The primary role of guidance counselors is to advocate for students and to provide support for their academic, college, and social-emotional needs. 

• Counselors are assigned primarily by grade and alphabet
  • Freshman counselors: Monica Batres and Aaron Burney
  • Guidance & College Counselors (Grades 10-12): Dona Mason, Victoria Aguaristi, Casandra Jackson, Jay Knochenhauer, Annette Nassir, Jon Ramirez, MaryLynne Rodriguez, Rachel Safier
• Contact the counselor via email or in person if you have a question/concern about a student. The counselor may have information that can be helpful to understanding the student’s context.
   
• You can locate the student’s counselor on the User Info tab on Havalo
   
• Counselors work under a strict code of confidentiality, but will do their best to share any information that may be helpful in supporting the student in your classroom.
   
• We encourage you to CC a student’s counselor when communicating your concerns with a student or parent. The sooner a counselor is aware of the situation, the more prepared they will be to support you in your efforts.
   
• Counselors work diligently to limit the amount of class time students miss. Passes are sent to classes in all subjects and it is left to the student/teacher to determine if the time is appropriate. If the subject matter of a counseling meeting is urgent or time sensitive, counselors will indicate so on the pass.
   
• If the student is unavailable when a pass arrives, please send the pass back with the runner.
   
• Under most circumstances, students should request a meeting to see their counselor via email, not ask for permission to leave class. Please use your own judgment if you believe that it would be beneficial for a student to be seen immediately. In this case, please send the student with a classmate to ensure his/her arrival.

Teaching Consent

In our year of “Celebrating Family,” we are focusing on helping provide our students with the tools to cultivate positive and respectful relationships - with themselves, with one another, and with family. In the wake of such challenging and prevalent issues around the topic of consent, our students are grappling with how to make decisions that help them to respect the dignity of each person while continuing to develop and cultivate meaningful connections in an often confusing world.

Affirmative consent is a topic that applies to more than just sex. As faculty and staff at Saint Francis, the overarching concept we’re trying to address with students is human dignity and respect for others’ space and being.

The following resources have been compiled for employees to better understand consent and the complexity of the conversation. They are intended for professional development purposes and those considering use of any of these resources with students are encouraged to consult with counseling or an administrator to ensure that they are developmentally appropriate and properly framed and scaffolded.

Given the deeply personal nature of the topic of consent and the reality that we all approach this topic with the lens of our own personal or shared experience, should any of this material or the discussion of consent trigger a need for additional support please feel free to reach out to MaryLynne directly. The school also provides access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which provides up to 3 free counseling sessions per incident for personal or work related issues at (800) 316-2796.