Transcript Pre-Conference Powerpoint

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
AIU 3
Presented by:
Rhonda Bielawski
Shannon Connor
Diane Feliciani
Bryan Kiggins
Erica Zinsser
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North Allegheny School District is an
attractive community (pop. 45,000+) located
twelve miles north of Pittsburgh consisting of
48 square miles.
Much of the District is suburban-residential.
North Allegheny is the largest suburban
school district in Allegheny County. The
District is also one of the largest employers in
the North Hills of Pittsburgh, employing over
1,000 people.
The North Allegheny facilities consist of:
 7 Elementary Schools (K-5)
• 3,484 students
• 8 counselors
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3 Middle Schools (CMS, IMS, MMS 6-8)
• 1,971 students
• 6 counselors
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2 High Schools (NAI 9-10, NASH 11-12)
• 2,712 students
• 10 counselors
Cumulative Quality Point Average for the Class of 2016
First tenth (top 10%)… …………………………………….4.3437
First fifth (top 20%)………………………………………… 4.1395
Second fifth (top 40%) ....................................... 3.8183
Third fifth (top 60%) .......................................... 3.4458
Fourth fifth (top 80%) ........................................ 3.0241
North Allegheny offers 23 AP courses and 51 Honors Level
courses for students.
90% of the class of 2015 planned to attend a 2 or 4 year college.
Advisory Council Logistics:
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Two Meetings per Year (2 hours - breakfast or lunch while networking)
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Locations
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Fall Meeting - October/November each year
Spring Meeting - April/May each year
On site
Local colleges, career center, businesses
Stakeholders (25-55 stakeholders typically attend)
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24 Counselors
12-15 Teachers
3-6 Administrators
10-20 Parents
5-8 Former and Current Students
5-8 College Representatives
5-8 Business Owners
1-2 Board Members
Making our K-12 Counseling Team
Stronger:
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Examined program and established K-12 consistency with a
cohesive developmental program
Helped to establish K-12 department goals focusing on
Personal/Social, Academic and Career domains
Assisted our counseling program to become more data driven to
justify department needs and wants to our stakeholders
Networked with board members, parents and community
members to highlight counseling program and educate them
about our department and student needs
Became more transparent and accountable to our stakeholders
What We Have Learned:
 Stakeholders were unaware of the role of the school counselor
 Stakeholders are interested and supportive
 Career counseling is important to our stakeholders
 Counseling department needs to stay current with trends and
evolve
 Goal setting and planning drives our program
New and Different
Recommendations from Council:
 Career Domain - Job Shadowing Opportunities
▪ Stakeholders showed great interest
▪ Legal obstacles
▪ Using outside resources
 Academic Domain - Finding Sparks and Connecting Those with
Career Clusters
▪ Elementary career lessons focus on finding sparks and career clusters
▪ Integrate Career Cluster document with scheduling process
▪ Change focus from specific careers to personal interests and abilities
 Personal/Social Domain - Mental Health Initiatives
▪ In-serviced Pupil Services Team (psychologists, counselors, nurses, social
workers, student assistance coordinators) about mental health trends
▪ Mental health experts presented to the council
▪ Informational brochure about mental health disorders created and
distributed to staff at senior high school
Report on Program Goal:
The 2014-2015 goal was to increase the percentage of 11th grade students
who have completed a job shadow experience from 16% to 25%.
▪ Introduced the importance of job shadowing for students (Fall 2013)
▪ Developed a goal mandating job shadowing for all juniors. Stakeholders
were passionate about this goal (Fall 2013-Spring 2014)
▪ Surveyed all juniors for baseline data (Spring 2014)
▪ Investigated possibilities of a mandatory job shadow experience for all
juniors in the district (Summer 2014)
▪ Road blocks to implementation (Summer 2014)
▪ Despite roadblocks, stakeholders still showed an interest (Fall 2014)
▪ Modified goal to increase number of junior shadow study opportunities
(Fall 2014)
▪ Surveyed all juniors to gather data to determine if we reached our goal
(Spring 2015)
▪ Local IU Career Education and Academic Events Coordinator presented to
Advisory Council (Spring 2015)
▪ Exploring integration of job shadowing during School Counseling
Curriculum Review (Fall 2015)
Advisory Council Impact & Future:
Impacts:
▪ Increased accountability and transparency of department
▪ Assisted with promoting our department and roles
▪ Supported the acquisition of 3 ½ elementary school
counselors
▪ Developed K-12 School Counseling goals
▪ Improved department cohesiveness K-12
Future:
▪ Discover impact on School Counseling Curriculum Review
process
▪ Continue having 2 meetings a year
▪ Revise goals through input from our stakeholders
▪ Build stronger ties with business and colleges