School Counselor

BUSD School Counseling

Bagdad School District has a full-time school counselor, Mr. Harris, who is on campus every day to help with the mental and emotional well-being of the students who attend the school, as well as a second counselor, Mrs. J. Jones, who is on campus in the elementary school on Wednesdays. 

Our counseling department does individual counseling, groups, classroom presentations, and has a self-referral system (children can sign up to talk to the counselor, but if they come more than once, they need parent permission).  The counselors work with students in grades K-12 as well as pre-K on a variety of subjects including self regulation; social, life and academic goals; friend skills; emotional issues such as grief, anxiety, depression, and anger; mindfulness; problems with focus; problems with friends; and other issues. 

The purpose of a school counselor is not to provide therapy, but to provide coping and social-emotional skills to children. The school counselor also connects parents and children to outside resources if necessary or desired. The school counselors are allowed to see a child one time before they need a signed parent permission form. Two types of permission form are available: one is for individual counseling, and the other is for approval for participation in a group. Groups are usually oriented around a psycho-educational goal or a social skills goal. Groups are organized based on recommendations. Potential participants are screened before inclusion in a particular group to ensure the group work will be productive because not all potential participants will benefit from all groups.

Individual counseling sessions usually last for 10-20 minutes, but may last longer ifneeded. For scheduled meetings, the school counselors will notify and coordinate with the teachers, so the child's learning schedule is not interrupted during important class times. For more acute, immediate needs, the school counselors will meet with students as quickly as possible when those situations arise. 

If you have any questions or would like to reach out to Bagdad’s school counselors, please contact the school, 928-633-4101, and they can direct you.