The school counseling program at Dresden Middle School consists of several parts. The first component of the program consists of classroom involvement. Students will participate in a counseling class twice in one week and skip the next week. The classes will rotate so that no student will miss more than one academic class per week. The reason that students meet with the counselor as part of a class is to promote academic, career, and personal/social skills. The second component of the counseling program is individual counseling. I will try to meet with every student at least once per year. This allows the students to get to know the counselor and develop skills that are necessary for personal development. It is the objective of the counseling program to serve all students in promoting individual growth. The third component is the promotion of growth through group sessions; therefore, group sessions will be conducted in various areas. If you or your child has an issue relating to personal growth that you would like to be addressed, please contact me at 364-2407. Although school counselors serve the students through the school, it is important for parents, teachers, and students to understand that confidentiality does apply to the student-counselor relationship. As a counselor, I am bound by the rules of confidentiality. I will not reveal the details of any session that I have with a student. This applies to both individual and group counseling sessions. There are exceptions to the confidentiality agreement. Those include situations in which a student indicates to the counselor that he/she intends to harm himself/herself or another student or another person is harming/threatening to harm someone. There are often times when a student, parent, or teacher will indicate that a student needs assistance in some form. It is important to contact the counselor if a student needs assistance, but as a counselor, I cannot discuss the interaction that occurs after that referral.