Hello, and thank you for visiting my page! My name is Leslie Warhola, and I am the seventh grade school counselor for the 2020-2021 school year. My colleague, Christina Lopez, will be working with the eighth graders this year. We loop with our students, which means that I will be your child's school counselor for the duration of middle school. This is my 14th year at MMS, and I'm very excited to work with this  group of eighth graders! 

School counselors in middle school provide many different services to meet our students' needs. Here are some examples of what we do:

• Short-term individual supportive counseling
• Small group counseling
• Crisis intervention
• Long and short-term academic planning
• Consultation and collaboration with school staff, parents, mental health professionals and community groups.
• Lunch Bunches
• Behavioral supports and interventions
• Standardized test administration

Middle school is a very exciting time for your children, but can also be challenging in a variety of ways. We are here to help! Here are some typical areas of concern for which we can offer our support:

• Self advocacy
• Self-esteem and self-confidence
• Social skills
• Friendship issues
• Behavior management
• Regulating emotions
• Separation anxiety
• Perfectionism
• Peer pressure
• Bereavement
• Decision making
• Stress management
• Conflict resolution
• Organizational skills

All students are welcome to access guidance as needed! Students can ask their teachers to come to guidance and schedule an appointment, and at times teachers may ask us to check in with a particular student who may appear to be struggling. We see students for a huge variety of reasons, and encourage students to advocate for themselves if they need assistance. 

If you as a parent/guardian have questions or concerns - please reach out! Communication is crucial, especially when dealing with adolescents. I can be reached via phone at 424-6289, or email at leslie.warhola@sau26.org