Counseling Corner

Hello! My name is Tori Dore and this is my second year as one of Elm Street School's counselors. I am excited for this year ahead and to continue getting to know this community!

I am a Mom to my two year old daughter, Ellie, and I'm having another little girl in December! I also have two Siamese cats and a dog named, Walter. We love to bake, explore the outdoors, and decorate for every holiday!

Please feel free to contact me throughout this year.

Email: vwintersdore@walpole.k12.ma.us

Phone: 508-660-7374, ext. 5615

Hello Elm Street families!

My name is Shannon Songin, and I am so excited to be joining Elm Street School as one of the school counselors this year! While this is my first year working at Elm, I’m no stranger to Walpole. I grew up here, attended the Walpole Schools myself, and am so happy to be back working in this community!

I live with my fiancé and our 7-year-old daughter, Olivia. Outside of school, I love to read, try cooking new recipes (even if they don’t always turn out as planned!), and play board and card games with my daughter.

I am thrilled to get to know all of our Elm Street students and families and to help make this a wonderful year together!

Email: ssongin@walpole.k12.ma.us

Phone: 508-660-7374, ext. 5615

• Work with ALL students as a whole class, in small groups, or one-on-one
• Teach developmentally-appropriate lessons to promote social, emotional, and academic growth
• Work with families and the Elm community to help each child be as successful as possible!

A counselor's job is to help you. We are here to support with any challenges or questions throughout the school year. Please reach out whenever!

As part of our general education social-emotional support, ALL students will receive either weekly or biweekly social-emotional "SOAR" lessons. Kindergarten lessons are taught weekly and grades 1-5 are taught bi-weekly.

These lessons are based on the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) competencies. Some topics we cover include feeling identification and strategies, problem solving and conflict resolution, friendship and bullying, goal setting, exploring differences, and decision making. Each month, we will provide an updated newsletter which previews our lessons for the month ahead.

Mrs. Dore will be teaching lessons and working directly with students in 1st, 2nd, and 5th grade. Ms. Songin will be teaching lessons and working directly with students in Kindergarten, 3rd, and 4th grade.

Throughout the year, the related service providers at Elm Street School form small groups with students based on a variety of need.

Some groups focus on building and improving friendships and others focus on many topics including: problem-solving, expected/unexpected behavior, perspective taking, emotion management, making responsible decisions, etc. These groups can occur at different times throughout the day in order to maximize group success and effectiveness. The groups are created according to the needs of individual students and often run for 6-8 weeks at a time, but could meet as little as one time. Please Note: Not ALL children will participate in a small group.

Please click this link if you wish to OPT-OUT of small groups for your student.

Mrs. Tori Dore (grades 1, 2, and 5)

Email: vwintersdore@walpole.k12.ma.us

Phone: 508-660-7374, ext. 5615

Ms. Shannon Songin (grades K, 3, and 4)

Email: ssongin@walpole.k12.ma.us

Phone: 508-660-7374, ext. 5615