Title: Guidance Counselor, Grades 9-12

Reports To: Building Principal and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction

Employment Terms: 

• Employment terms covering compensation, benefits, and working conditions are specified by the Board of Education's policies, procedures, and agreements.
• School term contract plus 20 additional days 
• Salary is dependent on experience

FLSA:  Exempt

Position Overview:  

The Guidance Counselor supports students in grades 9�12 by providing academic guidance, college and career planning, and personal/social counseling. This role helps students set and achieve goals, manage challenges, and prepare for post-secondary success. The counselor collaborates with families, staff, and community resources to support student well-being and ensure a safe, inclusive school environment.

Qualifications: 

• Must hold a valid Missouri Teacher's Certificate
• Must hold a minimum of a Master's Degree in guidance and counseling.
• Must hold or actively seeking a Psychological Examiner's Certificate 
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and oral/written communication skills 
• Strong understanding of child and adolescent development, mental health, and academic planning
• Ability to support students' academic, career, and personal/social development
• Skilled in individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, and conflict resolution
• Strong communication, collaboration, and organizational skills

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Aids students in course and subject selection.
• Obtains and disseminates occupational information to students and to classes studying occupations.
• Assists students in evaluating their aptitudes and abilities through the interpretation of individual standardized test scores and other pertinent data, and works with students in developing education and occupation plans in terms of such evaluation.
• Works to discover and develop the special abilities of students.
• Works to resolve students' educational handicaps.
• Registers students new to the school and orients them to school procedures and the school's varied opportunities for learning.
• Works to prevent students from dropping out of school.
• Helps students evaluate career interests and choices.
• Remains readily available to students so as to provide counseling that will lead each student to increased personal growth, self-understanding, and maturity.
• Works with students on an individual basis in the solution of personal problems related to such problems as home and family relations, health, and emotional adjustment
• Administers IQ and Achievement Tests
• Commitment to maintaining student confidentiality and ethical practice standards
• Plans guidance field trips to schools, colleges, and industry for interested students.
• Guides students in their participation in school and community activities.
• Maintains student records and protects their confidentiality.
• Supervises the preparation and processing of college, scholarship, and employment applications.
• Makes recommendations to colleges for admissions and scholarships.
• Provides student information to colleges and potential employers according to provisions of the Board's policy on student records.
• Confers with parents whenever necessary.
• Works with teachers and other staff members to familiarize them with the general range of services offered by the student personnel services department, and to improve the educational prospects of individual students being counseled.
• Consults with administrators and faculty on matters of student discipline.
• Takes an active role in interpreting the school's objectives to students, parents, and the community at large.
• Interprets the guidance program to the community.
• Organizes and conducts an annual college fair.

Physical Requirements/Environmental Factors:

• Ability to work in a climate-controlled building, as well as in inclement weather. 
• Ability to stand, walk, and move around for long periods of time.
• Ability to see and read, with or without vision aids, a computer screen and printed matter, and to distinguish colors.  
• Sufficient hearing to understand speech at normal room levels, and to hear and understand speech on the telephone. 
• Manual dexterity to operate a telephone and enter data into a computer using both hands. 
• Ability to communicate effectively and efficiently with sufficient volume to be heard in normal conversation, on the telephone, and addressing groups. 
• Ability to exert up to 30 pounds of force to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects.
• Ability to lift, bend, stoop, pull, grasp, and carry a variety of objects of different shapes and sizes.
• Able to perform other duties assigned by the Superintendent or designee.

Evaluation: This position's performance will be evaluated per the provisions of the Board's policy.

Disclaimer:  The information contained in this job description is not an exhaustive list of the duties performed for this position. Additional duties are performed by the individuals currently holding this position, and additional duties may be assigned. The Board of Education and Administration and/or supervisor has the right to add or change duties at any time.

All employment offers are contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background check and fingerprint clearance as required by state law and district policy.

Revised: July 2025