School Counselor General Information

The Kent Island High School (KIHS) Counseling Department provides a comprehensive, developmental program that addresses social/emotional, academic, and career/college development of all students. In partnership with other educators, parents/guardians and the community, the KIHS Counseling Department provides services to ensure all students at KIHS are equipped with social/emotional tools, academic skills, and are college/career ready in order to help prepare them to contribute at the highest level upon graduation.

School Counselors provide support via:

*  Classroom Lessons  * 

*  Individual Counseling  * 

*  Academic Planning  * 

*  Small Group Counseling  * 

*  Workshops & Information Nights  *

School counselors provide support in an effort to maximize student achievement and also, serve as an advocate for all children. Support may be provided to students in the following ways:

Small Group and/or Individual Counseling: Counseling sessions may be offered to students throughout the school year, based on student need. Counselors may help students address issues such as:

• Changing Families- Divorce, step families, blended families
• Friendship Fun-How to get along with friends
• Social Skills- How to interact with other students and adults
• Anxiety/ Worry- Worries about school, friends, sport

Individual counseling seeks to remove any impediments that may be getting in the way of a student being the best learner that they can be. It is conducted in a confidential setting and is meant to meet any immediate student needs or concerns. Individual counseling at school is short-term in nature and also requires parent permission. Should a student need on-going therapy, a referral can be made to an outside mental health provider. Individual counseling referrals for students can be made through the request of a student, parent, or teacher.
Academic Advising: School counselors also help students plan for their future. They help students explore career paths and plan courses and extracurricular activities that support their goals. Counselors can assist students with their plans to attend post-secondary education, enlist in the military, and/or enter the workforce immediately after high school.

In high school, students complete at least one more project (a minimum of 15 more hours), in order to complete at least 5 Service-Learning projects within Queen Anne’s County Public Schools (for a total of 75 hours minimum) that incorporate academic preparation and structured reflection to satisfy the Maryland State Department of Education graduation requirement.

Examples of the Service-Learning opportunities available to students include:

Kent Island Beach Cleanup

Kids Helping Kids Canned Food Drive

Be Our Valentine

Queen Anne’s County Public Schools defines bullying, harassment and intimidation as intentional conduct, including verbal, physical, or written conduct or an intentional electronic communication that is repeated over time, creates a hostile educational environment by substantially interfering with a student’s educational benefits, opportunities, or performance, or with a student’s physical or psychological well being and is:  

1. Motivated by an actual or perceived personal characteristic including race, national origin, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ancestry, physical attributes, socioeconomic status, familial status, or physical or mental ability or disability; or,
2. Threatening or seriously intimidating; and
3. Occurs on school property, at a school activity or event, or on a school bus; or,
4. Substantially disrupts the orderly operation of school

“Electronic communication” means a communication transmitted by means of an electronic device, including a telephone, cellular phone, computer, or pager.

Any student committing acts of bullying, harassment and intimidation, or engaging in reprisal and retaliation, or any person found to have made false accusations will receive an appropriate consequence and/or intervention. Depending on the nature of the offense, consequences and interventions for the aforementioned behaviors can range from parent/student conference to expulsion from school.

Please visit the main QACPS site for information about enrolling a new student at Kent Island High.

The Kent Island Cares “KIC” team is a school-based program designed to assist school personnel in identifying issues including alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and mental health issues that pose a barrier to a student’s success. The primary goal of the KIC Team is to help students overcome these barriers so that they may achieve, remain in school, and advance. The KIC members do not diagnose, treat, or refer to treatment; but they may refer for a screening or an assessment for treatment.

How Does the KIC Team Work?

Any individual school staff member or student who has a concern about a student may complete a KIC team referral form. These forms can be found in the nurse’s office at the main campus and in the school counseling office at the 9th grade annex. These referrals are completely confidential. The referral is then analyzed by the KIC team to determine whether there are any possible indicators, such as drop in grades, increase in absences, frequent visits to the nurse or behavior problems. Referrals may be submitted without revealing the name of the concerned person.

Student Support Team

The primary goal of the Student Support Team is to identify students in need of help or services related to academic needs, medical issues, behavioral issues, attendance issues, and any other impediments to their success as a student.  Students can be identified for evaluation at the Student Support Team by their teachers or school counselors.  The Student Support Team will monitor the student’s progress and make necessary interventions including parent/teacher meetings or referrals to additional school services. 

Naviance

Students should log-in to their school gmail account to access their apps and scroll and then click on  the  to log into .

CollegeBoard

Way2Go Maryland

Maryland Work Permit

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Google Family Safety YouTube Channel

Facebook Safety Center

Twitter Safety & Security