counseling Department

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Steven Ramsammy, Zoë Losada and Jose Acevedo

The students of Colegio Internacional de Caracas not only face the same developmental challenges of all children and adolescents growing up in a complicated world, but must also cope with the opportunities and difficulties of a transient lifestyle. The purpose of the Counseling Department of Colegio Internacional de Caracas is to promote the physical and emotional well-being of our students and help them resolve problems that impact on their learning.

Counseling at CIC is represented by the Head of Department Zoe Losada, who has # years of experience as a HS counselor at CIC and the ES & MS counselor, Jose Acevedo who is starting this year (2007-2008) his second year at school. They are both supported by the always excellent and professional work of Mr. Steven Ramsammy who has been the guidance assistant for nine years.

Mr. Acevedo divides his time between the elementary and middle schools working with daily emotional and academic needs of the students. He runs groups of counseling sessions with the fourth and the fifth grades during the school year and with third grade during the second semester. With this practice we look for addressing mainly communication and conflict resolution skills, as well as encourage an education on moral values from the early years of school training.

Ms. Losada provides support for students in grades 9-12. Part of her time is spent advising students and their parents about universities, careers and college admission processes.

Both counselors work with students individually and in small and large groups, and consult with parents, teachers, and administrators in order to help students resolve school-related and personal problems.

The Wellness Program: In continuation from the counseling students receive in upper elementary grades. The school offers, as an integral part of its curriculum, wellness workshops for grades 9-11. Mr. Acevedo is the teacher of wellness 6-8 grades, while Ms. Losada teaches 9-11 grades. The course provides students, with theoretical and technical information about topics such as: nutrition, drug and alcohol awareness, career development, mental health, and sexuality. With this program, the school intends to collaborate with the Health and Social Education Area of Interaction of the IBMYP program that address these topics.

Records Management, 7-12: Steven Ramsammy, keeps track of student records, coordinates placement exams for new students, and provides transcripts, schedules, demographic reports, grade point averages for all secondary school students. He also assists students and parents with the abundant paperwork associated with the college/university admission process and the legalization of documents.

As a department the counselors work with each other and with the faculty and parents in order to meet the needs of our students. Referrals are generated through observation of students, Student Concern Meetings, conversations with teachers and administrators, and student grades.