Student Services/Mental Health Team

Our Long Branch Student Services/Mental Health Team consists of our School Counselor, School Psychologist, and School Social Worker.

Long Branch has a comprehensive school counseling program aligned with the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) Model designed to address the diverse needs of our students K-5. School counseling is proactive and focused on helping remove barriers to academic success by resolving academic, social, personal, or emotional concerns that may come up throughout the school year.The following services are provided by the student services team:

Individual Counseling (Provided by School Counselor, School Psychologist, & School Social Worker)

Assist students to better understand themselves, deal with interpersonal relationships, and resolve problems that might interfere with learning. Crisis intervention is also provided when needed.

Small Group Counseling, also known as ‘Lunch Bunches’ (Provided by School Counselor, School Psychologist, & School Social Worker)

An opportunity for students to meet and gain skills in communicating, problem solving, and interacting with others.

Classroom Counseling Lessons (Provided by School Counselor)

Designed to reach students in grades K-5. Classroom lessons help foster respect, responsibility, empathy, leadership skills, and celebrate diversity. Lessons are given on a biweekly basis and align with the 5 CASEL Competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. We also cover topics including bullying prevention, career, transition to middle school (5th grade), and substance abuse prevention (4th & 5th grade). The lessons are interactive, creative, evidence-based, and often use books, videos, music, and projects to teach students how to be successful.

School Counseling Program Focus

Long Branch School Counseling Beliefs

Long Branch school counselors believe:

All students can achieve and gain the skills needed to be contributing members of society
All students will be exposed to and participate in a comprehensive school counseling program based on their diverse needs
All students deserve equitable access to resources to promote achievement
The program will focus on the development of all students academic, career, and personal/social domains
The program develops student competencies in K through grade 5 based on American School Counseling Association (ASCA), Virginia, and Arlington Public Schools’ standards.

In order to support our beliefs, our program will:

Abide by the professional school counseling ethics as advocated by ASCA
Develop, coordinate, and implement the program in association with other educators, administrators, parents/guardians, and community representatives
Support teachers, administrators, and parents/guardians so they can be more effective helping students gain the competencies of the counseling program
Participate in professional development activities including regular supervision, in-service training on multicultural counseling, technology, and program development
Continuously monitor counseling program and school goals

Long Branch School Counseling Vision Statement

The students at Long Branch Elementary are high achieving learners who are gaining the skills needed to be contributing members of society. With the support of a comprehensive school counseling program that advocates for each student and collaborates with important stakeholders, students are participating in a meaningful learning environment that promotes their academic, career, and personal/social development. As well-rounded individuals, Long Branch students have the tools needed to become successful lifelong learners and productive citizens in our community.

Long Branch School Counseling Mission Statement

The mission of the Long Branch school counseling program is to offer an engaging and relevant comprehensive school counseling program. The counseling program, along with the support of the Long Branch community, addresses students academic, career, and personal/social concerns to maximize the potential of all students regardless of individual differences to become responsible and successful contributors to a changing society.