School Counselor, 8th Grade

About the Employer

Job Title: ec - 8th grade school counselor

Position Summary:
Canterbury School seeks an experienced, student-centered counselor to support students from early childhood through grade 8 by providing short-term counseling, developmental and preventive programming, consultation with faculty and families, crisis response, and coordination with outside providers. The counselor is a core member of an established multidisciplinary student support team that includes a high school counselor, two learning specialists, two school nurses, and a school-wide dean of students and works across the distinct developmental needs of the early childhood, lower, and middle schools.

Essential Responsibilities:
* Provide short-term individual and small-group counseling for students experiencing social, emotional, behavioral, developmental, family, or school-related concerns.
* Develop and deliver developmentally appropriate, culturally competent social-emotional learning, wellness, and prevention programming in classroom, advisory, and small-group settings.
* Maintain a visible, approachable presence in the early childhood, lower, and middle schools and build strong relationships with students.
* Consult with teachers, advisors, administrators, and families regarding student development, mental health, peer relationships, emotional regulation, and behavior.
* Collaborate with learning specialists, school nurses, the dean of students, division directors, and the high school counselor to coordinate student support and transitions.
* Respond to students experiencing significant emotional distress and participate in risk assessment, safety planning, referral, and re-entry planning within professional scope and school protocols.
* Partner with families and, with appropriate consent, outside mental-health professionals when student needs extend beyond the scope of school-based counseling.
* Collaborate with the dean of students on peer conflict and behavioral concerns while maintaining the counselor’s distinct role as a trusted source of student support rather than the primary administrator of discipline.
* Maintain appropriate confidential documentation and fulfill mandated-reporting responsibilities in accordance with Indiana law, professional ethics, and school policy.
* Serve as a member of the safety and security committee; serve as a member of the crisis response team; and participate in the equity and inclusion committee.