1. BWHS School Counseling Department
Dave Royhab, Director
Counseling Department Hours
8:30am – 4:30pm
Phone

2. Counselor Freshman Assignments
Susan James: A – C
Beth Dekenipp: D – Ho
Tobi Rouse: Hu – La
Edna Rivera: Le – P
Kim Pond: Q – Te
Rick Mondloch: Th – Z

3. Additional Mental Health Team Members
Kristin Quimby, School Social Worker
Rob Urbassick, School Psychologist
Allyne Zappala, Student Assistance Spec.

4. Counseling Dept. Support Staff
Rae Comparin, Career Center Assistant
Melissa Pumphrey, Secretary
Corina Lawson, Secretary

5. Post-Secondary Planning Personal and Social Development
A high school counselor’s primary job is to help students (and parents!) navigate through high school!
Academic Advising
Post-Secondary Planning
Personal and Social Development
Mental Health Team

6. Schedules Schedules went live on ParentVUE today
Contact a counseling secretary with any account access issues
Schedules are still subject to change (rare)
Students will receive a hard-copy schedule on green paper tomorrow
Students will receive an “official” schedule in homeroom on the first day of school (white paper)

7. First Week Homeroom Sign-Up Sheet
You are signed up for a class you already passed
You are signed up for the same class more than once
You are signed up for a class you are taking through Virtual Loudoun
You are signed up for a class you believe you are missing the prerequisite for
You believe you are missing a core class

8. Requests for Schedule Changes
Two types of schedule changes:
Elective Changes
Academic Level Changes

9. Elective Changes
Students are not permitted to change electives unless there are extenuating circumstances

10. Academic Level Changes
Window for requesting a level change to a more challenging course: Between the second week of school and the distribution of the first marking period interims (9/4/ /3/18)
Window for requesting a level changes to a less challenging course: Between the distribution of the first marking period interims and the second marking period interims (10/3/ /12/18)
Level changes to less challenging classes are for students who are truly in a class that is too difficult for them
Level changes often create schedule conflicts. Students who change levels may have to give up an elective
Level changes are sometimes not possible depending on class availability

11. Academic Level Changes
Level changes will be considered on a case-by-case basis
Many factors are considered:
Student input
Parent input
Counselor input
Overall course load
Teacher feedback
Availability of alternate courses
Post-secondary plans
Individual strengths & weaknesses

12. How students can schedule a meeting with a school counselor
During the first week of school (Thursday & Friday), students can sign-up to see a counselor in homeroom for a qualifying scheduling reason
After the first week, students sign-up to see a counselor by filling out an online request form
ALWAYS: For urgent situations, students should tell any adult that they need to go to the counseling department

13. How students can schedule a meeting with a school counselor
Schedule an appointment using the tablet in the counseling office
Go to the counseling website and look under “General Information” to access the online form
Copy this link and fill out the online form:
Use the QR code (posted in all classrooms) and fill out the online form

14. School Counseling Activities for Freshmen
Depression awareness classroom presentations in November
Fall counseling classroom activity in December
Winter scheduling activities in January/February
Spring counseling classroom activity in March

15. Communication Counseling section in the newsletter ConnectEd emails
Counseling related events will be posted on the school calendar and in the newsletter
Feel free to attend events marketed for other grade levels!
Twitter
Hallway announcements for students
Counseling webpage on the BWHS website
Counselor and Mental Health Team links
Director’s link
Presentation & Forms pages

16. It’s Going to Be a Great Year!
Thank You!
It’s Going to Be a Great Year!