Elementary Counselor (2025-2026)

Reports to: Campus Principal and Coordinator of Counseling

Wage/Hour Status: Exempt

Compensation Plan: Professional/Administrators

Pay Grade: 03

Minimum Salary: $

Duty Days: 192 days per year

Primary Purpose:

Plans, implements, and evaluates a comprehensive school counseling program at assigned campus. Counsel students to fully develop each student’s academic, career, personal, and social abilities and address the needs of special population students. Deliver guidance curriculum in various group sizes. Educate students on skills necessary to address troublesome circumstances, support students in challenging situations, and assist students with needed resources to navigate crisis situations.

Qualifications:

Education and Certification

• Master’s degree in school counseling
• Valid Texas School Counselor Certificate

Experience

• Two (2) or more years of teaching experience
• Teaching experience at the elementary level preferred

Special Knowledge and Skills

• Knowledge of counseling procedures, student appraisal, and career development
• Excellent organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills
• Ability to instruct students and manage their behavior
• Ability to present information in one-on-one, small group, and large group situations to students, parents or guardians, and district staff

Major Responsibilities and Duties:

Guidance Curriculum

• Plans, organizes, implements, and delivers structured group lessons according to the district’s guidance curriculum to improve students’ interpersonal and intrapersonal effectiveness, personal health and safety, post-secondary planning and readiness, and other developmental needs.
• Teaches the school guidance curriculum components through the use of effective instructional strategies and planned structured groups considering diverse student populations and needs for differentiated instruction.
• Works with students, staff, parents or guardians, and the community to identify priorities where students will be served through the guidance curriculum component. Collaborate across curricular areas to integrate guidance lessons into content area curriculum.
• Creates a balanced curriculum by using well-planned and intentional activities and materials, incorporating guest speakers, and offering engaging delivery techniques, including technology tools.

Responsive Services

• Uses accepted theories and effective techniques of developmental guidance to respond to problematic or critical incidents to support students and offer services in time of need.
• Uses preventive activities to remove barriers that interfere with a student’s educational, career, personal, and social development.
• Implements remediation practices to assist students in coping with problem situations or unwise choices. Identify precipitating and antecedent factors, effective and ineffective approaches to dealing with the circumstances, and provide feedback to guide future decisions.
• Uses specialized skills to support students in crisis situations requiring immediate response. Maintain a healthy and safe school environment by collaborating with district staff, parents or guardians, and local officials.
• Provides continued support to students in need through individual counseling, small group counseling, consultation, or referral to services outside the school or district.
• Serves as an impartial, non-reporting resource for interpersonal conflicts and discourse involving two or more students, including accusations of bullying.

Individual Planning

• Creates school counseling services that are developmental and age appropriate and provide information or literature that highlights related topics to students, teachers, and administrators.
• Assists individual students and their parents or guardians in monitoring their academic, career, personal, and social development as they progress in school.
• Acts as a student advocate, leader, collaborator, and systems change agent. Advocate for a school environment that acknowledges and respects diversity and ensures equitable access and placement in courses and programs for minority, disenfranchised, homeless, and other special populations.
• Interprets standardized test results, offers career development activities, provides strategies for grade level transitions, and guides students in individual goal setting and planning, including creating and reviewing personal graduation plans and providing information about post-secondary opportunities.

System Support

• Collects, summarizes, and interprets testing data to plan, create interventions, guide students, and address specific student needs.
• Conducts an annual program audit to inform accountability, action plans, time management, and systemic change.
• Participates in campus-based school improvement planning and goal setting.
• Provides parent or guardian and staff training and consultation to foster student educational, career, personal, and social development.
• Clearly articulate and communicate the counseling program’s management system and related program action plans to campus and district staff, parents or guardians, and the community.
• Participates in staff development and continuing education opportunities to improve job-related skills and research to identify best practices in implementing a comprehensive school counseling program.

Other Related Duties

• Compiles, maintains, and files all reports, records, and other documents.
• Complies with policies established by federal and state law, State Board of Education rule, and board policy. Comply with all district and campus routines and regulations.
• Adheres to legal, ethical, and professional standards for school counselors, including current professional standards of competence and practice.
• Follows district safety protocols and emergency procedures.
• Participates in professional development, department meetings, and special events as assigned.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Mental Demands/Physical Demands/Environmental Factors:

Tools and Equipment Used: Personal computer and peripherals; standard instructional equipment

Posture: Prolonged sitting; frequent standing, kneeling/squatting, bending/stooping, pushing/pulling, and twisting

Motion: Frequent walking

Lifting: Regular light lifting and carrying (less than 15 pounds); occasional physical restraint of students to control behavior

Environment: Work inside, may work outside; frequent district-wide and occasional statewide travel

Mental Demands: Maintain emotional control under stress; may work prolonged or irregular hours

This document describes the general purpose and responsibilities assigned to this job and is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties that may be assigned or skills that may be required.

APPOINTMENT:

The appointment of this position will be recommended to the Board of Trustees by the Superintendent of Schools on the basis of the applicant’s training, experience, and expertise. The Board of Trustees must give final approval.

THE DENTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER