Bryant School District
Guidance Counselor - Junior High

Department: Junior High

Job Status: Full Time
FLSA Status: Exempt

Reports To: Building Administrator
Grade/Level: Certified

Amount of Travel Required: Varies
Job Type: Regular

Positions Supervised: None
Work Schedule: 205-day contract. Counselors are on-duty for 7 hrs., 40 minutes per day but may periodically be required to attend after-school or evening events as a normal expectation of their position.

POSITION SUMMARY
Counsel students and provide group educational and vocational guidance services. Serve as test coordinator.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Reasonable Accommodations Statement
To accomplish this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation, each essential function satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to help enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Essential Functions Statement(s)
• Counsel individuals to help them understand and overcome personal, social, or behavioral problems affecting their educational or vocational situations.
• Provide crisis intervention to students when difficult situations occur at schools.
• Assess student needs.
• Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by law, district policies, and administrative regulations.
• Evaluate students' or individuals' abilities, interests, and personality characteristics using tests, records, interviews, or professional sources.
• Report cases of suspected domestic abuse or other family problems and encourage students or parents to seek additional assistance from mental health professionals.
• Counsel students regarding educational issues, such as course and program selection, class scheduling and registration, school adjustment, truancy, study habits, and career planning.
• Provide special services such as alcohol and drug prevention programs and classes that teach students to handle conflicts without resorting to violence.

• Collaborate with teachers to assist administrators in the development, evaluation, and revision of school programs and in the preparation of master schedules for curriculum offerings.
• Assist the Principal in creating orientation activities for students transitioning from the elementary to the middle school level.
• Prepare reports on students and activities as required by administration.
• Create evening events for parents to receive information on academic, graduation, and career opportunities for students.
• Teach classes and present self-help or information sessions on subjects related to education and career planning.
• Attend meetings, educational conferences, and training workshops and serve on committees.
• Address community groups, faculty, and staff members to explain available counseling services.
• Review student transcripts.
• Sponsor extracurricular activities such as clubs, student organizations, and academic contests.
• Demonstrate knowledge of counseling theory and techniques.
• Demonstrate knowledge of child and adolescent development.
• Establish goals for the counseling program according to the setting and the students served.
• Demonstrate knowledge of state and federal regulations and of resources both within and beyond the school and district.
• Plan the counseling program integrated with the regular school program.
• Develop a plan to assess the counseling program.
• Create an environment of respect and rapport.
• Establish a culture for productive communication.
• Manage routines and procedures.
• Establish standards of conduct and contributing to the culture for student behavior throughout the school.
• Assist students and teachers in the formulation of academic and/or personal/social plans based on knowledge of students.
• Use counseling techniques in individual and classroom programs.
• Arrange resources to meet needs.
• Demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness.
• Reflect on practice and participate in professional development activities to enhance professional learning.
• Communicate with families.
• Maintain professionalism with all staff members.
• Participate in a professional community.
• Report to the proper authorities any cases of suspected child endangerment, neglect, or abuse.
• Report suspected bullying to building principal or designee as required by Arkansas law and district policies.
• Adhere to all policies of the District.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Principal or other administrators.

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS
Competency Statement(s)
• Accountability - Ability to accept responsibility and account for his/her actions.
• Accuracy - Ability to perform work accurately and thoroughly.
• Active Listening - Ability to actively attend to, convey, and understand the comments and questions of others.
• Client Oriented - Ability to take care of the clients" needs while following district procedures.
• Communication, Oral - Ability to communicate effectively with others using the spoken word.
• Communication, Written - Ability to communicate in writing clearly and concisely.
• Conflict Resolution - Ability to deal with others in an antagonistic situation.
• Decision Making - Ability to make critical decisions while following district procedures.
• Detail Oriented - Ability to pay attention to the minute details of a project or task.
• Diversity Oriented - Ability to work effectively with people regardless of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or job type.
• Empathetic - Ability to appreciate and be sensitive to the feelings of others.
• Ethical - Ability to demonstrate conduct conforming to a set of values and accepted standards.
• Friendly - Ability to exhibit a cheerful demeanor toward others.
• Goal Oriented - Ability to focus on a goal and obtain a pre-determined result.
• Honesty / Integrity - Ability to be truthful and be seen as credible in the workplace.
• Interpersonal - Ability to get along well with a variety of personalities and individuals.
• Judgment - The ability to formulate a sound decision using the available information.
• Organized - Possessing the trait of being organized or following a systematic method of performing a task.
• Patience - Ability to act calmly under stress and strain, and of not being hasty or impetuous.
• Regular attendance - Exhibiting regular attendance in order to perform duties in a satisfactory manner.
• Relationship Building - Ability to effectively build relationships with students, staff, and parents.
• Reliability - The trait of being dependable and trustworthy.
• Responsible - Ability to be held accountable or answerable for one’s conduct.
• Self-Motivated - Ability to be internally inspired to perform a task to the best of one's ability using his or her own drive or initiative.
• Tactful - Ability to show consideration for and maintain good relations with others.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

Education: Bachelor's Degree (four year college or technical school) Required, Field of Study: Counseling
Master's Degree Preferred, Field of Study: Counseling

Experience: Previous experience as a school counselor preferred.

Computer Skills: Shall be able to demonstrate an acceptable level of proficiency with computers and programs associated with the position.

Certifications & Licenses: Current Arkansas teaching license required. Must meet all state and federal requirements for the position.

Other Requirements:

1. Successful completion of pre-employment background checks.
2. Appropriate personal and professional conduct at all times around students, staff, and the general public.

WORK ENVIRONMENT
Most work is performed in an indoor office environment. The sound level ranges from very quiet to moderate depending on the activities being conducted.

Employee Signature:

Date:

The Human Resources Department has reviewed this job description to ensure that essential functions and basic duties have been included. It is intended to provide guidelines for job expectations and the employee's ability to perform the position described. It is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all functions, responsibilities, skills and abilities. Additional functions and requirements may be assigned by supervisors as deemed appropriate. This document does not represent a contract of employment, and the Bryant School District reserves the right to change this job description and/or assign tasks for the employee to perform, as the District may deem appropriate.

It is the policy of the Bryant School District not to discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, national origin, or disability in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices.