What does a School Counselor do?

 Elementary school counselors are educators uniquely trained in child development, learning strategies, self-management and social skills, who understand and promote success for today's diverse students.  We implement a comprehensive school counseling program to support students through this important developmental period.  Our program provides education, prevention and intervention activities, which are integrated into all aspects of children's lives.  Our program teaches knowledge, attitudes and skills students need to acquire in academic, career and social/emotional development, which serve as the foundation for future success.  We provide a proactive program that engages students and includes leadership, advocacy and collaboration with school staff, administration and community/family member in the delivery of programs and activities to help students achieve success.

 A school counselor is available to address the various needs of our students.  Sometimes a student needs help navigating through a situation.  Other times a student may need more assistance and parents will be contacted.  The parents and the school counselor will discuss options such as continued visits with the school counselor or referral to various behavioral/mental health agencies.  In addition, ECASD elementary counselors provide the following, more detailed services:

 As counselors in the ECASD, we are involved in many aspects of the development of programming and resources for our students, as well as the parents and community at large.  We off individual and small group counseling for a variety topics, as well as leading support teams (SAP and Retention) for academic concerns.  We lead our School Wide Positive Action teams in assisting our students learning social/emotional skills and celebrating their successes.  We work with staff to provide career awareness and academic achievement.  We collaborate on a daily basis with parents and teachers to help students become the most confident and healthiest person, learner, and citizen he/she can be.

 To help navigate our page, you will find Mental Health and Parental Resources tabs on the left side of this page and School Resource tabs to the right.  We look forward to providing the most comprehensive and consistent counseling services to our students and families.

Hospitals

Sharon Regional Hospital in Hermitage, PA  - 724-983-5454

Belmont Pines Hospital in Youngstown, OH - 800-423-5666

Western Psychiatric Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA  - 412-652-9000

Southwood Psychiatric Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA - 412-203-4057

Clarion Psychiatric Center in Clarion, PA  - 800-253-4906

https://pbskids.org/

A safe place for kids to explore and play hundreds of fun educational games with their favorite PBS KIDS characters.

Kids Health

A great website for children and parents alike.  It covers a variety of topics that promote physical as well as emotional well being.    

School Resources 

SAP/ESAP

What is the Student Assistance Program?

The Pennsylvania Student Assistance Program (SAP) is a systematic team process used to mobilize school resources to remove barriers to learning.  SAP is designed to assist in identifying issues including school, tobacco, other drugs, and mental health issues which pose a barrier to a student's success.  The primary goal of the Student Assistance Program is to help students overcome these barriers so that they may achieve, advance, and remain in school.  While Student Assistance Programs exist  in other areas of the country, the structure and operation of the program in Pennsylvania is a unique expression of an integrated model serving the needs of Pennsylvania families and students.

The core of the Student Assistant Program is a professionally trained team, including school staff and liaisons from community drug and alcohol and mental health agencies.  SAP team members are trained to identify issues, determine whether or not the presenting issue lies within the responsibility of the school, and to make recommendations to assist the student and the parent.  When the issue lies beyond the scope of the school, the SAP team will assist the parent and student so they may access services within the community.  SAP team members do not diagnose, treat or refer to treatment; but they may refer a student to a liaison who may screen or assess for further community based services and support.

There are four phases to the student assistance process:

Referral- Anyone can refer a student to SAP when they are concerned about someone's behavior-- any school staff, a student's friend, a family member or community member.  The students themselves can even go directly to the SAP team to ask for help.  The SAP team contacts the parent for permission to proceed with the SAP process.

Team Planning- The SAP team gathers objective information about the student's performance in school from all school personnel who have contact with the student.  Information is also collected from the parent.  The team meets with the parent to discuss the data collected and also meets with the student.  Together, a plan is developed that includes strategies for removing the learning barriers and promoting the student's academic and personal success to include in-school and/or community-based services and activities.

Intervention and Recommendations- The plan is put into action.  The team assists in linking the student to in-school and/or community-based services and activities.  The team might recommend a drug and alcohol or mental health screening or assessment.

Support and Follow-Up- The SAP team continues to work with and support the student and their family.  Follow-up includes monitoring, mentoring, and motivating for academic success.  It is the parent's right to be involved in the process and to have full access to all school records under the applicable state and federal laws and regulations.  Involvement of parents in all phases of the Student Assistance Program underscores the parents' role and responsibility in the decision-making process affecting their child's education and is key to the successful resolution of barriers.

For students receiving treatment through a community agency, the student assistance team, in collaboration with parents and the agency, can assist in helping plan in-school support services during and after treatment.  The team's effectiveness in helping the student and the parent remove the barriers to learning and improve student performance depends on the training of the individual team members, maintenance of the student assistance team and process, level of administrative commitment and board support, active parent and student involvement and the available resources both in school and the community.

Retention

Positive Action

Grades K-6 implemented a new Social Emotional Curriculum called Positive Action this fall.  Positive Action lessons are taught in each class by the homeroom teacher throughout the week.  These lessons center around the philosophy that when you feel good about yourself you do positive actions.  Students in K-6 have learned that Positive Thoughts lead to Positive Actions which lead to Positive Feelings about themselves- with this in mind, we hope this leads to a culture of positivity and resilience in our buildings.  There are six units in the curriculum that teach and discuss the following ideas: Self-Concept, Healthy Body and Mind, Managing Emotions, Healthy Relationships, Self-Honesty, and Improving Yourself Continually.  Each unit begins with a school wide assembly that reviews the prior concepts, highlights classroom activities, rewards and recognizes student achievements, and introduces the next concept.

School Wide Positive Behavior Support

Attendance

Bread Basket

Ellwood City Schools participate in the Ellwood City Bread Basket Program.  This program is an extension of the Feeding American BackPack Program that has been fighting against hunger in America for more than 15 years.  The goal of the program is to help provide children with nutritious, easy-to-prepare food to take home on the weekends when other resources are not available to them.

ECASD participates in this program in hopes that none of our students go hungry over the weekends.  To ensure that your child confidentially receives their bag of food on Fridays, each building has a procedure to distribute the food at the end of the day; North Side and Perry teachers put the bags in student backpacks at discreet times; Hartman students pick their bags up in the Nurse's office at the end of the day, and Lincoln students pick their bags up in the Guidance office at the end of the day.  If your student(s) is in need of this program for this school year, we ask that you contact your child's school counselor.

Grades K-2 School Counselor/K-12 Community Liaison

Debbie Wiech

724-752-1591 ext. 4278

dwiech@ecasdk12.org

Grades 4-6 School Counselor

Christina Mendillo

Hartman 724-752-1591 ext. 1205

Perry 724-752-1591 ext. 2905

cmendillo@ecasdk12.org