Meet the Folks Counselors!

The Folks Middle School Counseling Department is excited to welcome you back to campus for the 2026-2027 school year! We look forward to connecting and building relationships with our students and families! We are readily available to answer any questions or concerns. Our goal is to ensure that every student is successful socially, emotionally and academically. Let's work together to make this a happy, safe, and productive year!

The Counseling Department at Dr. John Folks Middle School will provide and implement a comprehensive school counseling program that is designed to assist all students by advocating for their personal, academic, social and emotional well being. Our goal is to empower, support and equip our students to receive the best education in a safe and nurturing environment that will prepare them to be successful in their future.

Professional school counselors work within 4 key components: responsive services, individual planning, guidance & system support.

In this component, school counselors intervene with or on behalf of those students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grades whose personal circumstances, concerns, or problems are threatening to interfere with or are interfering with their healthy educational, personal, social, career and/or educational development.

• Responsive Services includes both individual and small group counseling
• Small group counseling helps students to learn skills, develop self-awareness, practice new behaviors, and better understand how to effectively cope with challenges that life presents. Each group varies based on student and campus need. Students will not be seen in small group counseling without the written permission of a parent or guardian. Sometimes small group counseling isn't the best placement for your teen. If that is the case, we will support your teen through individual counseling for responsive services.

The individual planning component guides students to plan, monitor, and manage their own educational, career, personal and social development. Each student is provided with necessary steps toward his/her established goals.

School counselors provide classroom guidance lessons that facilitate student growth and development in the areas of educational, career, personal, and social development in four curricular content areas: Intrapersonal Effectiveness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Post-Secondary Education and Career Readiness, and Personal Health and Safety.

This component indirectly services our students. The System Support component describes management activities which assure the delivery of a high quality school counseling program.

Intrapersonal Relationships

• Developing a positive self-concept
• Changing a particular behavior
• Developing ways to manage the demands of school, social activities, and family
• Making positive decisions and taking responsibility for actions

Interpersonal Relationships

• Evaluating how prejudices can be harmful
• Respecting and appreciating differences
• Learning how to effectively communicate with others
• Navigating relationships with friends, dating partners, family members, teachers, employers

Post-secondary Planning and Career Readiness

• Motivation to achieve in school
• Understanding how grades can affect post-secondary choices
• Selecting a career or college path
• Setting post-graduation goals

Personal Health and Safety

• Identifying resilience and positive coping skills
• Identifying assertiveness skills for personal protection
• Learning how to set personal boundaries
• Creating a personal wellness plan

Our guidance lessons for the first semester will focus on interpersonal skills and personal health & safety topics.

Howdy Lessons

• the role of professional school counselors
• small group counseling offerings for this year
• supporting new students as they transition to Folks
• keeping our students safe on campus and online
• promoting healthy choices

Bully Prevention Awareness Guidance Lessons

• understand David's Law and its implications in school
• campus resources for personal health & safety & coping skills to help regulate their emotions
• students took the Anti-Bullying Pledge acknowledging to never use their device as a weapon.

For more information on David's Law please click this link: https://www.davidslegacy.org/2019/07/08/davids-law-a-texas-pta-story/

Drug Awareness / Vaping Guidance Lessons

• Identify the dangerous effects of drugs on the brain
• Understand possible school and legal consequences of drugs
• Focus on making healthy choices to stay safe

Counselors are available to all students! 💙

Students can reach their counselor in one of three ways:

1. Completing the Request to See a Counselor form in their Counseling Schoology tile

2. Emailing their counselor directly

3. Asking the teacher for a pass to visit their counselor

*Parents can also call or email their child's counselor to set up an appointment.

Northside ISD has partnered with Our Lady of the Lake University's Psychology Dept. to provide free counseling services to our families on Wednesday evenings. See flyer below for details.

Northside ISD middle schools use 9-week grading periods. Instead of receiving printed report cards, you can view grades online through the Home Access Center (HAC) the week after a grading period ends. To view them, log into HAC, click the Grades icon, and select the Report Card tab.

The quarterly grading timeline is as follows:

1st Quarter: Aug 10 - Oct 8

2nd Quarter: Oct 13 - Dec 18

3rd Quarter: Jan 4 - Mar 5

4th Quarter: Mar 15- May 26

We can all help prevent suicide. The 988 Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States. People can call or text that number to talk or chat with a trained mental health professional in English or Spanish.

https://988lifeline.org/

To mark Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month, our students shared what keeps them moving forward. Mental Health matters every day! 💚

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, a timely reminder to take action to foster safe and supportive environments. By promoting kindness, inclusivity, and respect, we can contribute to creating environments where everyone feels valued and respected. The month is a reminder to always be kind and compassionate to others, promote acceptance, and boost inclusivity to prevent bullying.

https://www.stompoutbullying.org/world-day-bullying-prevention

https://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/

https://www.stopbullying.gov/blog/2020/10/21/october-national-bullying-prevention-awareness-month

On Friday, October 2nd all NISD students and staff will be invited to sign a Declaration of Respect poster as part of the district's anti-bullying initiatives. Folks Stallions are encouraged to always take a stand against bullying and treat others with respect and kindness throughout the year. Our students and staff members are committed to providing a safe, respectful and healthy school climate at Folks Middle School as we all declare to do our part to prevent bullying and cyberbullying!

Every October, schools and organizations across the country join STOMP Out Bullying in observing National Bullying Prevention Month. The goal: encourage schools, communities and organizations to work together to stop bullying and cyberbullying and put an end to hatred and racism by increasing awareness of the prevalence and impact of all forms of bullying on all children of all ages.

The Annual Drug Prevention and Awareness campaign runs from October 26-30. Students will learn about the importance of living drug free by participating in theme days, sharing their "Natural Highs", and receiving drug awareness guidance lessons from their counselors!