WHO ARE WE?

7th grade, Ms. Bonitati
8th grade, Mr. Flaxington
6th grade, Mr. Centore
Secretary, Mrs. Stewart
Administrator, Mrs. Magnelli

Your child is assigned a counselor when they enter WHMS and the same counselor stays with your child throughout their three years here. One of our many functions is to help enhance and foster the home to school connection. Please feel free to contact one of us at 270-8033 if you have a question, need to speak or meet with a teacher(s) and/or have information to share with us about your son/daughter.

WHAT DO WE DO?

Our primary goal is to promote and enhance student learning. Each counselor has over 350 students and works hard to build connections not only with the students but with their parents as well. We serve as a liaison between you and your child's teachers, we welcome and orient new students to Western Hills, provide transition help from grade 5 to grade 6 and from grade 8 to grade 9. Counselors do individual counseling, small group counseling, can provide community/academic resources, work to deliver a developmental guidance lesson in the classroom and meet with all the academic teams for their grade level.

Counselors see students on a daily basis and encourage frequent communication. If a student would like to see their counselor individually, he/she should fill out an appointment slip and leave it in the counselor's mailbox in the guidance office. If the request to see a counselor is an emergency, the student should ask their teacher to be sent to the guidance office where they will be seen immediately if possible.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION!

• Now that the year is underway, we have a few reminders…
• Help your child to become accustomed to doing about 60-90 minutes of homework each night
• Be sure to encourage use of the planner, the planner can be used as a means of communication between home and school and the guidance counselor can help in facilitating this process (give us a call)
• Remind your son/daughter about doing their Accelerated Reading (most students need 20 pts by the end of the quarter)
• Read through all of the school information with your child, including their planner to become familiar with school policy, including discipline, attendance and homework..

ABSENCES:

For absences of one, two or three days, students should rely on the "buddy system" this is to say that they should have the telephone numbers of a few reliable friends who could inform them on a daily basis of the assignments due. This will minimize or possibly eliminate the amount of make-up work to be done upon returning to school.

If your son or daughter is absent from school for three days AND it appears that they may miss more school time, please call and request homework. Due to the constraints on the teachers' schedule we need to allow the teachers 24-hour notice. Work can be picked up at 2:20 on the day following the request.

Our hope is that by bridging connections with parents, faculty, and students we can better serve all students and help in their overall academic success. We look forward to working with you and your children.