Counseling Services

Phone: (616) 254-6616
 
Welcome to the Grandville Middle School Guidance Department! We are here to help you and your student through the middle school years. 
  • 7th grade counselor: Mrs. Beckett
  • 8th grade counselor: Ms. Herro

Empowering Growth

School counselors help students examine their feelings and fears in a safe and confidential environment. To ensure this process will be beneficial to the student, we treat each child as an individual who has specific needs and interests. We help students explore their thoughts, goals and behaviors, which can then lead to increased insight and understanding of themselves. This process of self-exploration can be both challenging and exciting.
 
A professional school counselor is a certified teacher with a master's degree in school counseling. Coursework includes career development, human growth and behavior, guidance strategies, tests and measurements, and a supervised internship.
 

Types of Counseling

  • Selected Guidance Activities: Counselors will meet with all students for certain selected activities. These may include introduction meetings, academic planning, special opportunity advising, sharing of testing information, and helping develop an Educational Development Plan.
  • Personal/Social Guidance: Counselors are available to students and staff with concerns or problems they may be having. Counselors will also assist groups of students with conflicts or interests in a similar topic area.
Personal or group counseling is always on a volunteer basis.

Roles of a School Counselor

  • One-to-One Counseling: Help students work through conflicts with others, develop a plan to solve problems, and help them examine their behavior and thoughts to better understand themselves.
  • Group Leader: Lead discussions on topics of common interest with students and provide an environment where students with a common difficulty can support and learn from one another.
  • Professional Growth: Maintain a practicing level of knowledge of current issues and strategies in counseling and actively participate in local, state and national professional associations.
  • Career Information: Help students develop an awareness of their strengths and weaknesses, create goals, and discover opportunities for their future.
  • Consulting: Assist colleagues with helping students, and help parents with concerns about their child's academic/social/emotional development.
  • Referrals: Encourage parents/students to use outside agencies if needed.
  • Testing Consultant: Coordinate standardized testing programs and inform parents/students on interpretation of test results.