Dear Counselors:

We are so grateful for National School Counseling Week because it gives us the opportunity to share with you our deep appreciation for the difference you make in so many young lives every day. Among the most important evolutionary steps we have taken as a school division are initiatives that more closely align the student experience with the contemporary requirements of the world they will enter in their post-graduate life.

Highlighting the importance of supporting students, three initiatives in particular are at the top of the list. Social and emotional learning, with its link to academic and personal development; High School 2022, with its emphasis on authentic career development experiences outside traditional classroom settings; and our upcoming pilot program on unweighted grades, which will provide students with more curriculum choice. All of these initiatives have the potential to match this week’s theme—School Counselors: Helping Students Reach for the Stars.

We know that meeting our one strategic goal—to prepare our graduates for lifelong success as learners, workers and citizens—starts in our earliest grades with the contributions our school counselors make to the students and families they serve.

On behalf of our Board and our entire school community, thank you for the trust and respect you model for students; for the thoughtful and patient relationships you build with families; and for the individualized attention you devote to each student’s needs and aspirations. You truly are extending the reach of every one of our students.

Every week of every year.

Sincerely,

Katherine L. Acuff, Ph.D.
School Board Chair

Pamela R. Moran, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools