School Counselors and the Administrative Team
By Kari McGrath | May 2024
Read below about our Emerging Leaders program
If you have asked, “How can we work closer with administrators to meet needs across the entire school?” or “How do we collaborate more effectively to get along?” I am happy to share that it is possible! If you’d said this to me 5+ years ago, I would’ve had the same reaction you may be having: “Yeah, right?!” However, stick with me! We can make this happen!
I have been the school counselor at Conkwright Elementary School (Clark County) for six years. The last four years have shown me that, with open communication and ongoing collaboration as a fully formed administrative team, success can be felt throughout your entire building. So, where do you start? Your lead administration.
Depending on your current relationship with your administration, request and schedule a meeting. Get that bad boy on the calendar! Below, I share ideas, additional team members and topics you can present in this meeting to get your administration's attention and form a fully functioning administrative team for your school.
We want our administration to know that we respect their authority, decision making and desire to build a strong school community. We also want our administrators to know that they don’t have to do it alone – let’s form a team! At my school, our Admin Team consists of the principal, assistant principal, school counselor, family resource coordinator (FRC), attendance clerk, reading interventionist (and math interventionist when we had one), and our building special education facilitator. Your team may look different and that’s okay. The idea is having people who can represent the needs of all students, our families and the school. We meet as a team every Monday morning for roughly 60–75 minutes and we all have this time set aside and do our best to ensure it is uninterrupted.
Why every Monday? The answer is simple: To start each week off on the same page! During our meeting, we all have a moment to share updates, requests, needs, and items for the school-wide calendar. As the school counselor, I’m able to discuss DCBS concerns/reports in a confidential setting, student needs/progress, testing schedules/needs, any “Handle with Care” situations, attendance, etc. Our FRC and attendance clerk also raise truancy concerns each week. We discuss those and schedule our AAA meetings – Academics, Attendance and (overall) Achievement – to bring in caregivers. During AAA meetings, we discuss how attendance is affecting the student’s academics and social/emotional needs, offer support to caregivers and make a plan with them to improve student attendance. These incredibly helpful AAA meetings are a direct reflection of our Admin Team working together to accomplish a goal: improve attendance!
Our Admin Team also builds and updates our school-wide calendar of events that all staff can access via our Shared Google Drive. In the Monday meetings, we divide out certain responsibilities as needed, review academics and benchmarks, behavioral and social-emotional needs, exceptional children needs, PD information, building needs, etc. At the end of each Monday Admin Team meeting, our lead principal sends out a Monday Memo to the staff with any new information or updates. Our staff know the importance of reading that memo and do a great job of paying attention. This also ensures our staff only have to read and follow through on one email – work smarter not harder, right?
I truly value this team and these meetings as part of my schedule. School counselors, especially in elementary schools, can feel like we live on an island. We are the only ones doing our work in our building, and this group allows us to have a team. Although those team members may not fully understand the everyday nuances and struggles of our profession, we can share with them, reach out and ask them for help, and advocate for our profession. Sharing my counseling data in these meetings has helped my Admin Team to see our school’s need for another certified school counselor in our building. Fingers crossed! (Side note: Staffing decisions are not discussed in Admin Team meetings.)
Another benefit of our weekly Admin Team meetings is that each member can speak the same language to our building as a whole. This has cut down on gossip, teacher worries and scheduling conflicts, and has improved our school climate and culture! Our staff sees that partnership and collaboration starts from the top down. We wouldn’t ask others to do things we wouldn’t do as an Admin Team.
Of course, I acknowledge that your leadership must be willing and on board to begin this process – to agree to the weekly meetings, be open to respectful and professional communication, and teamwork! Believe me, I’ve not always had this. As I said earlier, this is no more than 4–5 years strong (I’m in my 13th year). It's been a slow but steady process that has waxed and waned to arrive where we are this school year. It takes time and consistency to find a rhythm that works for your team. Don’t give up if the first year is rocky. I promise, if you’re brave enough to reach out and start the process, you will see the rewards of creating and sustaining an Administrative Team that works hard for the building as a whole.
