Office of School Counseling
Friday Sendoff - October 18, 2019
Trailblazers Personalize the Experience
MUST DO ITEMS - Please read this section carefully
Some reminders about the School Counseling Program Plans and Closing the Gap Action Plans:
- Your individual program plans are due November 1, 2019
- The timeline and resources are located in the 9/6/2019 newsletter.
- Departments can create one program plan for the whole group but each counselor must have their own action plans. No 2 counselors should be targeting the same students in their action plans.
- Counselors who are split between 2 schools must create 3 action plans for each of their schools.
- While there are 4 categories of Action Plan goals provided (Academic, Attendance, Climate, Post-Secondary), there is no requirement as to how many action plans you should have for each category. Nor is it a requirement to do 1 of each. Action Plans are based on the individual school's needs.
- The Program Plan template as well as links to the BCPS Blueprint 2.0 and ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors are all available in the Program Plan resources folders in your Schoology Groups.
- The Padlet created in the Elementary Closing the Gap session is also available in the Elementary Schoology group.
- Please submit your program plan to your assigned Specialist only.
West Zone - MaatenRe
East Zone - Jen
Central Secondary - MaatenRe
Central Elementary - Jen
Upcoming Meetings
School Counseling Program Plan Bootcamp
RSVP on the 9/6/19 send-off
Tuesday, Oct 22, 2019, 09:00 AM
6901 North Charles Street, Towson, MD, USA
Curriculum Updates Meeting (for Department Chairs and Master Schedulers)
Please share this registration link with your master scheduler
https://registration.bcps.org/Event.aspx?Event_DetailID=27856
Wednesday, Oct 23, 2019, 08:00 AM
CCBC Essex, Rossville Boulevard, Baltimore, MD, USA
CTE Exploration Day for 1st Year Counselors
Thursday, Nov 7, 2019, 07:30 AM
Sollers Point Technical High School, Delvale Avenue, Dundalk, MD, USA
Announcements
**NEW** Handle with Care - We had a few questions about the determination for notification to school principals. An SRO shared that there's no threshold to make schools aware of an incident that occurred within the community. It seems that the notifications occur for serious situations but more likely on a case by case basis. This happens because it's not protocol to ask children where they attend school when responding to a call. They're typically engaging in small talk with a child who could be traumatized by the event. As the process evolves, we'll likely see increased notifications.
**NEW** DSS STATE CLOSINGS - if you tried calling CPS on Monday, you learned that DSS was closed for the Columbus Day holiday. There is a recording available that gives the number for the After Hours Line (410-583-9398), which should be used anytime the office is closed. Just so you know, DSS has another State closure coming up when schools are open on Veteran's Day 11/11/19.
List of School Based Mental Health Providers - In the attachments below is a list of all of the Community Mental Health Partners that are approved for BCPS schools. This list includes the location of the agencies, languages spoken, services provided, and insurances they take. This list is updated periodically as new providers form partnerships and update their information with BCPS. In order to get the most updated list, visit the School Based Mental Health Wiki. The link is also available in the Threat Management Schoology Group.
Teen Drop-in Center is a safe and fun place for teens with exciting and enriching activities. A caring team of peer counselors and recovery specialists will welcome and provide after school structure and activities. See flyer in attachments below. Call 667-600-3656 for more information.
EMPLOYEE WELLNESS FACEBOOK PAGE
Employee Wellness now has a Facebook page. The purpose of the page is to keep employees informed, engaged, and connected to all of the Employee Wellness initiatives and incentives that are offered throughout the year. Employees are welcome to request to become a member of the group. Once accepted, employees will receive communication on various health and wellness opportunities as they become available.
Do you need Lauryn's Law CEU's?
Middle School Counselors
**NEW** Career Girls - CareerGirls.org is a comprehensive video-based career exploration tool for girls. It’s free to use, and, as important, it's free of ads. They have the largest online collection of career videos focusing exclusively on diverse and accomplished women, and we add to it weekly.
Career Girls Skills Based Empowerment Lessons
https://www.careergirls.org/be-empowered/develop-life-skills/
Junior Achieve Inspire Field Trip Updates - As promised, we kept as much of this trip off your plates as possible. Some important information about the November 13 - 14 Field trip:
- ALL 8th graders from all schools will attend.
- Lessons will be delivered by Social Studies teachers.
- Principals received the information from the CTE office as of last week.
- Field Trip and Bus Information was communicated to the Assistant Principals by the CTE office on 10/8/19. This includes your school's assigned date and time.
