The Counseling Department at Dr. John Folks Middle School will provide and implement a comprehensive school counseling program that is designed to assist all students by advocating for their personal, academic, social and emotional well being. Our goal is to empower, support and equip our students to receive the best education in a safe and nurturing environment that will prepare them to be successful in their future.

Professional school counselors work within 4 key components: responsive services, individual planning, guidance & system support.

In this component, school counselors intervene with or on behalf of those students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grades whose personal circumstances, concerns, or problems are threatening to interfere with or are interfering with their healthy educational, personal, social, career and/or educational development.

• Responsive Services includes both individual and small group counseling
• Small group counseling helps students to learn skills, develop self-awareness, practice new behaviors, and better understand how to effectively cope with challenges that life presents. Each group varies based on student and campus need. Students will not be seen in small group counseling without the written permission of a parent or guardian. Sometimes small group counseling isn't the best placement for your teen. If that is the case, we will support your teen through individual counseling for responsive services.
• Responsive services are available through student self-referral, teacher/administrator referral, and/or parent referral.

The individual planning component guides students to plan, monitor, and manage their own educational, career, personal and social development. Each student is provided with necessary steps toward his/her established goals.

The Guidance Curriculum component includes skill based lessons designed to help all students develop competence in essential life skills. Guidance lessons are based on student need.

Skill goals include:

• Intrapersonal Effectiveness
• Interpersonal Effectiveness
• Post Secondary Planning and Career Readiness
• Personal Health and Safety

This component indirectly services our students. The System Support component describes management activities which assure the delivery of a high quality school counseling program.

Students have access to their counselor and can contact them in any of the following three ways:

• Counseling Department Google Form- Make a request to talk with your counselor by clicking on this link: https://tinyurl.com/46nttzr
• Email your counselor
• Ask a teacher for a pass to visit your counselor

The Threads Closet supports Northside families by providing free clothing to students in need who are enrolled in the district.

If you would like to visit the Threads Closet, please contact a Folks Counselor for a referral. Once a referral is made, an appointment will be scheduled.

Click the link below for more information:

https://www.nisd.net/district/whole-child/family-engagement/northside-threads-clothing-closet

The Folks Counseling Department is honored to be recipients of the CREST (Counselors Reinforcing Excellence for Students in Texas) Award for our school counseling program for two consecutive years in a row! It is so rewarding to work with our amazing staff, students, parents, and community!

We are excited to announce that Folks Middle School has been named a 2024-2025 Purple Star Campus! Our campus will retain the Purple Star Campus Designation for school years 2024-25 and 2025-26.

This special recognition from the Texas Education Agency highlights schools that go above and beyond to support military connected students and families. 💜💜💜