Counseling Services
The Walton High School Counseling Department provides many services and programs for students, parents and faculty to assist in achieving academic success and in exploring options for the future. Counselors are assigned to students according to their last name. We work with students individually and in classroom guidance. Informational night meetings are provided for parents throughout the school year.
Individual Counseling - Counselors meet with students to assist with educational, career, emotional, and behavioral needs. School counselors provide short term counseling; referrals to clinicians for long term therapy can be made by request. Counselors meet with students individually based upon student, teacher, and parent requests. Each counselor's case load is approximately 450 students. Students will be seen in an appropriate, timely manner dependent upon the caseload and commitments of each counselor.
Core Curriculum - Counselors conduct classroom guidance lessons throughout the school year in order to meet the standards and competencies set by the Georgia Department of Education, similar to standards set forth for curriculum areas. Classroom guidance lessons are an integral part of a student’s education. Students are advised in the following sequence:
Freshmen: Career Exploration and Advisement (Spring)
Sophomores: College Credit Now Opportunities (Fall)
Juniors: Graduation Advisement and Post-Secondary Preparation (Fall)
Seniors: Graduation Advisement and College Admission Process (Fall)
Academic Advising - Academic advisement plans are based upon the competencies set by the Cobb County School District. Student advisement plans are delivered by grade level throughout the school year via classroom guidance, small groups or in individual sessions. If students have specific questions regarding their academic plan they are encouraged to schedule an appointment with their counselor.
College Counseling - The College Corner houses a wealth of information concerning occupations and post-secondary options. Our college specialist is available to assist students and parents in their search for information concerning colleges, technical schools, and scholarships, by appointment. Click here to visit the College Corner page for more information.
Important Details
Confidentiality
Students have the right to confidentiality. A counseling relationship requires an atmosphere of trust and confidence between students and counselors. Confidentiality ensures that disclosures will not be divulged to others except when authorized by students or when there is a clear and present danger to students and/or to other persons.
Counseling Appointments
Students may schedule individual counseling appointments through their counselor. Unless an emergency, students should schedule counseling appointments during their lunch period. Parents may also request appointments by calling or emailing the assigned counselor. Parents are strongly encouraged to communicate any classroom questions and concerns directly with the student’s teacher before contacting the counselor. If it is determined that an in-person conference is necessary the teacher and/or parent should contact the counselor to facilitate the meeting. If an emergency situation arises during school hours, please contact someone in our office. Please do not leave a voice message or email; counselors may not be available to respond to these if they are working with students and other faculty members. The office is open from 8:00am-4:00pm Monday-Friday. *Any emergencies outside of office hours should be reported to the appropriate authorities.*