Office of School Counseling
Friday Sendoff - January 31, 2020
MUST DO ITEMS - Please read this section carefully
The Semester 1 Use of Time survey is due TODAY.
Upcoming Meetings
Elementary Counselors Meeting
https://registration.bcps.org/Event.aspx?Event_DetailID=29405
This is a mandatory meeting for all elementary school counselors, which includes schools with more than one elementary counselor.
Wednesday, Feb 19, 2020, 09:00 AM
Sollers Point Branch of the Baltimore County Public Library, Sollers Point Road, Dundalk, MD, USA
High School Chairs Meeting
This is a mandatory meting for all high school department chairs.
Thursday, Feb 27, 2020, 08:00 AM
Crossroads Center, Crossroads Circle, Middle River, MD, USA
Middle School Chairs Meeting
This is a mandatory meeting for all middle school department chairs.
Thursday, Feb 27, 2020, 12:00 PM
Crossroads Center, Crossroads Circle, Middle River, MD, USA
Announcements
Stakeholder Survey
**NEW** School Counselor Substitutes
**NEW** National School Counseling Week
Keep an eye on the BCPS headlines next week for some familiar faces!
**NEW** MSDE Related Service Audit - If you are on an IEP for counseling services, please be sure that you are entering the notes in Service Capture. If you haven't had Service Capture training and are not able to enter the notes, please keep a paper record and give them to someone in your building who can enter them for you. This will avoid any "flags" in SPS.
**NEW** Certification Renewal - If you are within one year of your certificate expiring, you should touch base with the certification office to ensure you have what you need to remain employed. The certification office sends a letter to you and your principal alerting you to your pending expiration date. They can provide you with a growth chart so you know what's on file leading to your renewal. This is a great opportunity to utilize the certification worksheet in your school counseling program plan. It is your responsibility to maintain CEU's after our PD's and submit all information before certification. The Office of School Counseling we will not be able to research old CEU forms beyond 2018.
Please see the attached samples and information regarding certification, Lauryn's Law and ancillary credits needed for renewal. Knowing certification requirements is the responsibility of the certificate holder.
**NEW** MSDE Certificate document - If you have a MSDE portal account, you may access and print your certificate via the Educator portal at https://eisportal.msde.maryland.gov or request a copy from MSDE by filling out the Official Certificate Request form found at www.mdcert.org.
SAVE THE DATE!!! The annual Thelma T. Daley Summer Academy will be held on August 21st and 24th. The tentative location is Loyola Graduate Center in Timonium. FREE CEU's will be available for all sessions. Topics will be announced in the coming months.
Welcome back Mike Linkins!! We're happy to announce that Mike Linkins will be back to facilitate site visits again this year. Those schools who haven't had a visit, will receive an email directly from Mike to schedule a time that is convenient for you and/or your department.
Name Changes - If you have a name change that results in an email change or not, please let Sharon know so she can update our records.
Elementary Counselors
Managing Behavior in Kindergarten Groups Check out Counselor Keri's 6 tips for small group counseling with kindergartners!
Middle School Counselors
The link to the February College and Career Newsletter is: https://www.smore.com/uyrhx
Please share with students, staff, parents, and stakeholders!
Great video for students interested in a career as a technician Think you know what it’s like being a technician? See what a day in the life of a race team mechanic and Cat® dealer technician is really like in their Tech Swap series. This video is short enough to show in a 6 year plan session!
High School Counselors
**NEW** 6 week Summer Volunteer Opportunity at the Maryland Zoo Through this unique training program teens and young adults with disabilities are given the opportunity to build prevocational skills through volunteer experiences. These experiences designed through a series of workshops, as well as a potential six week volunteer opportunity help individuals explore personal abilities, challenges and skills related to personal independence and development needed for future successful employment and life opportunities.
All registered participants will engage in a two part workshop series at The IMAGE Center embarking on job exploration and prevocational skill building. This workshop series will conclude with a shadow day at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore where participants will live in the day of a zoo volunteer, have their skills put to the test and will even interview for a six week volunteer opportunity. All interested participants must complete the online registration and commit to the workshops and shadow days. Questions should be directed to jleone@imagemd.org
**NEW** BCPS Scholarship Loan Program now available in Naviance. is designed to encourage and assist new graduates of the Baltimore County Public Schools to consider a professional career in education. After earning a degree from an approved Maryland teacher education program, these former Baltimore County Public Schools students will return to BCPS as teachers and role models for students. This program will provide a $4,000 scholarship loan for up to four years.
