School Counselor

School Counselor

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School seeks a compassionate, dedicated, and student-centered individual to serve as School Counselor. This position supports student success and well-being by fostering social, emotional, and academic growth; providing guidance and counseling services; collaborating with faculty and families; and helping create a safe, supportive, and faith-filled learning environment aligned with Archdiocesan standards.

Category: Full-time hourly contract basis

Pay Rate: depending on education & experience

Reports to: School Principal

Work Year: school days Aug. - May with some additional training days

Specific Days Needed: M, T, W, Th, F (any one or more)

Min./Max. Hours per week: 40

Job Hours: 7:30 AM 3:30 PM (additional hours maybe added for meetings, etc)

Qualifications:

• Commitment to the philosophy of Catholic education
• Commitment to the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School
• Bachelor's degree in School Counseling, Psychology, Education, or a related field (Master's preferred)
• Valid School Counselor certification/license in the state of Texas (or ability to obtain)
• Experience working with children in a school or counseling setting
• Knowledge of child development, social-emotional learning, and academic support strategies
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive situations with professionalism
• Commitment to creating a safe, supportive, and inclusive school environment
• Proficiency in technology

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in School Counseling or related field
• Previous experience in a Catholic or private school setting
• Familiarity with behavioral intervention strategies and crisis response
• Experience collaborating with teachers, parents, and administration
• Knowledge of student guidance programs
• Practicing Catholic or willingness to support the mission of Catholic education
• Catechist certification
• Safe Haven training

Counseling:

• Provide counseling for individual students and small groups of students to address their educational, social and emotional needs.
• Develop and manage a system for counseling referrals to be used by the principal, teachers, parents or students.
• Assist individual students in developing problem solving skills, social skills, and communication skills.
• Some of the issues addressed in individual counseling are: conflict resolution, anger management and stress management.
• Provide individual, family and school crisis intervention.
• Administer brief risk assessments of students as needed for suicide threats or depression and follow appropriate school protocol.
• Involve parents in the counseling process through meetings, emails and phone calls in order to effect faster change for struggling students.
• Provide on-going parent education, including information about child development and discipline.
• Make outside referrals as needed to help support students and families with on-going counseling issues or learning problems.
• Provide support for students in their relationships with peers, teachers, parents and others.
• Offer mediation to students to help teach healthy ways to resolve conflicts.

Consultation:

• Consult with faculty in developing preventive, developmental, remedial, educational models for improved physical, mental health of the students.
• Consult with parents on developing strategies for students in the area of social adjustment, school achievement, motivation, emotional adjustment and conflict resolution.
• Facilitate Parent Teacher conferences as requested by parents or faculty.
• Consult with faculty regarding alternative approaches to help manage challenging situations.
• Maintain collaborative communication with other professionals (i.e therapists and public school administration) who are working with our students.
• Attend meetings for students with Special Needs and provide counseling support when needed.

Coordination:

• Design and implement a Guidance Curriculum to meet the needs of the students and support the schools' mission.
• The curriculum includes:
• Coordinate Catholic School Curriculum.
• Teach Guidance Lessons to foster emotional intelligence.
• Serve on the Crisis Intervention Team
• Student Study Team member and scribe
• School Duty if requested
• Help Coordinate Speakers on special topics for parents
• Organize and implement Red Ribbon/Power of One Week

Professional Development:

• Attend seminars and conferences required to maintain license.
• Develop and maintain positive working relationships with other school professionals and representatives of community resources.
• Meet monthly with other private school counselors with HAISC group and the Archdiocesan Counselors group to share resources and consult.
• Attend group consultation with other licensed counselors.
• Maintain professional memberships.
• Maintain professional liability insurance.

Physical Requirements:

• Stand for long periods of time
• Walk long distances across campus as well as within classroom
• Climb steps
• Sit for periods of time chairs and floor
• Stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl
• Lift up to 20 lbs