Referrals

Counselor Referral Process

Ways to refer:

A student may refer themselves (all students have access to self-referral forms in their classrooms and outside of Miss Vassar’s office)
A teacher/staff may refer a student by CLICKING HERE.
A parent may refer his/her child by CLICKING HERE.

For a parent/counselor meeting:

Reasons for a referral.

You have concerns with your child’s attitude toward school.
You have concerns with your child’s academic growth.
You have concerns with your child’s relationships with peers at school.
You have concerns with your child’s personal growth or their social emotional needs.
You have concerns with your child’s reactions to changes within the family that may be affecting his/her learning at school.

Why should it be done:

Provides students with more one on one help, support, and intervention
Increases specificity of interventions and supports and tailors them to the student
Increases privacy for the student
Removes the student from the situation or circumstance to discuss solutions to it
Reduces anxiety and pressure on student
Provides the student with the full attention of an adult
Makes student feel secure
Allows an adult to give a student undivided attention
Frees the teacher up to continue teaching the rest of the class without having to stop to speak or counsel a student in the hall or away from the class

When should it be done:

When students are over emotional and cannot calm down in an appropriate and brief amount of time
When a student’s needs are greater than those the teacher can provide in the classroom setting
When a student requires more support and attention to address or solve a problem, issues, etc.
When students need more specific and individualized help, solutions, and plans to address issues
When a student needs more privacy than a teacher can provide in the classroom

How should it be done:

Counselor referrals may be planned or spontaneous.
For planned referrals, have the student set up a day or days and times to meet with the counselor ahead of time and provide the student with reminders.
For spontaneous referrals where an incident happens and the student unexpectedly requires counselor support, send the student down to the counselor with a note briefly explaining what happened, or send the student down and call and explain to the counselor the issue.
- You may walk the student down or send another student to walk down with the student to the counselor.
- The counselor may also come to the room to retrieve the student.