Flyer is attached below.
ESSA-at-a-Glance
**NEW** On Track Grade 9
- Math
- ELA
- Science
- Social Studies
- World Languages
The four credits can come from any combination of the above content areas. One thing to note is that EYLP courses do not count as students have to be on track by June.
This could be a department Closing the Gap Action Plan utilizing Schoology, the interim deficiency report and the deficiency reports.
Secondary Counselors
**NEW** Congrats to the following teams for their hard work on the trail to 100% 6 year plan completion:
Eastern Tech (70% completion)
Hereford High (74% completion)
New Town High (70% completion)
Patapsco High (75% completion)
Sparrows Point Middle (65% completion)
Congratulations to the Carver Center team who have seen 100% of their seniors!
Thank you for making this face to face time with students a priority! We truly appreciate your hard work to accomplish this goal!
**NEW** Volunteer Opportunity at Blankets for Warriors Volunteers are invited to make fleece blankets for Mercy's patients undergoing treatment. No experience needed. Join us for 2.5 hours of enjoying friendship and community service. Middle school age children and older are invited. 3/1/20 at 11:00 at Stella Maris Inc. (2300 Dulaney Valley Rd)
**NEW** Check on this month's Secondary Science Newsletter!
CCBC LEAP Programs The LEAP program provides free training and certification for Pharmacy Technician, CNA/GNA, Dental Assistant, Child Care, Logistics/Warehouse, Certified Apartment Maintenance Technician and Medical Front Office for out of school youth, ages 18-24. Each student is assigned a case manager and a job developer during their time in the program. Students also attend financial literacy, computer literacy, academic skills, and job readiness classes at CCBC. (flyers/postcards attached below)
Career Day Presenters The CCBC LEAP staff has volunteered for interview and career days at various schools throughout the County. The team enjoys speaking to students about their future goals and how CCBC can play a vital role in their professional and personal lives. Please contact (dolson3@ccbcmd.edu) or Julia Moon (jmoon@ccbcmd.edu), to schedule presentations and/or to attend career events.
Social Media Activity to Use in Lessons or Small Group Counseling Check out this free resource to use either in a lesson or in group counseling.
Secondary Department Chairs
Materials and Resources for your Counseling Program If there are materials/resources you'd like to purchase for your department to use, such as group counseling programs/curriculum, books, fidgets, parent resources, etc. We have some money in our budget to purchase these things. Please send requests/questions to Sharon Holter. Keep in mind that Amazon is not an approved vendor.
6 Year Plan Completion We are now at the halfway point in the school year. This means that your 6 year plan completion rates should be at 50%. If you are having challenges in meeting the goal of 100% completion by June, please reach out to your specialist sooner rather than later. We are here to support you!
High School Department Chairs
**NEW** Senior Warning Letters
FAFSA Frenzy Please communicate the day/week, time(s) of the day, and location of your FAFSA Frenzy events to Sharon Holter by January 31st. This will allow us to advertise on the BCPS website.
MSDE Senior Survey - We are working with Naviance to prevent the glitches that you experienced with last year's survey. In the meantime, we're waiting to see if MSDE will make changes to the survey questions. For planning purposes, please schedule your dates after Spring break to allow them time to confirm the survey. We need 100% school participation as CTE and senior leadership reviews the information that's imported to MSDE.
College Counselors
- FIRST_NAME
- LAST_NAME
- DOB
- ZIP_CODE
- HIGH_SCHOOL_NAME
To resolve partial matches, have the student open their FAFSA application so you can see what they entered in the fields above and if it matches what's in your excel document. The slightest deviation like Tom and Thomas or 01/01/2001 and 1/1/2001 may contribute to partial matches.
FAFSA Completion lists - Last week you received your MHEC FAFSA completion list from our office. In preparation for your FAFSA Frenzy event, use the list to meet with students who did not complete the FAFSA form or who's form is incomplete. Refer to the department chair note for more information. Below are links to videos that can help you and your students navigate the FAFSA form:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liO5RKKNrhE
MHEC Financial Assistance Programs
State Financial Assistance Programs and Applications
Tuition Waiver for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth
Tuition Waiver for Foster Care Recipients
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.