The October College & Career Newsletter link is https://www.smore.com/xhy0v
Secondary Counselors
**NEW** US Naval Academy Summer STEM
Do you have students thinking of a career as a coder, game developer, designer, or robotics engineer? Then they should start with the experience of a world-class program like the Naval Academy’s Summer STEM Program.
STEM is all about exploring, creating, building, and making things better, and at our Summer STEM Program, they’ll do just that. They'll work with students from all over the country as they test your problem-solving, creativity, and collaboration skills.
High School Department Chairs
High School Counselors
**NEW** US Naval Academy Summer Seminar
Monthly Job Outlook Information - See attachments below
Register Today for FAFSA® Webinars in October
The PowerPoint from the 10/9/19 FSA Webinar on FAFSA Updates is in the attachments below.
Upcoming College Fairs
School Based College Fairs
Lansdowne High School Future Fair - October 22nd at 6pm
Kenwood High School Fair - October 22nd at 6pm
Milford Mill Academy HBCU Fair - November 7th at 10am
NACAC College Fair Baltimore: Monday, October 21, 2019 to Tuesday, October 22, 2019
October 21, 2019
9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
October 22, 2019
9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
For more information: https://www.nacacfairs.org/attend/national-college-fairs/baltimore-national-college-fair/
Scholarships Expiring in October
College Counselors
**NEW** Naval Academy Nominations - During our meeting, the Commander explained that part of the application process involved four nominations students must obtain, each with their own deadline. Below is a link to more information about nominations (reminder: the Vice President nomination is the easiest and should be one students definitely apply for).
https://www.usna.edu/Admissions/Apply/Nomination-Sources.php
Ben Cardin service academy nomination process:
https://www.cardin.senate.gov/help/service-academy
Chris Van Hollen service academy nomination process:
https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/constituent-services/academy-nominations
Elijah Cummings service academy nomination process:
https://cummings.house.gov/services/service-academy-nominations
FAFSA Tip of the month:
The 2020–21 FAFSA® demo site became available on Sunday, Sept. 29. The demo site is a learning tool you can use to complete a sample FAFSA form. View the demo site at fafsademo.test.ed.gov.
MHEC Financial Assistance Programs
State Financial Assistance Programs and Applications
Tuition Waiver for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth
Tuition Waiver for Foster Care Recipients
**NEW** UMBC College Application Waiver - The University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) has partnered with the Maryland College Application Campaign (MCAC) to provide an application fee waiver for participating schools in the college campaign. The application fee waiver code, MCAC2019, has been added as one of the UMBC specific fee waivers on the Common App. Currently the code is available for use for the 2019-2020 application cycle (through July 31, 2020).
**NEW** Common Black College App: FEE REDUCTION - BCPS seniors may apply to the 56 member HBCU's with the promotion code for only $15. Please encourage your students to select “Apply All” when completing the CBCA. To apply, click the link below:
- https://commonblackcollegeapp.com/ The promo code is: bcps2020
**NEW** NACAC Request for Admission Application Fee Waiver
Students who have limited financial resources may use the NACAC Request for Application Fee Waiver Form when applying for college. The form — aimed at students planning to enroll in post-secondary education immediately following high school graduation — helps ensure that access to college is possible for all.
Hood College - No application fee
Hood College has requested to partner with the Maryland College Application Campaign (MCAC). There is no application fee for Hood College.
The following are resources around the Hood College application process.
https://www.hood.edu/admission-aid/first-year-students/first-year-admission
This links is to their first-year admission website and has the application requirements and deadlines. Attached is also a link to a portion of their website specifically geared towards high school counselors, especially helpful if you 're not very familiar with Hood College.
https://www.hood.edu/admission-aid/school-counselors
Please feel free to contact the admission counselor listed below if there is additional information that would be helpful as you are working with students.
Becca Reitmeyer, Admission Counselor
Office Phone 301-696-3408
Cell Phone 301-846-8415
Email reitmeyer@hood.edu
Wellesley College Information Session
The Wellesley College Club of Philadelphia is hosting an information session presented by Claire Devlin '18, Assistant Director of Admission. Please feel free to share this event invitation with any girls at your school who may be interested.
When:
Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 2:00 PM until 4:00 PM
Where:
Free Library of Philadelphia
1901 Vine St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Attractions:
- Other (inquisitive!) students who want to learn more about Wellesley
- Warm greetings, good conversation, general happiness
- An opportunity for you to ask questions
RSVP:
Click here to register.
