When are high school counselors back to work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid registered for a honors level class and I want to drop her down to regular. I emailed earlier in July but counselor was not in for the year yet. Will that be a problem?

If you are at Westfield good luck. We just received an email today that my DS who is a senior will be getting a new guidance counselor(senior year!) He is on counselor number three at Westfield and all three years there have been issues with scheduling. The excuse is always the school is too big....my two older sons did not experience the lack of care we now see when they were at Westfield- seems to be an admin issue. Stay on top of them.

Westfield parent too, who has other children since graduate. Also on counselor #3.

The old admin and Director of Student Services were so much better and responsive.

We had to change a class last year. Westfield process to change was ridiculous. Teachers needed to sign off on form (which is not required as part of FCPS regulations) and “committee” only met 1x week to discuss the transfer, but oh - they weren’t meeting that week because too busy with tracking down immunization records. Meanwhile child still flailing in old class and grade was transferring with her. It was a nightmare. Having been at other FCPS HS, I can tell you the process is not as hard elsewhere.

Scheduling is a mess at Westfield and no one seems to be there for the kids.

This is what happens when schools get to mega-size unless you have either a great administration and or a very involved parent group or both if you're lucky. Westfield's administration is so so and a sizable portion of the parents are checked out. The focus is on crowd control and dealing with a small number of students who cause a lot of problems. There are some very good teachers and programs there and some high performing students though. PVI moving right up the street caused a lot of UMC families to flee.

The Westfield principal is bad at his job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its impossible for all kids to know the correct level for next year in February. For instance a kid could be doing OK in Algebra at that point, and choose Geometry. But then struggle the second half, choose to expunge after consideration after the final grade in June, and need to be moved to Algebra in 9th instead of Geometry.

I agree with this. Expecting all kids to know in Feb exactly what levels to take in Sept is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid registered for a honors level class and I want to drop her down to regular. I emailed earlier in July but counselor was not in for the year yet. Will that be a problem?

Our school has very specific lists for when they make those changes.

Dropping down levels occur the 2nd week of school. The first week is fixing things for seniors who need classes to graduate, kids who were placed in entirely the wrong class (such as a french 1 student placed in Spanish 3 or a kid placed in chamber orchestra instead of computer programming) and a few other high priority conflicts.

Why can't they make all the requested changes before school starts? Its disruptive to change classes once school has begun.

The first week is not a week for learning anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid registered for a honors level class and I want to drop her down to regular. I emailed earlier in July but counselor was not in for the year yet. Will that be a problem?

Our school has very specific lists for when they make those changes.

Dropping down levels occur the 2nd week of school. The first week is fixing things for seniors who need classes to graduate, kids who were placed in entirely the wrong class (such as a french 1 student placed in Spanish 3 or a kid placed in chamber orchestra instead of computer programming) and a few other high priority conflicts.

Why can't they make all the requested changes before school starts? Its disruptive to change classes once school has begun.

The first week is not a week for learning anything.

So what? Its still disruptive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid registered for a honors level class and I want to drop her down to regular. I emailed earlier in July but counselor was not in for the year yet. Will that be a problem?

Our school has very specific lists for when they make those changes.

Dropping down levels occur the 2nd week of school. The first week is fixing things for seniors who need classes to graduate, kids who were placed in entirely the wrong class (such as a french 1 student placed in Spanish 3 or a kid placed in chamber orchestra instead of computer programming) and a few other high priority conflicts.

How did all these mistakes happen in the first place? Doesn't the counselor put the classes in originally and check for graduation requirements? So the first week is fixing the counselors own errors from spring?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid registered for a honors level class and I want to drop her down to regular. I emailed earlier in July but counselor was not in for the year yet. Will that be a problem?

Our school has very specific lists for when they make those changes.

Dropping down levels occur the 2nd week of school. The first week is fixing things for seniors who need classes to graduate, kids who were placed in entirely the wrong class (such as a french 1 student placed in Spanish 3 or a kid placed in chamber orchestra instead of computer programming) and a few other high priority conflicts.

How did all these mistakes happen in the first place? Doesn't the counselor put the classes in originally and check for graduation requirements? So the first week is fixing the counselors own errors from spring?

Things often don't get fixed and the students suffer. The attitude from schools seems to be too bad we don't care. Same attitude with moving around counselors this year for seniors at Westfield. That is not in the best interest of students and they don't care.

[Anonymous]

Yes any actual errors in the schedule or issues with Seniors not having the right classes to graduate are mistakes by the counselor.

So, they prioritize fixing problems they caused first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid registered for a honors level class and I want to drop her down to regular. I emailed earlier in July but counselor was not in for the year yet. Will that be a problem?

If you are at Westfield good luck. We just received an email today that my DS who is a senior will be getting a new guidance counselor(senior year!) He is on counselor number three at Westfield and all three years there have been issues with scheduling. The excuse is always the school is too big....my two older sons did not experience the lack of care we now see when they were at Westfield- seems to be an admin issue. Stay on top of them.

Westfield parent too, who has other children since graduate. Also on counselor #3.

The old admin and Director of Student Services were so much better and responsive.

