Key Takeaways:

• SchooLinks provides a comprehensive suite of tools and resources to support the expansive and multifaceted roles elementary school counselors play. 

• The access to high-quality CASEL-aligned lessons across a wide variety of topics along with the supplementary resources that pair with the lessons–means that counselors can focus their time on high-impact, direct interactions with students rather than time-intensive lesson planning. 

• SchooLinks provides elementary counselors with critical data and insights that allow them to tailor their efforts and  initiatives to the specific needs and interests of their students.

• Having a CCR platform that extends across grade levels–from elementary to secondary school–provides cohesion in student planning and engagement and allows counselors to provide deeper and more personalized support. 

Comprehensive Career & Character Learning at a NY State Elementary School

Westbury Union Free School District is located just 30 minutes east of New York City. It is home to around 5,400 students across its six schools. Percy Holmes is a school counselor at Drexel Avenue Elementary–one of the district’s four elementary schools–that serves just over 500 students in first through fifth grade. He is a veteran educator, having been with the district for 27 years. 

In talking about his work with students, Holmes described the expansive and wide-reaching role school counselors now play in contemporary elementary schools: They must support students in building critical character education and life readiness skills; utilize Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports with students; and help them begin their college and career readiness journey as they discover their unique interests and align those with potential future careers. And counselors must “find a way to bring all of that together under one umbrella.” This is no simple task. 

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