The Rye City schools are working to bolster the district’s counseling and orientation programs for both students and parents, especially during crucial academic transitions.
The school budget for the 2026-27 adds another full-time social worker, which the district said “strengthens its commitment to social-emotional learning and student support services.”
A 23-member local advisory council has recommended further integrating counselors into the classroom at the elementary and middle school levels, and creating new peer leadership opportunities. That council is made up of counselors, administrators, clinicians, teachers, and community members.
Seth Busching, the district’s director of school counseling and student wellness, said the changes will include a mentorship program. Eighth graders will spend time and conduct regular check-ins with sixth graders, who are in their first year at the middle school. The peer mentorship program will also incorporate anti-bullying strategies.
“Throughout the day when (sixth graders) see someone they recognize throughout the halls, not only do they feel more comfortable … but also, we have a whole other layer of eyes and ears around the building with kids who understand that it is a collective responsibility to take care of one another,” Busching said.
The district will also focus on more robust counseling and orientation for students and their parents during transitions into sixth and ninth grades.
“The internal emotional shift that our kids go through from, ‘I’m in middle school, this is fun,’ to ‘I’m in ninth grade, this is serious work,’ is a significant shift,” Busching said about the high school transition period. “They may only be a couple hundred feet from where they were the year prior, but that transition piece is really critical to their success both academically and socially.”
Traditionally, district counselors have their first individual check-ins with sixth- and ninth-grade students in October or November, sometimes a month or more after the school year is underway. Busching recognized that period as a crucial time for intervention, not only for students but for parents.
“That created a very visible gap of information and connection between parents and school counselors about a month-and-a-half every year,” he said.
Moving forward, Busching said, his department plans to integrate small breakout groups into middle and high school orientation programming, “so it’s clear from day one: Who is my school counselor, what is their role in my life, where do they live, and how do I get help if I need it?”
Board of Education member Callie Erickson said more orientation for parents would have benefited her a few years ago, when her oldest child reached ninth grade.
“When she got to high school, as a new parent, I didn’t know what was coming, and I felt like you just were supposed to know,” she said. “So, I really leaned on friends who had kids who were older to try to figure it out.”
On top of the additional orientation for parents of rising ninth graders, Busching said the department is taking a deeper look at planning for each subsequent year of high school.
“We made a concerted effort to roadmap more and make very clear timelines so that parents in ninth grade understand what is going to be coming down the pike in 10th, 11th, and 12th,” he said. “Our parents are planners, and the reality is, they’re not living in the moment with their children. They’re thinking long term.”