We had to change a class last year. Westfield process to change was ridiculous. Teachers needed to sign off on form (which is not required as part of FCPS regulations) and “committee” only met 1x week to discuss the transfer, but oh - they weren’t meeting that week because too busy with tracking down immunization records. Meanwhile child still flailing in old class and grade was transferring with her. It was a nightmare. Having been at other FCPS HS, I can tell you the process is not as hard elsewhere.

Scheduling is a mess at Westfield and no one seems to be there for the kids.

This is what happens when schools get to mega-size unless you have either a great administration and or a very involved parent group or both if you're lucky. Westfield's administration is so so and a sizable portion of the parents are checked out. The focus is on crowd control and dealing with a small number of students who cause a lot of problems. There are some very good teachers and programs there and some high performing students though. PVI moving right up the street caused a lot of UMC families to flee.

The Westfield principal is bad at his job.

Yup and so is his supervisor in Region 5. If the top doesn't care why should the bottom....thats the attitude we are getting out of FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes any actual errors in the schedule or issues with Seniors not having the right classes to graduate are mistakes by the counselor.

So, they prioritize fixing problems they caused first.

This is pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes any actual errors in the schedule or issues with Seniors not having the right classes to graduate are mistakes by the counselor.

So, they prioritize fixing problems they caused first.

they only fix seniors not the juniors they created issues for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid registered for a honors level class and I want to drop her down to regular. I emailed earlier in July but counselor was not in for the year yet. Will that be a problem?

If you are at Westfield good luck. We just received an email today that my DS who is a senior will be getting a new guidance counselor(senior year!) He is on counselor number three at Westfield and all three years there have been issues with scheduling. The excuse is always the school is too big....my two older sons did not experience the lack of care we now see when they were at Westfield- seems to be an admin issue. Stay on top of them.

Westfield parent too, who has other children since graduate. Also on counselor #3.

The old admin and Director of Student Services were so much better and responsive.

We had to change a class last year. Westfield process to change was ridiculous. Teachers needed to sign off on form (which is not required as part of FCPS regulations) and “committee” only met 1x week to discuss the transfer, but oh - they weren’t meeting that week because too busy with tracking down immunization records. Meanwhile child still flailing in old class and grade was transferring with her. It was a nightmare. Having been at other FCPS HS, I can tell you the process is not as hard elsewhere.

Scheduling is a mess at Westfield and no one seems to be there for the kids.

This is what happens when schools get to mega-size unless you have either a great administration and or a very involved parent group or both if you're lucky. Westfield's administration is so so and a sizable portion of the parents are checked out. The focus is on crowd control and dealing with a small number of students who cause a lot of problems. There are some very good teachers and programs there and some high performing students though. PVI moving right up the street caused a lot of UMC families to flee.

The Westfield principal is bad at his job.

The superintendent is bad at her job too. Few good ones left in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid registered for a honors level class and I want to drop her down to regular. I emailed earlier in July but counselor was not in for the year yet. Will that be a problem?

If you are at Westfield good luck. We just received an email today that my DS who is a senior will be getting a new guidance counselor(senior year!) He is on counselor number three at Westfield and all three years there have been issues with scheduling. The excuse is always the school is too big....my two older sons did not experience the lack of care we now see when they were at Westfield- seems to be an admin issue. Stay on top of them.

Westfield parent too, who has other children since graduate. Also on counselor #3.

The old admin and Director of Student Services were so much better and responsive.

We had to change a class last year. Westfield process to change was ridiculous. Teachers needed to sign off on form (which is not required as part of FCPS regulations) and “committee” only met 1x week to discuss the transfer, but oh - they weren’t meeting that week because too busy with tracking down immunization records. Meanwhile child still flailing in old class and grade was transferring with her. It was a nightmare. Having been at other FCPS HS, I can tell you the process is not as hard elsewhere.

Scheduling is a mess at Westfield and no one seems to be there for the kids.

This is what happens when schools get to mega-size unless you have either a great administration and or a very involved parent group or both if you're lucky. Westfield's administration is so so and a sizable portion of the parents are checked out. The focus is on crowd control and dealing with a small number of students who cause a lot of problems. There are some very good teachers and programs there and some high performing students though. PVI moving right up the street caused a lot of UMC families to flee.

The Westfield principal is bad at his job.

The superintendent is bad at her job too. Few good ones left in FCPS.

FCPS has lost the focus which is students. Parents are tired of hearing about how big FCPS is-it's an overplayed excuse used when FCPS does not take care of students. Meanwhile we are cutting critical staff from schools-which will make class sizes larger and putting money into security for one person. Things are not adding up.

[Anonymous]

At what point would you escalate over the counselor? We contacted Old Counselor in June and July (got out of the office messages ), then were assigned a New Counselor, who i have forwarded the two previous messages to Old Counselor, and emailed twice more. I have received zero responses. Its not a complicated issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At what point would you escalate over the counselor? We contacted Old Counselor in June and July (got out of the office messages ), then were assigned a New Counselor, who i have forwarded the two previous messages to Old Counselor, and emailed twice more. I have received zero responses. Its not a complicated issue.

ASAP-I waited and tried doing the right thing going through proper channels and a do nothing admin told me I shouldn't have waited so long to go above. Now here is the other side of this FCPS game....if you go to soon you are treated like the annoying parent. So students and parents are in a losing battle. Put on your game face and fight for your kids the schools do not care about your kid.