Freedom High School Counseling Department

Mission: 

At Freedom High School, we strive to build positive relationships and nurture a school culture where students aspire to grow through high expectations, integrity, and acceptance, where Eagles realize their dreams and soar within the community and global society.   The counseling team will utilize data-driven practices to offer an inclusive and equitable comprehensive counseling program focused on the academic, vocational, social, and emotional needs of all students. Equity is ensured through Tier 1 interventions that impact every single student, and tiered interventions such as small groups and individual counseling ensure each student receives the support they need. In collaboration with stakeholders, including faculty, parents, and community members, all students will be given the necessary tools and preparation to succeed, thus allowing for the exploration and execution of a personalized postsecondary plan in alignment with their interests, skills, and abilities as they prepare to enter a competitive global society.

Vision: 

Freedom High School is a diverse school community with a positive and invigorating culture. At Freedom High School, the counseling department utilizes data-driven practices to offer an inclusive and equitable comprehensive counseling program. We believe that all Eagles can soar!   

Counseling Staff
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

We encourage parents to communicate with teachers in a variety of ways. All parents should use Canvas/ParentVUE to stay updated on instruction, assignments, upcoming events, and grades in each of their child's classes. Parents may also receive progress reports from individual teachers via email.

If parents have questions about their child's progress, we ask that they either call or email the teacher. Most issues and concerns are addressed in this manner. If, after a period of ongoing phone or email contact has been established, parents feel that a conference would be useful, they should contact the teacher to arrange a mutually convenient time to meet. There are no established conference days at the high school level.

In a few cases, parents may feel the need to meet with all of their child's teachers if there are more serious issues that need to be addressed such as excessive absenteeism, multiple course failures, chronic discipline problems, or long-term illness. In these situations, parents should contact their child's counselor to decide if a meeting with all of the teachers would be helpful.

Consult the Graduation Requirements. If, after reviewing it carefully, you are still unsure, you should directly contact the School Counselor for the student in question, who will be able to consult that student's records. For the email address of your student's School Counselor, consult the Counseling Center staff directory.

A student must have a minimum of 6 credits to be a Sophomore (grade 10), a minimum of 11 credits to be a Junior (grade 11), and a minimum of 16 credits to be a Senior (grade 12). For information on what constitutes a Standard Unit of Credit, consult the Graduation Requirements.

First, have a conversation directly with the teacher(s) of the courses in which the student is having difficulty. The teacher is best able to answer questions about what a student needs to do in class to achieve a passing grade, and any communication with the administration or the counseling center will ultimately lead back to your having a conversation with the teacher so it is best to be proactive and contact the teacher directly. It will save you time in answering your question. After this, you will likely want to speak to the student's School Counselor to discuss specifics from the student's records. In a general sense, if the course is required, and the student cannot take the course the following school year, summer school is a consideration if the course is not passed at the current time.

When a student is having difficulty, the first, best resource is generally the classroom teacher, who can suggest strategies for aiding your child's performance. If no significant progress is observed following the implementation of these strategies, it is appropriate to conference with all of the child's teachers to discuss additional observations and methods of assistance. If there is no significant progress following this intervention, a parent/guardian can approach the child's classroom teacher to request referral to the Intervention Team Committee.

One of the best resources available to your child is his/her current classroom teacher. Activities buses run after school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Staying after for extra help is a critical component of getting back on track. Additionally, the National Honor Society provides tutoring after school on these days as an additional layer of support. Varsity online tutoring is available for all PWCS students for the 2024-25 school year.

Many courses have specific prerequisites that cannot be waived. If "Level 3" of a course requires successful completion of "Level 2," a student cannot take both levels concurrently. Additionally, schools are governed by regulations and legal statutes regarding class size, so space availability must be considered. Finally, school and division policies may prohibit certain situation regardless of other considerations, for example at Freedom High School no two English courses may be taken concurrently.

No. Such requests cannot be accommodated.

Absolutely. Students are strongly encouraged to apply to attend the college(s) of their choice.