MMS Guidance Department

Karen Despres: 429-9341, ext.110; despreskl@mansfieldct.org

Kristina Kyriacou: 429-9341, ext.340; kyriacoukm@mansfieldct.org

There are two school counselors at the middle school, each serving Grades 5 through 8. As students progress from one grade to the next, their counselor moves with them, providing continuity and time to really get to know the students and their parents.

We work with the students to improve their academic growth and to help them with personal and social concerns. We are also responsible for:

o Student scheduling

o Registering and orienting new students

o Planning and implementing transition programs

o Facilitating parent conferences during the entire school year

o Classroom guidance activities

Special attention is paid to teaching “Life Skills” such as organization, study skills, time management, and responsibility. In addition, we facilitate a variety of groups for students, ranging from social skills to relaxed, small group luncheons. Counselors are also available during the day for students to drop by for assistance with problems they may be facing.

Our goal is to help all students use their middle school years as a significant personal learning time. We enjoy working with students, parents, and teachers, as well as community resources in order to accomplish these goals.

Special Programs offered by the Guidance Department

~ The Ambassadors' Club ~

The Ambassadors' Club is a group of students who make a commitment to helping anyone who is new to MMS feel welcome here. Students meet weekly and invite new students, as well. The purpose of these meetings is to help students become better acquainted with one another and to explore common interests. An Ambassador Extraordinaire is a student who is specially trained to personally assist new students during their first weeks here at MMS. Both Karen and Kristina facilitate these meetings. Guests are sometimes invited to join our meetings for special projects.

~ Tutoring ~

Students needing extra help are encouraged to join our tutoring program. Students from the University of CT visit the school during X-block to work with our students. This is a semester program, with the students meeting once a week.

Additional Information

Homework: Teacher expectations for homework time commitment can be found in the Parent/Student Handbook. Counselors are available to families to help troubleshoot homework issues, which may include time management issues, home-school communication, and organization. Students can stay after school for homework help Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays (when there is not a staff meeting) and Thursdays. Call the school at 429-9341 for each teacher’s Homework Hotlines. Or, visit www.school.aol.com

Absences - Regular student attendance in school is essential to the educational process. Our state legislature strongly reaffirmed this principle by passing Public Law 91-303. With the passage of this legislation, school systems are now required to be much more aggressive in monitoring attendance and reporting students who are truant to an appropriate state agency. To help us carefully monitor attendance, we ask that you do the following:

• If you know in advance that your child will be absent from school, please send a note or call the school and let us know.
• On days when your child is sick and will not be coming to school, please call the school office between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. and advise us that your child will be absent that day. The absence line number for Mansfield Middle School is 429-5004 x 175. Calling the absence line eliminates the need for a note after an absence.

In unusual circumstances, a family may wish to remove a child from school for the purpose of educational travel:

1. A written request, to be approved by the Principal, must be submitted no later than three weeks before the intended trip is to occur. The Principal will determine if the absences are excused or unexcused.
2. It is the child's responsibility to make arrangements to get and complete as much regular school work as possible.
3. At the teacher's discretion, such assignments may be modified to accommodate the trip setting, but should not be construed as a total replacement for classroom learning.

Small Steps Toward Big Success

• Be positive - Expect your child to do well. Focus on future goals, not past failures. Talk about what it will take to succeed. Praise them, and celebrate progress!
• Make rules - Help your child to learn good habits - studying daily, when and where to do homework, limits on TV time, phone calls and outside activities.
• Give responsibilities - Being independent helps self-esteem to grow - it shows children that they can succeed. Let them make their own lunches, manage a bank account, care for a pet.
• Make time - Make family meals a habit. Spend at least a few minutes a day discussing school, friends, and interests. You don't have to schedule this time. Talk at the supper table, in the car, while on a walk.

MMS Code of Conduct

All members of the Mansfield Middle School Community treat each other the way they like to be treated. All members are responsible for their actions and reactions, respect each other's personal space and property, and conduct themselves with honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity. (Passed by MMS Student Council, June 1999)

Visit our homepage at http://www.mmsnet.org.