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Ridgefield High School outlines counseling services, post-secondary supports, and expanded internship options
Summary
RHS introduced Joycei, the new counseling supervisor, who described an eight-counselor team plus psychologists and social workers, grade-specific seminar programming, mandatory junior-year post-secondary planning meetings, robust college-application supports, and internship and abroad-service options; board members asked about counselor tenure, internships and transitions from middle school.
Ridgefield High School presented a detailed overview of its counseling program, describing staffing, grade-level seminars, post-secondary planning services, and internship opportunities. Joycei (new counseling supervisor) told the Curriculum Committee that counseling at RHS includes eight school counselors, three school psychologists, two social workers, and a teen-talk counselor, and that counselors serve as case managers for 504 plans, participate in MTSS and lead individual post-secondary planning meetings.
Why it matters: Counselors provide a central point of coordination for students' academic and social-emotional supports and play a key role in college and career planning. Presenters emphasized mandatory post-secondary planning meetings (spring of junior year and fall of senior year), FAFSA/financial-aid nights, a camp-style college-application workshop for seniors, and a large college-representative program on campus.
Program details: Ninth-grade programming focuses on transition supports (schedule orientation, executive-function strategies and building navigation); 10th-grade seminars include interest inventories and career exploration; 11th and 12th grades emphasize application processes, FAFSA, transcripts and scholarship nights. Counselors also run small groups (executive functioning), coordinate internships (local service, community placements and abroad trips), and provide drop-in college-application help.
Board questions and key concerns: Board members asked about counselor tenure and the value of having a consistent counselor for grades 9—12; staff said tenure varies, some counselors are long-serving while others are newer, and that continuity benefits students. Members asked whether internships include service placements; staff confirmed both service and career-focused placements (including abroad medical-service trips) and said the program has expanded with differentiated options. The board also asked about articulation with middle schools; staff detailed department-level meetings and increasing high-school counselor outreach to support rising ninth-graders.
What's next: Staff will continue to refine middle-to-high transition articulation, expand differentiated internship placements (including service and career tracks), and maintain mandatory post-secondary meetings for juniors and seniors to ensure follow-through.
Ending: Board members thanked counseling staff and presenters; the committee adjourned to the next item without any formal motions or votes.
