Understanding the need to address the whole child, the Palmdale School District (PSD) hired School Counselors in the spring of 2016 for each middle school in order to provide additional supports needed. With expert guidance, Palmdale has hit the ground running, getting to know the staff and students, gathering data, and building a comprehensive school counseling program from the ground up.
With proper guidance and annual training, the school counselors at each school site in Palmdale School District have worked diligently to create, promote, and implement comprehensive school counseling programs that align with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) national model and standards. ASCA, of which each school counselor is a member, sets the standards for the profession. The standards are based on Mindsets and Behaviors in the three domains of Social/Emotional, Academics, and College/Careers. Using ASCA’s guidelines, along with data collected by PSD, the counselors focus on student improvement in academics, attendance, and behavior.
Data and the ASCA National Model provide the framework and are the driving forces in the delivery of PSD counseling services to students. The delivery of these services include: counseling core curriculum, individual student planning, and responsive services. Counseling services also provide individual student planning and responsive services which entail working with small groups (i.e. Study Skills, ELD Reclassification Group, Girls Group, Social Skills Group, Improving Attendance Group, Relational Aggression/Boys Groups,etc), individual counseling, and crisis response services.
Palmdale School District is also striving to become a RAMP school site, or Recognized ASCA Model Program school. There are currently only 7 schools in the state of California with this designation. RAMP involves a twelve-part submission and PSD will send in their application for 2019 RAMP status in October, using this previous school year’s data collected. The combined efforts by the many people behind the counseling services offered at Palmdale schools are just one way Palmdale is fulfilling the Palmdale PROMISE to prepare students for their futures.
About Palmdale School District
Palmdale School District dates back to the late 1800s when German and Swiss families emigrated to the area and called it “Palmenthal” after mistaking the local Joshua trees in the area for palm trees. Now serving the majority of the city of Palmdale, California, the district has approximately 19,000 students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. Palmdale School District’s vision is to be a district where every student leaves ready for success in high school, college, career, and the global world. The mission of PSD is to implement it’s vision with actions and services targeted to students, parents, and staff so students can live their lives to their full potential.
Visit Palmdale School District at www.palmdalesd.org and follow PSD on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Media Contact
Company Name: Palmdale School District
Contact Person: Danny Kanga
Email:Send Email
Phone: 661.7896591
Address:39139 North 10th Street East
City: Palmdale
State: CA
Country: United States
Website: https://palmdalesd.org
