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Lynn Public Schools creates district guidance counselor role to streamline counseling services
Summary
Donna Doucette, the district guidance counselor, presented a landscape assessment on Jan. 30 outlining plans to standardize guidance practices across Lynn Public Schools, introduce the myCAP curriculum beginning in sixth grade, and improve coordination with community partners.
Donna Doucette, newly appointed district guidance counselor for Lynn Public Schools, presented a district-wide landscape assessment of school counseling services to the curriculum subcommittee on Jan. 30, describing current services, gaps and a plan to streamline counseling across middle and high schools.
Doucette said the district will focus on individual counseling, career exploration, college planning and social-emotional support and that she will work to standardize practices, improve digital communications and coordinate scholarship information. “Lynn Public Schools introduction of the district guidance council role aims to enhance the overall quality and effectiveness of school counseling services throughout our great city,” Doucette said.
Doucette described an upcoming myCAP curriculum that will begin in sixth grade and build through grade 12 to capture students’ evolving interests and guide college- and career-planning conversations. She said enhanced coordination and digital tools should allow counselors to use longitudinal data (starting in middle school) to inform senior-year counseling conversations and postsecondary planning.
Committee members asked about budget and reporting. Dr. Shannon Gardner said the district currently funds the role through grant dollars and that Doucette reports to her. Gardner said there were no immediate budgetary concerns about continuing the position under current funding. Doucette said performance goals for the role will be embedded in her evaluation and tied to measures such as alignment of services, increased college/career engagement activities, streamlined scholarship dissemination and improved counselor professional development.
Doucette identified areas for improvement including a post‑COVID attendance decline that has affected reach, lack of clarity around guidance tasks that can create inefficiencies, and the need for more in‑depth professional development on the digital platforms counselors use. She described collaboration with community partners such as MassHire, Raw Arts, Girls Incorporated, Upward Bound, LaVita Scholars, TRIO and the Lynn Hispanic Society and referenced existing on‑the‑spot college admissions events with local colleges.
Doucette said the role will prioritize giving counselors more face time with students and reducing non‑counseling duties that pull counselors away from students, and that the district will provide ongoing training and coordination to equalize access across Lynn’s schools.
