Working with Your Student’s Counselor
Tips you can use to help build helpful relationships

One of the most important people you will come in contact with during your student’s high school career is his or her counselor, or in some cases, counselors. Whether you’re dealing with a guidance counselor, college counselor or career counselor, here are some tips you can use to help build helpful relationships.

Get to know them. Make an effort to get to know the counselors early in your student’s high school career. Make an appointment to talk to them, learn about their policies and procedures, and learn about programs they host at your student’s school. This will make future conversations much more productive.

Help them get to know your son or daughter. When you have your first meeting with your student’s counselor, give him or her some background information about your student that will help him or her understand more about your son or daughter, such as special talents, skills, or needs, any strengths and weaknesses, who their friends are, what their family situation is like and what challenges he or she might have overcome. The more the counselor knows about your son or daughter, the easier it will be for the counselor to assist you and your student.

Keep in contact. Don’t limit yourself to just one counselor meeting. Keep in touch with the counselor throughout the school year, whether through email, phone or additional face-to-face appointments. Having said this, your student is no longer in elementary school. Encourage the student to navigate the course of high school with the counselor. While you should never hesitate to ask your student’s counselor questions, you will be helping your son or daughter develop into a responsible adult by encouraging him or her to take charge of his or her issues.

Stay involved. Participate in as many parent activities as you can at your student’s school, including open houses, college fairs, college workshops, evening programs and/or financial aid workshops. The information you’ll receive at these types of events will help you become more knowledgeable about the types of educational, occupational and personal choices your student will be making about high school and life beyond high school.

Utilize counseling resources. Counselors do their best to make resources on a variety of topics available to you. Newsletters, websites, pamphlets and informational programs are all often available to give you more information. Take advantage of these resources.

By maintaining a good relationship with your student’s counselor, and by making sure your student is following through with the goals the counselor helps set, you can make the most of your son our daughter’s time in high school.