Counseling Program Overview

District School Counseling Mission Statement:
Our mission as professional school counselors is to provide a comprehensive, developmental counseling program designed to promote the formation of productive and responsible citizens by assisting all students to develop academic, career, and personal/social competencies.

District School Counseling Philosophy Statement:
Denver Public Schools adheres to the philosophy that the school counseling program is an essential and integral part of the overall educational process. The comprehensive program is built on the assumption that certain educational, career, and personal objectives are attainable when school counseling for all students is provided. This implementation acknowledges that school counseling is no longer a service to be offered by one person, but a program coordinated with other educators incorporating a comprehensive curriculum. Growth and learning are developmental; therefore, school counseling must be developmental and sequential.

Denver Public Schools' counseling program, when fully implemented, will provide:

• A school counseling program that reaches the needs of 100% of the student population.
• A programmatic approach to school counseling services and programs.
• Accountability for school counseling programs.
• Counselors who devote full time to the programs’ implementation as prescribed by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model.
• Identification and achievement of student competencies and outcomes through the school counseling program.

District School Counseling Belief Statement:
To implement the school counseling program in Denver Public Schools, counselors are committed to the following.

We believe:

• All students have dignity and worth.
• All students have the right to be served by the school counseling program.
• The school counseling program shall be evaluated on stated goals and related student competencies.
• The school counseling program should be consistent with expected developmental stages of learning.
• School counseling program activities shall be planned and coordinated by the counseling staff.
• All students’ ethnic, cultural, and racial differences and special needs are considered in the planning and implementation of the school counseling program.
• The school counseling program will utilize community resources.
• The school counseling program shall be managed by state-certified, master’s degree-level counselors.
• All students should have access to a school counselor to discuss academic, career, and personal/social concerns.
• The student and parent(s) are responsible for monitoring the student’s educational progress with the assistance of a professional school counselor.
• An ongoing program of counselor competency training/retraining is necessary to maintain a quality school counseling program.
• Professional mandates and guidelines proposed by the national and state counselors associations will continue to set standards for the school counseling program.
• All counselors abide by the professional ethics of guidance and counseling as advocated by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA).