East Islip schools present 60-page Comprehensive School Counseling Plan to board

Dr. Stanton presented the East Islip Union Free School District’s Comprehensive School Counseling Plan to the board, outlining a unified approach that integrates school counselors, school social workers and school psychologists across three domains: academic, career and personal-social development. “I pledge tonight to present to the Board of Education and the community the Comprehensive School Counseling Plan,” he said.

The plan lays out multiple delivery methods — classroom instruction, small groups, individual counseling and schoolwide initiatives — and describes grade-level programming. At the elementary level, counselors run monthly classroom rotations focused on character traits such as kindness, respect and responsibility and lead programs like empathy and friendship-building and safety education. Middle school programming centers on transition supports (fifth-to-sixth and eighth-to-ninth grade) and career-readiness activities that pair counselors with family and consumer science and social studies teachers. High school counseling emphasizes four-year plans, repeated individual check-ins, PSAT preparation and exposure to postsecondary options including college, military service and vocational pathways.

Dr. Stanton told the board the district began aligning counseling services to an updated New York State graduation requirement and that the full plan (a 60-page document, linked in the presentation) is available for review. He said the district will continue reviewing and implementing components and offered to return with further updates at the end of the year.

Board members thanked Dr. Stanton for the presentation. The review provides the district a foundation for coordinating social-emotional learning, career readiness and academic advising across grade levels; the presentation did not include a proposed budget or specific hiring actions, and the board did not take a formal vote on the plan at this meeting.