Pathway Counselor

Full-Time: 185 Day Contract
Contract Start Date: August 2025
Monday - Friday
Salary: $51,250 minimum - $83,758 maximum base Benefits

Job Title: Pathway Counselor  

Reports To: Principal, Dean of Students 

Collaborates With: Principal, Dean of Students, Counseling Team, Teachers, Support staff 

Position Summary: This position will develop and implement programs and activities that support access to a well-rounded education for 9th-grade students. The Pathway Counselor is essential for providing college and career guidance and counseling programs designed to coordinate and design a clear postsecondary plan for each freshman. The counselor will collaborate with school staff to foster student success through the promotion of constructive student engagement, problem solving, and conflict resolution within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). This position will support building a dropout prevention program by increasing pathway opportunity and access for all students, improving 9th-grade promotion, and enhancing overall graduation rates, ensuring all activities are coordinated to enhance student involvement in community-based services and programs. 

Job Roles and Responsibilities: 

1. College and Career Guidance and Counseling Programs: 

• Facilitate postsecondary education and career awareness and exploration activities through individual meetings and group sessions with 9th-grade students to develop initial college, career/technical education, or military pathways. 

• Provide guidance counseling, effectively using labor market information in assisting students with postsecondary education and career planning. 

• Develop and leverage partnerships with institutions of higher education, business, nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, or other public or private entities with a demonstrated record of success in implementing relevant support activities, where feasible. ?  

1. MTSS Collaboration and Integrated Support: 

• Collaborate within the MTSS framework to identify and support students needing academic and/or behavioral interventions. 

• Assist in developing and implementing targeted interventions aimed at promoting constructive student engagement, problem solving, and conflict resolution skills alongside academic progress. 

• Monitor student progress within MTSS, adjusting support strategies to ensure effectiveness. 

• Collaborate intensely with educators to implement and promote Positive Behavior Interventions Supports (PBIS) strategies within the MTSS framework, directly addressing high rates of discipline referrals and supporting dropout prevention. 

• Contribute to or provide professional development (PD) to staff on trauma-informed classroom practices to create a more responsive and supportive learning environment for all students. 

• Track and analyze data related to freshman promotion, student retention, discipline, and attendance to inform program development and demonstrate progress towards dropout prevention and Academy goals. 

1. Supporting Student Success and Access: 

• Provide guidance and resources related to academic achievement, study skills, and social-emotional learning critical for the high school transition. 

• Actively work toward increasing access for students through grade 12 who are members of groups underrepresented in such subject fields (such as female students, English language learners, children with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged students), ensuring connection to high-quality courses and opportunities aligned with their pathways. ?  

• Support programming and activities to improve instruction and student engagement in core academic areas and potential pathway fields to CTE/STEM and pathways to college. 

• Encourage and support the participation of low-income students in relevant enrichment activities, potentially including nonprofit competitions related to pathway subjects. 

1. Holistic Student Support and Well-being: 

• Address the unique academic, social, and emotional needs of 9th graders through direct counseling, group work, and resource connection. 

• Develop and deliver bullying and harassment awareness programs and prevention strategies within the Academy. 

• Design and implement a supportive re-entry process for transient students to facilitate smooth transitions into the Academy. 

• Promote student well-being, including encouraging healthy and active lifestyles, as part of a holistic approach contributing to a well-rounded education. 

• Actively work toward increasing access for students through grade 12 who are members of groups underrepresented... to high-quality courses. 

1. School, Community, and Family Engagement: 

• Develop and coordinate parental involvement activities designed to strengthen home-school partnerships and support student achievement. 

• Develop and coordinate a transition process with the Junior High and community-based service programs to build robust support networks, access resources, and foster healthy school and community relationships for students and families. 

• Serve as a key communication link between students, families, staff, and external support services. 

1. Program Coordination and Improvement: 

• Track student pathway development and progress metrics related to 9th-grade promotion and goals supporting a well-rounded education. 

• Analyze data to inform counseling practices and ensure activities contribute demonstrably to student success. 

• Ensure all counseling programs and activities are effectively coordinated with and community-based services and programs to maximize impact and avoid duplication. 

• Contribute to school-wide goals focused on improving 9th-grade promotion and overall graduation rates, consistent with the aims of Title IV, Part A funding. 

Summary of Need: Pathway Counselor 

A dedicated Pathway Counselor provides immediate, targeted support addressing the unique academic, social, and emotional needs of students during the vulnerable start of high school. By initiating college, career, or military pathway planning in 9th grade, this role connects coursework to future goals, boosting motivation, engagement, GPA, and freshman promotion rates while reducing failures. Through counseling and collaboration within the MTSS/PBIS framework, the counselor addresses root causes of behavioral issues like defiance and disengagement by fostering positive relationships, problem-solving, and linking behavior to future success, helping to reduce discipline referrals. This focus on pathway development, academics, and social-emotional well-being during the first year directly facilitates long-term success and retention, serving as an essential early dropout prevention strategy by providing individualized guidance to navigate challenges and set students on a path to success. 

Needs Assessment:  

1. Disproportionate Behavioral Challenges: The data clearly indicates that ninth graders face significant behavioral hurdles during their transition to high school. 

• Freshmen consistently account for most of South’s overall discipline referrals, reaching 74% in the 2024-2025 school year. 

• This represents a dramatic increase over the past eight years from 40% in 2016-17 to 74% in 2024-25, suggesting escalating difficulties with adjustment and behavior management within this cohort. 

• These behavioral issues create barriers to learning and indicate underlying needs related to engagement, coping skills, and understanding expectations. 

1. Significant Academic Underperformance: The freshman year presents substantial academic obstacles for many students. 

• A disproportionate number of failing grades are concentrated specifically within the ninth-grade class. 

• Historical GPA data confirms this trend, consistently showing ninth graders with the lowest average GPA compared to all other grades  

• This early academic struggle is critical, as the proposal rationale notes the strong correlation between freshman-year experiences and long-term academic success. 

1. Critical Need for Targeted Intervention: The combination of high behavioral referrals and low academic achievement points to the ninth-grade year as a critical juncture requiring focused support. 

• The proposal explicitly identifies the need for targeted intervention to address these issues. 

• Failure to intervene effectively risks lower freshman promotion rates and potentially decreased student retention, impacting overall graduation rates and long-term student outcomes. 

Salary : $51,250 - $83,758