The CESJDS guidance suite is an open, welcoming and safe space where students seek support, share joy, learn helpful coping strategies, and manage challenges with help. Counselors champion individuality, celebrate student achievements, and always prioritize the personal health and growth of the whole child.
The CESJDS guidance team works on a number of levels to promote wellness and support students. Counselors make personal connections with students in individual meetings and help them to articulate their academic, extra-curricular and personal goals, placing an emphasis on a healthy life balance, the use of positive coping strategies and self-advocacy skills. Counselors also meet with small groups of students for affective education and bring in specialists on topics such as healthy relationships, mental health awareness, managing stress, digital safety, and healthy decision making. For families, counselors offer partnership, support and resources and consult with outside providers and treatment professionals. On a school-wide scale, the guidance department leads monthly wellness workshops, which include gratitude projects, art therapy, yoga, mindfulness, and therapy dogs.
Recommended Resources:
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How Children Succeed: grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character (2013), by Paul Tough
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Anxiety Free Kids: an Interactive Guide for Parents and Children (2016), by Bonnie Zucker
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How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success (2015), by Julie Lythcott-Haims
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Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006), by Carol Dweck
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The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children (2001), by Wendy Mogel
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The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So their Children Can Succeed (2015), by Jessica Lahey
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The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives (2018), by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson
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Mental Health:
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Mindfulness:
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Conversation Starters about Consent and Sexual Assault (please preview before viewing with your teen)