School Counseling

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. 

School Counseling Practicum/Internship Field Experiences

Thank you so much for your interest in completing your school counseling field placement with DCSD. DCSD recognizes the importance of providing support and relevant experiences to candidates seeking a master’s, specialist, or doctorate degree in School Counseling. We understand the critical role site supervisors play in developing future counselors who will carry out the implementation of a school counseling program for ALL students.

DCSD only accepts candidates that are enrolled in a CACREP School Counseling Program and currently has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Georgia State University, Clark Atlanta University, University of Georgia, University of West Georgia, Mercer University and Albany University.

Dual Enrollment

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.

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Student Advisement & Diploma Types

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

Promotion & Retention

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