School Counselor

Job Title: School Counselor Date: 4/2020/22

Job Code: 00032 Grade: FLSA Status:

Department/ Unit/ Section: Pathways Academy Reviewed By: Educational Administrator

Reports To: Educational Administrator Description Last Revised: 3/15/2022

GENERAL SUMMARY/ OVERVIEW STATEMENT:

Under the direction of the Educational Administrator and guidance of the Team Leader, the School Counselor supports students with autism spectrum disorders with and without comorbid psychiatric diagnoses in a child-centered, therapeutic school setting. The School Counselor provides ongoing social guidance and coaching in conjunction with social-emotional support to students with complex learning profiles as they navigate the school day. The School Counselor provides instructional support to students both inside and outside the classroom and plans and leads individual and small group activities such as arts and crafts, current events, and group activity. The School Counselor proctors assessments, works collaboratively with academic and clinical team members, attends weekly meetings, and prepares/maintains classrooms to support the development of students' social, emotional, and academic skills.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide ongoing social pragmatic skills coaching, guidance, and support to students throughout the school day (arrival, dismissal, during classes, during the fifteen-minute sensory integration breaks between classes, and during lunch period). Coaching and support are provided with an eye toward increasing pro-social and 'expected' behavior within the classroom, school, and wider community settings.

• Engage students in meaningful sensory integration modulation and leisure activities during scheduled and unscheduled sensory breaks, to help get them to a "just right" place for learning in preparation for their next class, supporting them throughout the transition.

• Provide ongoing social-emotional support throughout the school day, both proactively and as needed, to identify and label feelings, choose and utilize coping strategies, assess effectiveness of strategies, and help students process emotions in both the classroom and milieu.

• Provide academic support, instructional accommodations, and classwork modifications as identified by each student's individual education plan and by student need as presented in vivo.

• Work collaboratively with other Pathways academic and clinical team members to provide social, emotional, and instructional supports in a manner consistent with the team approach and student goals and objectives.

• Design and implement individual and small group (2-4 students) activities such as arts and crafts, music appreciation, vocabulary enrichment, current events, culinary arts, drama, test preparation, study skills, and community service activities.

• Record student attendance and participation for individual classes, note information on student whether student was able to access instruction, engaged in work refusal, behavior, etc.

• Prepare and maintain classrooms for use each day and tidy up classrooms at end of day.

• Proctor state MCAS testing sessions, providing IEP-mandated accommodations as required.

• Proctor students' computer-based academic progress monitoring sessions to ensure fidelity of assessment and attention to task.

• Supervise students during arrival and dismissal procedures.

• Participate in regular staff, school counselor, and student-based meetings.

• Other duties as assigned by supervisor

Federal Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunities Laws and Regulations

McLean Hospital and its affiliates, the Arlington School and Pathways Academy (collectively, McLean), do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or disability in admiission or access to, treatment or employment at, or any other aspect of the educational programs and activities that McLean operates. McLean is required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (Age Act), and their respective implementing regulations at 34 C.F.R. Parts 100, 104, 106 and 110, not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, sex, or age in the educational programs and activities that McLean operates. Inquiries concerning the application of each of the aforementioned statutes and their implementing regulations to McLean may be referred to the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, at (617) 289-0111 or 5 Post Office Square, 8th Floor, Boston, MA 02109-3921, or to the applicable McLean coordinator as indicated in school's hiring policies. For more information about Arlington School's hiring policies, please click here: https://www.mcleanhospital.org/sites/default/files/shared/AS-2018-19-Handbook-Website-FINAL-2018-11-20.pdf

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 This title declares it to be the policy of the United States that discrimination on the ground of race, color, or national origin shall not occur in connection with programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance and authorizes and directs the appropriate federal departments and agencies to take action to carry out this policy.

The Equal Educational Opportunities Act prohibits specific discriminatory conduct, including segregating students on the basis of race, color or national origin, and discrimination

against faculty and staff Furthermore, the EEOA requires school districts to take action to overcome students' language barriers that impede equal participation in educational programs.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities by recipients of federal funds. Title IX has been applied to ensure equal opportunities for female students in athletics and in cases of sexual harassment by school administrators, teachers and students.

Bachelor's degree preferred

SKILLS/ ABILITIES/ COMPETENCIES REQUIRED:

Flexibility, knowledge of Autism Spectrum Disorders, Excellent interpersonal and telephone communication skills