School Psychology, Guidance and Social Services

at Cushing School

School Psychology, Guidance and Social Services are provided on a consistent basis throughout Cushing School. It is the goal of the School Psychologist and School Social Worker to ensure that children are safe and happy while in school. In addition, guidance services also include helping with the management of children’s academic progress. Our School Psychologist and School Social Worker:

· Provide counseling to children

· Provide consultation to teachers regarding children’s behavior

· Test children for special services

· Provide assistance in children’s academics through involvement in Kindergarten Screening, MCAS testing, MAPS testing, and other testing situations

· Attend meetings regarding children’s needs

· Assist in identifying children with needs through Instructional Suport Team meetings

· Assist famlies in accessing community resources, when needed

School can be a wonderful place for children and the goal of our School Psychologist/Counselor and School Social Worker is to make sure children are happy and are learning. Academic monitoring is essential to ensuring children are having a successful year. Our School Psychologist and School Social Worker participate in Instructional Support Team Meetings, Student Update Meetings and consult with teachers and parents on a frequent basis.

Issues arise during the school day that sometimes impact school learning. These issues include separation problems, difficulty with schoolwork and social skills challenges. The School Psychologist and the School Social Worker are responsible for providing individual and group counseling in reference to school related problems. Sometimes there are problems that arise during the day that require problem solving. In those cases, they can provide quick “problem solvers” so that children can resolve issues and return to schoolwork as fast as possible.

The School Psychologist and the School Social Worker also provide social skills development through lunch bunch and friendship groups. Each group session focuses on a specific topic of the day, usually related to school problems.