Kari McGrath is a school counselor at Conkwright Elementary School in Clark County.
If you have asked, “How can we work closer with administrators to meet needs across the entire school?” or “How do we collaborate more effectively to get along?” I am happy to share that it is possible! If you’d said this to me 5+ years ago, I would’ve had the same reaction you may be having: “Yeah, right?!” However, stick with me! We can make this happen!I have been the school counselor at Conkwright Elementary School (Clark County) for six years. The last four years have shown me that, with open communication and ongoing collaboration as a fully formed administrative team, success can be felt throughout your entire building. So, where do you start? Your lead administration.
Depending on your current relationship with your administration, request and schedule a meeting. Get that bad boy on the calendar! Below, I share ideas, additional team members and topics you can present in this meeting to get your administration's attention and form a fully functioning administrative team for your school.
We want our administration to know that we respect their authority, decision making and desire to build a strong school community. We also want our administrators to know that they don’t have to do it alone – let’s form a team! At my school, our Admin Team consists of the principal, assistant principal, school counselor, family resource coordinator (FRC), attendance clerk, reading interventionist (and math interventionist when we had one), and our building special education facilitator. Your team may look different and that’s okay. The idea is having people who can represent the needs of all students, our families and the school. We meet as a team every Monday morning for roughly 60–75 minutes and we all have this time set aside and do our best to ensure it is uninterrupted.
Why every Monday? The answer is simple: To start each week off on the same page! During our meeting, we all have a moment to share updates, requests, needs, and items for the school-wide calendar. As the school counselor, I’m able to discuss DCBS concerns/reports in a confidential setting, student needs/progress, testing schedules/needs, any “Handle with Care” situations, attendance, etc. Our FRC and attendance clerk also raise truancy concerns each week. We discuss those and schedule our AAA meetings – Academics, Attendance and (overall) Achievement – to bring in caregivers. During AAA meetings, we discuss how attendance is affecting the student’s academics and social/emotional needs, offer support to caregivers and make a plan with them to improve student attendance. These incredibly helpful AAA meetings are a direct reflection of our Admin Team working together to accomplish a goal: improve attendance!
Our Admin Team also builds and updates our school-wide calendar of events that all staff can access via our Shared Google Drive. In the Monday meetings, we divide out certain responsibilities as needed, review academics and benchmarks, behavioral and social-emotional needs, exceptional children needs, PD information, building needs, etc. At the end of each Monday Admin Team meeting, our lead principal sends out a Monday Memo to the staff with any new information or updates. Our staff know the importance of reading that memo and do a great job of paying attention. This also ensures our staff only have to read and follow through on one email – work smarter not harder, right?
I truly value this team and these meetings as part of my schedule. School counselors, especially in elementary schools, can feel like we live on an island. We are the only ones doing our work in our building, and this group allows us to have a team. Although those team members may not fully understand the everyday nuances and struggles of our profession, we can share with them, reach out and ask them for help, and advocate for our profession. Sharing my counseling data in these meetings has helped my Admin Team to see our school’s need for another certified school counselor in our building. Fingers crossed! (Side note: Staffing decisions are not discussed in Admin Team meetings.)
Another benefit of our weekly Admin Team meetings is that each member can speak the same language to our building as a whole. This has cut down on gossip, teacher worries and scheduling conflicts, and has improved our school climate and culture! Our staff sees that partnership and collaboration starts from the top down. We wouldn’t ask others to do things we wouldn’t do as an Admin Team.
Of course, I acknowledge that your leadership must be willing and on board to begin this process – to agree to the weekly meetings, be open to respectful and professional communication, and teamwork! Believe me, I’ve not always had this. As I said earlier, this is no more than 4–5 years strong (I’m in my 13th year). It's been a slow but steady process that has waxed and waned to arrive where we are this school year. It takes time and consistency to find a rhythm that works for your team. Don’t give up if the first year is rocky. I promise, if you’re brave enough to reach out and start the process, you will see the rewards of creating and sustaining an Administrative Team that works hard for the building as a whole.
Kari McGrath is a school counselor at Conkwright Elementary School in Clark County.