College Fly-Ins
RIT Counselor Breakfast and Information Session (Maryland)
https://join.rit.edu/portal/ugrd_breakfasts
https://cnu.edu/admission/freshman/toursandevents/hscounselor/
York College of Pennsylania Counselor Breakfast
https://www.ycp.edu/admissions/visit-york/guidance-counselor-breakfasts/
University of Tampa Counselor Fly-In
https://apply-undg.ut.edu/portal/gcvisit
2019 Fall and 2020 Spring Diversity – Student Fly-In Visit Programs
https://getmetocollege.org/what-colleges-look-for/2019-fall-diversity-visit-programs
University of Arizona Counselor Fly-In Program
https://admissions.arizona.edu/counselors/newsletter/ua-counselor-fly
Colleges of Rochester Tour Counselor Fly-In Program
https://www.rit.edu/emcs/admissions/cort/index.php
Upstate New York Counselor Tour
https://unytcounselortour.org/
Vanderbilt University Counselor Conference
https://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/counselors/conference.php
University Of Dallas - Magic in the Metroplex Counselor Program
https://udallas.edu/admissions/magic-in-the-metroplex/index.php
Relevant Bulletin Items
October 11, 2019 Bulletin
https://intranet.bcps.org/superintendent/bulletin/2019/1011/Bulletin101119.pdf
662. E-MAIL SAFETY
663. EMPLOYEE SELF SERVICE (ESS)
674. HEALTH SERVICES- YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING
676. MARYLAND CULTURAL PROFICIENCY CONFERENCE
682. RESTORATIVE PRACTICES TRAINING FOR BCPS LEADERS
690. SPECIAL EDUCATION – GIVING A FISH A BATH: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE ADOLESCENT MIND
693. SPECIAL EDUCATION – OVERCOMING DEPRESSION: FUNCTIONAL COPING SKILLS FOR TEENS AND TWEENS
694. SPECIAL EDUCATION – ROOTS AND WINGS: PREPARING YOUR CHILD FOR LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL
695. STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES-RECORDS TRAINING-FALL 2019
696. TED MASTERCLASS
697. TITLE I PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITY: MCKINNEY-VENTO SCHOOL-BASED LIAISON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FALL 2019
702. ATTENDANCE AWARENESS MONTH 2019-2020
707. MANDATORY STUDENT DATA PRIVACY COMPLIANCE TRAINING
709. MULTILINGUAL MAGNET PROGRAM INFORMATION VIDEOS AVAILABLE!
711. OPEN ENROLLMENT 2020
712. REQUIRED ONLINE CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT ANNUAL TRAINING MODULE REMINDER
717. TITLE I ANNOUNCEMENT: SCHOOL-BASED HOMELESS LIAISON ROLE
Professional Development
Advanced Trauma Counseling & Attachment Theory - Webinar 12/16/19 - 3 CEU's
Best Approaches in Trauma Treatment - 11/14/19 in Annapolis, earn 6 CEU's
Resource Roundup
Lending Library Items of the Week:
Mind Up is a research-based curriculum that features 15 lessons using the latest information about the brain to dramatically improve behavior and learning for all students. Each lesson offers easy strategies for helping students focus their attention, improve their self-regulation skills, build resilience to stress, and develop a positive mind-set in both school and life. We have 2 versions of this book in our lending library, one for grades Prek - 2 and one for grades 3 - 5.
Girls in Real Life Situations is a unique group counseling curriculum that provides over 80 activities divided into ten session themes. During group lessons, young girls are encouraged to share feelings and struggles as they openly discuss important issues in a safe and supportive environment. They are given the opportunity to feel empowered, gain self-awareness, develop coping strategies, improve problem-solving skills, understand that they are not alone, and learn to make healthy decisions. We have 2 versions of this curriculum, one for K-5 and one for 6 -12
Office of School Counseling Lending Library
Email Sharon Holter to borrow any items from our Lending Library.
Inspiration and Good News
Schoology Access Codes
Elementary Counseling Curriculum: M4HSN-FCFN4
Secondary Counseling Curriculum: CFBV7-B6PCM
Threat Management: Q6RHK-WHHVC
Contact Information
Naviance Support: 1-866-337-0080 option 2 & support@naviance.com
Signup Genius Support: support@signupgenius.com
CPS email address: dhr.baltimorecountycps@maryland.gov
MHEC FAFSA Completion (MD CAPS): fafsa.mhec@maryland.gov