Saturday, November 26, 2011

Newsletter

Our school PTA publishes a monthly newsletter that is distributed to every family in our school. I'm sure this project is a huge undertaking, but it is a great way for administrators, teachers, and other school staff to inform parents and other school community members of what is happening in our school.

 I include a page titled, Counselor Connection, in each published newsletter. 


Counselor Connection
  • At the top of the page - Counselor Connection flanked by my name, school, role, counseling office phone number, main office phone number, and my email address.
  • The first section that spans across the page, is my monthly message. In this section, I describe the past month's events and happenings from the counseling office perspective. Highlights from school functions, a message of encouragement, or a short personal story may show up in this section. It is through my message that I hope the readers will be able to see a bit of my personality.
  • Classroom Lessons - This section tells readers what grade levels I visited to do large group guidance lessons, what topics were covered, and some highlights that parents/guardians can bring up in discussions at home to reinforce the skills/concepts learned. This is where I inform readers of upcoming lessons and topic areas.
  • News Flash - Readers will find upcoming events or other helpful information in this section. I will list information about programs I'm running during the school day that require parent permission (such as small groups), after school programs, summer camps/programs, upcoming events for parents/guardians, community service/agency information, and highlights of school events related to the school counseling program. I remind parents/guardians to call for further information and/or applications (if needed), if they have any questions, or if they need any assistance accessing the mentioned services or programs. I include my name and phone number again in this section.

Holiday Season.

Every year I find myself headed into the Holiday Season with shock that it is "that" time of year again!


Our school PTA puts out a monthly newsletter in which I include a page titled The Counselor Connection each time it is published. The Holiday Season and the approach of the harsh winter months is difficult for many families.This year, in The Counselor Connection, I included information for local agencies that provide holiday assistance, utility assistance, and food and clothing assistance.


Considering we may not always be aware of those families who need community services to help get them back on their feet or who are suffering behind closed doors, this reference in the newsletter may be just enough information to encourage those folks to reach out.