Published December 19, 2018
By JILLIAN STRING
LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield High School Guidance Department Head Kathryn Moody, along with School Counselors Scott MacKenzie, Samantha Pindara, and Adjustment Counselor Kristen Dee, attended the Dec. 11 School Committee meeting to provide an overview of guidance services.
“Our role is to work with students and families in order to promote students’ academic, career, and social emotional development and to meet their full potential as students and citizens of the global community,” Moody said.
Moody continued on to state that the overarching theme of the department is the social-emotional health of students.
“(Social-emotional health) impacts everything,” Moody said. “It impacts academics. It impacts career and college decisions. It impacts what they’re doing in the classroom everyday, and what they’re doing in their lives.”
The Guidance Department’s structure is set up so that students will keep the same counselor for all four years.
According to Moody, the department website, www.lynnfield.k12.ma.us/high/about-lhs/high-school-guidance/, has information regarding caseloads, test prep, and other important resources.
“It’s where we get as much concrete information out to families and the community as possible,” Moody said.
The academic advising done by the counselors focuses on course selection as well as post-secondary planning.
According to MacKenzie, the course selection process generally begins in February when the new Program of Studies is published. Counselors begin meeting with students in March to select courses for the following school year.
MacKenzie noted that the post-secondary planning process begins in grade 10, when students are introduced to Naviance, an American college and career readiness software provider that partners with high schools and other K-12 institutions to provide students with college planning and career assessment tools.
“We do not do anything college specific prior to 11th grade,” MacKenzie said. “That doesn’t mean we don’t start talking to these kids, though, about life after high school. We actually start the process with them in the second half of their sophomore year to begin thinking about themselves in the big picture.”
Moody stated that classroom presentations are given to juniors in January, with a planning night for families taking place in February. Individual meetings with juniors begin in March, and workshops and college representative visits generally occur in April and May.
Senior class planning is ongoing from September, Pindara said.
Dee said the role of the adjustment counselor is slightly different. She is available to serve students in both general and special education, helping them build skills and strategies to better access the curriculum and prevent barriers to learning.
The guidance counselors refer students to Dee.
“Do you find that there’s been a shift in how you’re spending your time with these students? Is there more, for lack of a better word, counseling as opposed to academic guidance going on,” School Committee Chairman Jamie Hayman asked.
Moody stated that there are more students who need help navigating the day than there used to be.
“I think, in a really good way, a lot of taboos have been kind of thrown aside, a lot of walls were broken down,” MacKenzie added. “You have young kids who are more willing to raise their hand and say I need some help with this, and since 1999 the structure of the job at Lynnfield High School in the guidance office has changed drastically.”
