School Counseling – Pleasant Ave. Elementary

School counselors help all students in the areas of personal/social development, academic achievement, and career exploration/development. Students who are recommended to see the school counselor either need immediate therapeutic support or have a skill deficit that is impeding on their ability to be successful in school.  School counselors differ from mental health counselors/ psychologists. The school counselor can assist in providing information on mental health providers in the community as well as other possible community supports, if needed.

Jessica Hayner is the school counselor at Pleasant Avenue Elementary School. She provides individual and group counseling, social/ emotional classroom guidance, crisis intervention, consultation for student success and is an attendance liaison. 

Conscious Discipline is an approach we use for classroom management and social-emotional practices. Conscious Discipline is a step in changing the culture to teach self-regulation among children. But really, it’s all about connection. Connection brings willingness, and helps a child feel safe so they can learn. 

Pleasant Avenue Elementary School Agreement

Our school has three agreements: Be Safe, Be Helpful and Be a S.T.A.R.  We model, teach and have visuals that show what being safe and helpful look like across the day.  “Be a S.T.A.R.”  means that we will stop to take deep breaths when we are triggered or have a big feeling. This pause creates the opportunity to respond instead of react when we feel upset.  We speak with a language of safety for behavior: we say behavior is safe or unsafe rather than good or bad.