/social skills, goals, and plans.
• Collaborates with parents/guardians and educators to assist students with educational, career, and life planning.
• Accurately and appropriately interprets and utilizes student data.
• 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 with relevant stakeholders.
• Monitors student academic performance, behavior, and attendance and facilitates appropriate interventions.
• Performs other duties as deemed appropriate and assigned by the School Administrator

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Ability to prepare, read and comprehend a variety of job-related forms, reports, spreadsheets, maps, plans, records, documentation and correspondence in all languages required by the job. 
• Ability to speak to individuals or groups of people with poise, voice control and confidence. Ability to respond adequately to inquiries or complaints.
• Ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions. 
• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagrammatic form. 
• Ability to deal with people beyond giving and receiving instructions. 
• Ability to perform under stress, deal with persons acting under stress and adapt when confronted with emergency situations. 
• Ability to maintain proper professional conduct. 
• Ability to keep in confidence all personal, student or personnel records and information. 

Minimum Training and Experience

• Master’s Degree in School Counseling
• Must hold or have the ability to attain a current valid School Counseling license.

Minimum Qualifications or Standards Required to Perform Essential Job Functions

• This work requires the occasional exertion of up to 10 pounds of force.
• Work regularly requires speaking or hearing, using hands to finger, handle or feel and repetitive motions, frequently requires sitting and occasionally requires standing, walking, stooping, kneeling, crouching or crawling, reaching with hands and arms, pushing or pulling and lifting. 
• Work has standard vision requirements. 
• Vocal communication is required for expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word. 
• Hearing is required to perceive information at normal spoken word levels. 
• Work requires preparing and analyzing written or computer data, operating machines, operating motor vehicles or equipment and observing general surroundings and activities. 
• Work occasionally requires exposure to outdoor weather conditions. 
• Work is generally in a moderately noisy location (e.g. business office, light traffic).

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 to this job.