Counseling

 

To school counselors, student achievement means academic success, but it also means more; it means personal growth, social development and career planning. School counselors use classroom lessons, one-on-one planning sessions with students and individual and group counseling to help students progress through the grades and through the stages that mark their passage from children to young adults. Our 17-school system employs 26 counselors, all highly qualified and all working with parents, teachers and other school colleagues in the best interest of our students.

 

School-based mental health services

Working with private providers, LCPS makes available through our schools licensed therapists who are on hand to provide immediate help for children in crisis. The program also seeks to allay the difficulty many parents have in navigating the mental health labyrinth by providing a direct connection to services they may need for their child on a more extended basis.

School social workers

School social workers are problem solvers. Trained and licensed professionals, they connect home, school and community through support services designed to remove barriers to learning and support the whole child. School social workers act on referrals received from the community, parents and school in cases of poor attendance, failing grades, evidence of family crisis and/or emotional and behavioral concerns. They can also be a resource for parents in a number of areas: understanding their child’s developmental and educational needs, guiding parents to school and community resources or exceptional children’s programs, and securing help for homeless families. School social workers are in all elementary, middle and high schools schools, as well as alternative settings.

Section 504 Support

Section 504 Accommodation Plans assist students whose physical and mental disabilities would limit their school experience without special accommodations. Students with Section 504 plans are classified as general education students who simply require supports that help them attain a free and appropriate public education. They are not eligible for special education instruction and individualized education plans (IEPs). Eligibility considerations are proscribed in detail for school administrators. All LCPS schools have Section 504 contacts supervised by a district-level Section 504 Intervention Coordinator.

McKinney-Vento Services

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act was passed in January 2002 to help people experiencing homelessness. LCPS follows the guidelines in that legislation in an effort to make sure children have a home life conducive to learning.