College Fly-Ins
Bowdoin College - September 17-20, 2020 (for seniors)
Swarthmore College - for seniors
Wellesley College - for seniors
Recently Added/Updated Scholarships in Naviance
Orpheus Lodge #553 Scholarship Program
BEEF/STEM - Education Foundation Scholarship
BCPS Scholarship Loan Program
Lockheed Martin Vocational Scholarship
Relevant Bulletin Items
January 31, 2020 BCPS News Hub
BCPS News Hub is the new format for all superintendent bulletins.
Some highlights from the past week:
MIND OVER MATTERS – FEBRUARY 2020
FINE ARTS CREDIT
BCPS STAKEHOLDER SURVEY
Professional Development
**NEW** Evolving Our Cultural Competence 3 CEU's on 3/12/20 in Dundalk.
**NEW** Through Grief and Through Growth: Promoting Support and Healing for Children and Adolescents in the Face of Loss 2 CEU's (Live Webinar) on 3/26/20
**NEW** Supervision and Leadership, Management Seminar 12 CEU's on 4/27-4/28 in Randallstown. This training will meet 12 of the 18 required CEU's to become an LCPC Board Approved Supervisor.
**NEW** College and University programs and courses - BCPS cohort courses for certification and recertification
CHAMP Training- Toxic Stress and Trauma - Informed Care (FREE) Participants will explore the various components of trauma-informed care and how to apply it to their practice. 2/12/20 at 12:30 - 5:00 in Baltimore. Click on the title to register.
**NEW** Introduction to Special Education course for certification ancillary credit requirement
Introduction to Special Education credits can be taken at any accredited college or university or as Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Below are a few options counselors can consider, however, feel free to research other institutions. If there is question whether a course satisfies the requirement, the course description may be sent to your Certification Analyst for verification.
BCPS: Goucher College Online MSDE CPD Courses
CPDV.9013.BC01 – Educating Students with Disabilities: Identification, LRE, and Effective Instruction (Session 2: March 23, 2020 to May 15, 2020)
CCBC: EDTR 107 – Introduction to Special Education
University of Phoenix: Continuing Education for Teachers
SPED/530 - INTRODUCTION TO LEARNERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
The Certification office communication states that documents must be submitted to the Office of Certification by 90 days prior to the expiration date. However, MSDE allows certificate holders to complete coursework up to June 30th. This time may be used to complete coursework. A second reminder will be sent out in April which will request for counselors to provide registration information to their assigned Certification Analyst.
Reimbursement requests may be submitted if credits are completed at a college or university. Information on the reimbursement process can be found of the Office of Certification webpage.
Resource Roundup
Lending Library Items of the Week
Inspiration and Good News
Melanie update!
Putting Data Into Action at Carney Elementary!
NO suspensions or incidents!
The students showed off their knowledge about the brain!
Congrats to Randallstown High!
Randallstown High School will begin its first on-site CCBC class (English 101) on Tuesday, January 28th! More than 20 students are enrolled in the course! RHS is so excited to begin the partnership with CCBC for on-site courses and hope to offer a summer course and two courses in the fall semester. Thank you to the School Counselors at RHS for their advocacy and hard work to make this happen!
Mentoring and Literacy at Holabird/Norwood
Social Emotional Learning AND Literacy!
BCACD Event: Identifying Students In Crisis
Websites
Traitify: https://bcps.traitify.com/
Other career-related websites:
https://www.bls.gov/k12/content/students/careers/career-exploration.htm
https://www.careeronestop.org/Videos/CareerVideos/career-videos.aspx?frd=true
https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs.html
https://www.cacareerzone.org/budget/
MD CAPS (MHEC): https://mdcaps.mhec.state.md.us/MDCAPS/login.aspx?c=-8586295899786270826&ReturnUrl=/MDCAPS/int/FinAid
College Covered resources for school counselors https://www.collegecovered.com/resources-for-counselors/
Schoology Access Codes
Elementary Counseling Curriculum: M4HSN-FCFN4
Secondary Counseling Curriculum: CFBV7-B6PCM
Threat Management: Q6RHK-WHHVC
College and Career Counseling: PFZD6-65N4V
Curriculum Updates: T7BM2-R8JSC
GSA Sponsors (LGBTQ+ resources): ZMBZ-4QXP-DKC89
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