Counseling & Mentoring

Preparing Our Students for Smooth Transitions

The ultimate goal of the DeKalb County School District counseling program is to promote a comprehensive program for student success. The program’s design, delivery, and content are dedicated to enhancing the ability of all students to fully utilize the educational opportunities available to them. The PreK-12 program is delivered through direct and indirect services designed to address three domains of student development: academic, personal/social, and career.

Comprehensive school counseling programs are integral to the school’s educational environment and partner with other academic and behavioral initiatives to effect positive changes in student achievement and behavior. Professional school counselors plan the comprehensive school counseling program and facilitate its delivery in collaboration with school administrators, other professional educators, and community members to produce measurable results. In a comprehensive program, the school counselor serves as a leader, advocate, and collaborator working to recognize and remove systemic barriers to student success. Resulting positive changes include increased student achievement, an improved graduation rate, better attendance, reduced disciplinary referrals, completed individual learning plans, and increased student participation in the community.

Thirteen of our school counseling programs have received recognized American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Model Program distinction from the American School Counselors Association. We are extremely proud of the following schools for receiving this national recognition:
  • Browns Mill Elementary School
  • Cedar Grove Middle School
  • The Champion School
  • Chapel Hill Middle School
  • Chesnut Elementary Charter School
  • DeKalb Alternative School
  • Lithonia Middle School
  • M.L. King, Jr. High School
  • Miller Grove High School
  • Snapfinger Elementary School
  • Towers High School

Ms. Alethia Love
Coordinator II, Counseling		 678.525.3086
Ms. Dena McTyre
Coordinator II, Counseling		 678.361.4606
Dr. Natasha Moon
Coordinator II, Counseling		 678.525.1603
Janisa Middlebrooks
Administrative Assistant		 678.676.1981
Ms. Andrea Natal
Counseling Data Clerk		 678.676.1891
Ms. Demetric Crittle
Mentoring Liasion		 470.926.3269

Student Advisement & Diploma Types

DeKalb County School District School Counselors provide annual individual graduation plan and course advisement to all students grades 8th-12th.

Graduates of DeKalb County School District have the option to order replacement diplomas through the current vendor (Jostens) by following the procedures below:

Call Jostens at 1-706-691-9359 or email Mark Peay

**All orders must be placed Monday-Friday, during normal business hours (8:30-5:00 PM EST). Orders will only be accepted via telephone.

Make sure you have the following information available when you place your call:

  • Your name at time of graduation
  • The name of the high school you graduated from
  • The type of diploma/document you earned (High School Diploma, Certificate of Performance, Transition Diploma)
  • Your date of your graduation
  • Your Shipping address
**The signatures of the current Principal, Board Chair and Superintendent will be used on replacement diplomas.

Please be prepared to pay for your order when you call Jostens. The cost of the replacement diploma is $50.00. Production time is 3-4 weeks. Diplomas will be sent directly to the requesting person at the shipping address upon completion.

Note: DeKalb County School District is not responsible for the placement or orders, payment of invoices or tracking of replacement diplomas. Any questions should be directed to Jostens.

**In many instances, an official high school transcript will serve as proof of graduation. If you are in need of a transcript to verify graduation, please contact your graduating high school or send an email to studenttranscripts@dekalbschoolsga.org or fill out a Transcript Request Form.

DeKalb County School District is committed to improving student achievement through personal outreach. We believe that one person really can make a difference. Caring adults from the community are encouraged to become involved as volunteers in our mentoring program.

BECOME A MENTOR

1 in 3 young people will grow up without a mentor. By becoming a mentor in DeKalb County Schools, you are making a difference in the lives of our students.

Students With a Mentor Are:

  • 55% less likely to skip a day of school,
  • 78% more likely to volunteer regularly,
  • 90% interested in becoming a mentor,
  • 130% more likely to hold leadership positions.

HOW TO BECOME A MENTOR:

  1. Click here to apply to be a mentor.
  2. Attend training: Volunteer and Mentoring Training.
  3. Complete Fingerprinting and Background Check.
  4. Make a Difference!
Mentoring Matters
Become a Mentor

Employees from business agencies and local community organizations mentor students on a one-to-one basis. Volunteers from the community or business groups can serve as mentors to students.

Prospective mentors are required to complete an application, a background check through the DeKalb County School District Public Safety department, and attend a mandatory four-hour training session. After training, each mentor agrees to spend at least thirty minutes a week with his/her student. For the purposes of this program, all mentoring sessions are held at the school during the school day on a regular, predictable basis. Feedback group sessions are provided throughout the school year and offer information as well as professional support to mentoring volunteers.

Training sessions for all potential community and corporate mentors will be held quarterly.

DeKalb County Schools offers its students school-based mentoring support. In this program, staff members are paired with students in the local schools. Participants can be self-nominated or identified by parents or the members of the school faculty as students who would benefit from one-to-one support and monitoring of personal, academic, and behavioral goals.

Mentoring activities in this program occur during the school day.

Georgia has created a singular program known as Dual Enrollment for students who qualify to participate. Students are enrolled to take approved college-level coursework for credit towards both high school and college graduation requirements.

The student must meet all admission requirements of the Postsecondary Institution (Assessments, GPA, Freshman Index, recommendations and immunization) and apply for admission to the Postsecondary institution by the School District deadlines (Summer/Fall – March 15th and Spring – October 15th)

The student must complete the Dual Enrollment Parent Participation Agreement (must be signed by the parent/guardian and School Counselor)

Students must complete the Dual Enrollment Funding Application through their GAfutures account.
Students who enter the ninth grade in 2005–2006 and beyond are required to complete 360 hours (24 units) in order to meet the requirements for graduation. The requirements for promotion are as follows:

  • To the tenth grade: 90 hours (6 units), three (3) of which must be core courses† and three (3) elective courses
  • To the eleventh grade: 180 hours (12 units), six (6) of which must be core courses† and six (6) elective courses
  • To the twelfth grade: 270 hours (18 units), nine (9) core courses† and nine (9) elective courses

           † core courses include English, mathematics, science, social studies, and world language

Students who enter ninth grade prior to the 2004–2005 school year must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 330 hours (22 units) in order to meet the requirements for graduation. Students who enter ninth grade in the 2004–2005 school year and beyond are required to complete 360 hours (24 units) in order to meet the requirements for graduation. The requirements for promotion are as follows:
  • To the tenth grade: 75 hours (5 units)
  • To the eleventh grade: 150 hours (10 units)
  • To the twelfth grade: 240 hours (16 units)

Students who enter ninth grade prior to the 2004–2005 school year must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 330 hours (22 units) in order to meet the requirements for graduation. Students who enter ninth grade in the 2004–2005 school year are required to complete 360 hours (24 units) in order to meet the requirements for graduation. The requirements for promotion are as follows:
  • To the tenth grade: 75 hours (5 units)
  • To the eleventh grade: 150 hours (10 units)
  • To the twelfth grade: 240 hours (16 units)
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