Welcome to ACS!

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, my name is Carolina Blanco and I am the Secondary School Counselor for the 2019-2020 school year.

As a School Counselor, my primary responsibility is to promote the academic, personal, emotional and social development of all students. I look forward to offering support to the students, staff, families and community.

Any student can request to meet with me or they can be referred by a teacher, administrator, or parent. I encourage you to reach out if you have concerns regarding your child. If you would like for me to meet with your child please do not hesitate to contact me.

I am here to help create a welcoming, inclusive school climate and ensure each student’s dignity and culture is embraced. I will work towards promoting a learning environment that encourages, motivates and supports students, so they can fulfill their potential. I can be reached by email at carolina.blanco@acslp.org

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Introduction

ACS Calvert provides Secondary Counseling Services that focus on individual student planning, responsive services and guidance curriculum.  Our counseling services advocate for students’ well-being, and support their development both socially and emotionally. 

Our Secondary Counseling Services also offer college counseling assistance by advising students about their options for university and helping them make the best decisions about their education based on their individual situations.

Statement of Purpose

The American Cooperative School Counseling department promotes a learning environment that supports students to succeed academically and in their career and social/emotional development while maintaining respect for and pride in their cultural heritage.  

To support students, so they can work to their best potential.

Advisory Program

Communicate with parents, teachers and administration on social emotional programs, students progress and action plan. To support student’s academic and social emotional growth and development.

Assist students to choose opportunities for success and development of self- advocacy.

• Help students achieve their full potential

• Empower students to be personally responsible for their own learning (i.e. set short-term goals)

• Provide schedules that meet individual needs and challenge the student top reach his/her potential

• Meet with Seniors 4 times a week for an hour in an organized classroom setting where students explore the possibilities of universities and complete required documentation for applications.  They receive one-on-one guidance during this embedded time. 

• Provide access to the platform Cialfo for grades 9-12th:

  • Cialfo is a college guidance platform used by the best international schools around the world. Cialfo helps counselors manage students, monitor assignments and due dates, schedule meetings, submit documents and transcripts, collaborate with students, parents, and colleagues, and more.  The platform handles a range of applications to 25 different countries and allows students to manage the various parts of these different application processes. For the US applications, the platform uses a machine learning algorithm to help students and counsellors to identify, reach, target and likely schools, although the counsellor has the option to amend and change this recommendation.Students can enter their grades from high school and this data will also be synced from the school’s student information system..

Finally, students can also undertake three different profiling assessments from Human eSources through Cialfo and these aim to help students understand their own learning styles and personalities better.