School Guidance Counselors Initiative and December 9 Conference

Dear Superintendents and Directors of Charter Schools: I am writing to announce a new initiative that the Department of Education will undertake this year, which I believe is critical to the Commonwealth's students. Guidance counselors are essential to students' success, particularly at the secondary level. From my perspective, guidance counselors are more overwhelmed than ever before, because of reductions in the numbers of counselors due to budget constraints, increased responsibilities for college placement, career counseling and scheduling, and an increase in the numbers of students who need support services. Under the direction of Deputy Commissioner Mark McQuillan, the Department has developed a strategic plan. As part of our strategic plan, I have personally chosen to focus on the importance of high school guidance counselors, and how we can best support them as their roles change and broaden. This is a personal priority for me, and I hope you will assist me in this effort. With your help, I intend to create a network of high school guidance counselors in order to facilitate communication with and among counselors. Please designate one guidance counselor in each high school to serve as the primary contact person for this initiative. This guidance counselor's information should be entered into the Directory Administration application. The School Guidance Services function must be checked off for this individual. Please enter this information by December 1. If you need any assistance, please contact Data Collection at (781) 338-3282. In addition, the Department will host a conference for secondary school guidance counselors and Advanced Placement coordinators on Tuesday, December 9. Please ask the high school guidance counselor who is serving as the primary contact to the Department to hold the date. Thank you for your assistance in this important initiative. Sincerely, David P. Driscoll
Commissioner of Education



Last Updated: November 5, 2003



Top