Duration: 12 month contract – 10-month work/school year schedule
Reporting to: Director of Wellness
FLSA: exempt/contract
Schedule: Monday through Friday (plus events as required)
Hours: 7:50 am to 3:20 pm
Mission:
Rooted in the Catholic, Dominican tradition, St. Agnes Academy challenges young women through exceptional academic preparation and transformational experiences to lead with integrity, joy and a commitment to social justice.
Faith, Community, and Dominican Charism:
Ensure that the four pillars of a Dominican education (prayer, study, community, preaching) are developed and promoted among the school community.
Develop an active faith community and model Christian values.
Support prayer and spiritual formation within the student, faculty/staff and parent communities.
Uphold and implement the Dominican charism and the Houston Dominican Sisters’ congregational goals.
Demonstrate a commitment to equity and inclusion by honoring the dignity of each member of the St. Agnes Academy community.
Job Purpose:
The purpose of the wellness counselor is to serve as a student, parent and community support and advocacy representative in the areas of academic, social, emotional, mental health and well-being as it relates to student success in a school setting. Wellness Counselors help deliver a school counseling program that improves student outcomes. Counselors connect their work goals to student success and the to the school’s academic mission and improvement plan. Counselor provides short-term counseling in the school as a non-clinical setting.
The main responsibilities will include:
o Provide short-term school focused social, emotional support for grade level assigned students in either 10th, 11th, or 12th grade levels, as well freshman, as needed
o Recognize when to refer out for long term support, as we do not operate as mental health counselors within a school
o Build rapport with 9th grade students and serve as their academic advisor.
o Advocate for overall community mental, emotional health and creatively offer ideas for stress management, balance and well-being.
o Develop and implement school wide programming for student on social and emotional growth
o Develop and implement groups, lessons, and programming for your assigned grade level
o Provide presentations, programming and coaching for parent community
o Provide feedback, coaching and offer support to faculty and staff.
o Facilitate, in conjunction with Director of Student Support, “Freshman Seminar” program
o With the support of the Academic Dean’s office, Director of Student Support and the Learning Specialist, identify tiered academic interventions for assigned students to help student achievement
o Confidently make referrals to the Director of Student Support, Learning Specialist, or outside support services for academic or social/emotional needs
o Participate in indirect student services, such as consultation, collaboration, and referrals
o Advocate for students academically, socially, or emotionally with proper constituents in student-focused meetings
o Lead and advocate for equity and access for all students school wide
o Offer support/process groups throughout the year
o Provide crisis intervention for students and families, advise administration and teaching staff on student academic needs in time of crisis.
o Provide feedback and collaborate with classroom instructors as needs arise for students.
o Partner with Dean of Students office in discipline cases that necessitate social, emotional follow- up and case management.
o Advise, inform admin, faculty/staff about developmental needs and characteristics of adolescence.
o Support office of Academic Dean with 9th grade registration and course planning.
o Collaborate with the college counseling department with shared grade levels.
o Cultivate relationships in the mental health community of Houston and surrounding areas/refer out when applicable.
o Maintain a membership to the American School Counseling Association or membership to a professional organization.
o Uphold the ethical and professional standards of ASCA to promote the development of the school counseling program based on the ASCA National Model
o Participate in the CREST accreditation process or accreditation processes for the program in the future
o Uphold professional goals and growth as it relates to your work and the school mission
o Collect and document data on services provided during the year
o Attend a grade level retreat
o Other duties as it relates to the position and as assigned
Qualifications
o Master’s Degree in either Counseling or Social Work required
o School counseling certificate preferred.
o Commitment to embracing the mission of St. Agnes Academy
o Complete Safe Haven training
o Must have experience working with diverse student populations
o Strong public speaking skills
o Work experience in a school setting
o Teaching experience preferred
o Excellent judgment, confidentiality, discretion, and diplomacy
o Ability to work independently as well as a team member; ability to set priorities and schedules to meet deadlines with minimum of supervision
o Proficiency in Microsoft Office
o Strong self-care skills.
Work Environment
St. Agnes Academy is committed to hiring, developing, and retaining a diverse and highly competent faculty and staff
This job operates in a professional/education/office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.
Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit at desk area, communicate via phone/face to face, manually input data into a computer, walk to different office areas, reach with hands and arms, and minimal lifting.
