Early Childhood and Elementary School Counseling

The EC/ES Counseling team offers services to empower students to pursue their passion for learning, lead lives of integrity, and develop socially responsible solutions.

The social-emotional well-being of students is a priority at FDR. 

Currently, our EC/ES team consists of 4 counselors, one for Early Childhood and three who work in the Elementary School. 

Our goal is to help students regulate their emotions, develop positive coping skills, problem-solve, and advocate for their social-emotional and academic needs. Our approach and practices are aligned with the International School Counselor Association (ISCA) model and standards. We also maintain our partnership with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). 

Our comprehensive, research-based Second Step curriculum is used across all grade levels, from Early Childhood 3 (EC3) through Grade 5, to foster students' emotional intelligence, empathy, and problem-solving skills. Along with this, we have implemented RULER, which is an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. RULER seeks to use the power of emotions to create a healthier, more equitable, innovative, and compassionate community. 

Counselors also offer short-term individual and small-group counseling beyond whole-class lessons. These individual and small group services are provided on an as-needed basis to focus on student well-being so that students can be ready to access learning.