The Middle School Guidance program consists primarily of group guidance in monthly meetings with Mrs. Morris, the Middle School Guidance Counselor. Mrs. Morris meets once a month with the girls for 45 minutes and the boys for 45 minutes. There may be a time that the entire class has group guidance for the 45 minute period. There are 4 sections of each grade.

We believe this is a very effective method as Mrs. Morris is able to meet the students and get to know them very quickly. More importantly the students need to know they have a guidance counselor and they can ask to see her privately at any time. Mrs. Morris may meet individually with a student on an as needed basis.

Parents are encouraged to share with Mrs. Morris any issue that may impact their son or daughter here at school, for example, a family member’s illness. This type of sharing enables the school to offer support and understanding to the individual student.

The rules of the group guidance classes are as follows: “We do not put up with put downs”, everyone must either speak to the topic presented or “pass”, everyone gets a turn, and confidentiality is respected. Students are encouraged to share everything with their parents. They are told that they must keep a secret unless there is a “hurt” involved, for example, someone is being hurt, someone is hurting someone else or someone is hurting themselves. Each year a list of topics are set up for each grade level as a framework. They are followed as much as possible. At times, an issue may come up that will take precedence over the planned topic.