School counselors have a minimum of a master’s degree in school counseling, meet the state certification/ licensure standards and abide by the laws of the states in which they are employed. They uphold the ethical and professional standards of the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) and other applicable professional counseling associations and promote the development of the school counseling program based on the following areas of the ASCA National Model: foundation, delivery, management and accountability.

The primary role of the school counselor is to:

• Monitor academic progress and meet with students individually to provide academic supports.
• Support student’s social/emotional development through individual and group counseling.
• Assist with college and career (post-high school) planning.
• Provide crisis intervention and case management.
• Collaborate with all school personnel to assess students’ social/emotional obstacles to academic success.
• Develop/facilitate/coordinate prevention activities and intervention strategies.

At VMHS, counselors work with the same students for four years. The counselor caseload consists of students from all four graduation classes at a time; 9, 10, 11, and 12. This affords counselors the opportunity to develop individualized relationships with students to better meet their needs.