Co-Directors: Pam Smith & Paige Swartz

SYSTEM-LEVEL

The MECHS Central Office Student Services Department is responsible for the coordination and monitoring of a comprehensive Student Services Program designed to meet the physical, social, emotional, and educational needs of all students at all sites.

• Co-Directors
  • Coordinates comprehensive Student Services program at all sites;
  • Collaborates with Site Administration in supervision of Student Services Staff; and
  • Facilitates implementation of district initiatives through Student Services Department support.

• Central Counselor/Central Clerical
  • Processes transcripts of all newly enrolled students;
  • Communicates with Site Counselors regarding alignment with Georgia Department of Education course descriptions; and
  • Enters transcript information into student database.

• Regional Trainer
  • Delivers job-specific training to newly hired student services staff;
  • Provides ongoing support to student services staff; and
  • Consults with central office staff regarding program improvement.

SITE-LEVEL

The MECHS Site-Level Student Services Department is composed of highly experienced and qualified personnel whose responsibilities are clearly defined in their job descriptions and annual performance evaluations. These responsibilities address the physical, social, emotional, and educational needs of students through assessment, counseling, referral, and family interaction. A brief description of each student service position’s duties follows:

• Counselor
  • Coordinates the comprehensive Student Services program and facilitates the development of the site’s Student Services Plan by meeting monthly with other site student services personnel for the purpose of planning, executing and evaluating the effectiveness of the program;
  • Conducts preliminary evaluation of student transcript, assigns required courses, creates each student’s Plan of Study (POS) on the Life Action Plan (LAP), and communicates with parents for annual approval of the POS;
  • Meets with each student as they complete courses to review POS and postsecondary plans;
  • Counsels students individually and in groups to meet their personal/social, behavioral, and academic needs and assists with appropriate interventions as necessary;
  • Schedules and administers tests to assess students’ educational and career planning (i.e. PSAT, SAT, ACT, ASVAB); and
  • Continues to participate in professional development to improve knowledge and skills.

• Career Specialist/BRIDGE
  • Assures compliance with Georgia’s BRIDGE legislation by helping all students complete college/career assessment and planning activities on GCIS;
  • Provides appropriate college/career guidance to assist students in making plans for after they graduate; and
  • Attends monthly Student Services Meetings and assists with all events.

• Career Specialist/DE
  • Informs all students about Georgia's Dual Enrollment Program and encourages them to consider dual enrollment;
  • Meets with students and parents to complete the necessary paperwork for dual enrollment;
  • Closely monitors progress of dual enrolled students on a consistent basis, facilitating academic assistance, as needed; and
  • Attends monthly Student Services Meetings and assists with all events.

• Graduation Coach
  • Administers the comprehensive school graduation program by acting as case manager for MECHS students concentrating on potential graduates for the current school year;
  • Tracks the academic progress of the targeted students and implements interventions to overcome the barriers that are slowing progress in course completions;
  • Uses the appropriate data to identify students not making academic progress; comes to monthly student services meeting prepared to discuss the students and facilitate discussion of intervention strategies;
  • Attends monthly academic content area meetings and collaborates with staff to determine appropriate interventions for students not making progress;
  • Implements student recognition/incentive programs; and
  • Attends monthly Student Services Meetings and assists with all events.

• Social Worker
  • Facilitates a “New Student” Orientation;
  • Monitors underage attendance and attends Truancy Court;
  • Conducts support groups based on areas of need as identified by surveys, Counselors, or Site Administrators, and measures effectiveness of groups by student evaluation;
  • Works with other staff members to develop and support Dropout Recovery programs;
  • Communicates with MECHS’s Homeless Liaison about concerns of homeless students;
  • Serves as the site contact person for the Migrant Education Program (MEP) staff for students receiving migrant services;
  • Serves as liaison between school, family, and community resources and makes home visits and/or referrals when needed; and
  • Attends monthly Student Services Meetings and assists with all events.

• TEAM Program Coordinator
  • Coordinates the TEAM (Mentoring) program;
  • Makes hiring recommendations to Site Administrators and trains new mentors;
  • Assigns each student a mentor;
  • Creates and monitors Monthly Plans/Calendars;
  • Monitors student and parent contacts; and
  • Attends monthly Student Services Meetings and assists with all events.

• TEAM Program Mentor
  • Provides each student assigned to them with a “Caring Adult in the Building” by developing a rapport and interacting with each mentee at least once a week;
  • Monitors each mentee’s social/emotional, academic, and educational needs and makes referrals as necessary;
  • Reviews each mentee’s Plan of Study (POS) and works to create a monthly plan to help the student set attendance, academic, and event participation goals; and
  • Contacts each mentee’s parent at least once a month to discuss student progress.

• Graduation Partner
  • Works to retrieve students who have been withdrawn for lack of attendance (R Students) and re-engage them in school;
  • Monitors re-engaged students’ attendance and progress; and
  • Attends monthly Student Services Meetings and assists with all events.

• Scholarship Coordinator
  • Encourages students to make postsecondary education plans by providing a scholarship for every graduate who plans to attend college;
  • Solicits scholarship contributions from community groups and makes presentations as requested;
• • Documents and processes contributions and assures that they are acknowledged;
  • Advertises scholarship opportunities to students and assists in completing applications;
  • Forms a scholarship committee to match students with available funds;
  • Coordinates the scholarship segment of the graduation ceremony by inviting donors to present, preparing certificates, and organizing the order of presentations;
  • Monitors student requests for funds to insure that they are enrolled in a postsecondary program and that they write a Thank You note to the donor;
  • Reminds students to enroll in postsecondary before May 1 of the next year in order to avoid forfeiting their scholarship; and
  • Uses data from the National Student Clearinghouse to measure effectiveness of using scholarships as a motivator to enroll in postsecondary institutions.