Academics

Student Support


Student Support Services is comprised of both the Wellness Counseling department and the Student Success Center. It is committed to providing comprehensive and inclusive support services and promoting student success by keeping equity at the center of our work. We advocate for students as they navigate personal and educational challenges, engage parents and community members as partners in the educational process. By building sustainable relationships that positively impact student success, we provide engaging experiences that support the student learning process. Our Student Support Services are dedicated to providing students with resources, best practices, and opportunities for mental health and well-being that fosters, at heart, student growth, resiliency building, and a positive academic experience. 

Wellness Center

List of 6 items.

  • Wellness Advising

    Collaboratively, we work towards solutions to overcome individual hurdles, ranging from struggles with decision-making and adjusting to new situations, to seeking support for academic stress, as well as navigating both on-campus and off-campus resources.
  • Stress Management

    Should you be experiencing high levels of stress and feeling overwhelmed, our counselors are available to teach you techniques for effectively managing your stress.
  • Relationship Issues

    We understand the interpersonal relationship can be hard to navigate. We are here to help you approach the situation in a productive way that promotes resiliency and relationship building skills. 
  • Academic Performance

    We can provide advice on the selection of courses that align with a student’s interests and goals, connect students with academic support services offered by the school, such as tutoring or the learning support specialist, and help address non-academic issues, such as stress or personal challenges, that may be impacting their academic performance. 
  • Self-Esteem & Confidence

    Wellness counselors provide help identifying students’ strengths, building their self-esteem, and developing strategies to cope with negative self-talk or critical inner voices. Programming that focuses on topics such as self-esteem, positive self-image, and healthy relationships. Counselors can encourage students to reflect on their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We work to teach students how to replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations, which can improve their self-esteem and confidence.
  • Transactions

    The wellness counseling team supports the freshman class as they transition to high school by providing orientation session during their Freshman Seminar course, assist with academic guidance and course planning, provide social-emotional support, and connect students with necessary on or off campus resources.

Student Success Center

List of 6 items.

  • Executive Functioning Skills

    The specialist works with students to develop executive functioning skills, such as time management, organization, and planning. They can provide personalized coaching and support tailored to the student’s needs, which might include resources and tools, such as planners, checklists, and organizational apps, that can help them develop executive functioning skills. Specialists can assess a student’s executive functioning skills, identify areas of strength and weakness, and develop targeted interventions to support the student’s development in those areas.
  • Time Management Skills

    The LSS provides guidance on effective time management techniques that can improve academic performance. The learning support specialist can work with the student to identify specific areas of difficulty with time management, such as prioritizing tasks, estimating the time needed for tasks, or avoiding procrastination. 
  • Study Skills & Strategies

    The specialist can help the student develop a study plan that is tailored to their individual needs and learning style. Then, the LSS works to teach the student strategies for improving study skills and effective study habits. The specialist can also help the student develop test-taking strategies, such as time management and test anxiety reduction techniques.
  • Academic Interventions

    The LSS can help students develop personalized academic plans to meet their academic goals, including creating schedules and identifying resources for academic support outside of school. 
  • Supporting Instruction

    Specialists can work with teachers to identify areas where students may be struggling and develop strategies to support those students in the classroom. The LSS can work with teachers to develop targeted interventions to support the student’s development and help identify assignments or projects that may require more support to the student.
  • Support with Accomodations

    Meeting with students to implement a formal accommodation plan and discussing accommodations, while assisting students in understanding how they best learn/think and allowing the student to be the lead in the decision making, while guiding and supporting.

The Wellness Center

Our mission is to create a safe, nonjudgmental, and confidential environment for our students as they manage their academic and personal lives at St. Agnes Academy. Through preventative programming, small group meetings, and individual sessions, we promote the importance of self-care and balance. The desire for our students and their parents to feel supported, informed, and empowered to seek growth in wellness of mind, body, and spirit guides us.

List of 5 items.

  • Freshman Seminar


    Freshman Seminar is a one-semester, stand-alone course designed to support our entering Freshman students in their transition from a middle school environment to the high school setting. The course aims to help students develop the necessary skills and mindset to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally during their high school years. By providing students with targeted support and guidance, Freshman Seminar aims to create a cohesive, prepared, and academically motivated freshman class. Freshman are assigned to a counselor based on their Freshman Seminar course and remain with that counselor until they are sophomores. 

    Objectives in Freshman Seminar may include:
    • Academic Readiness: Equip students with essential academic skills and strategies to excel in high school. This includes effective study habits, time management, goal setting, organizational skills, and utilizing available academic resources.
    • Social and Emotional Well-being: Support students in understanding and managing the social and emotional challenges they may encounter during high school. Topics covered may include building positive relationships, conflict resolution, stress management, resilience, self-advocacy, and maintaining a healthy school-life balance.
    • High School Orientation: Familiarize students with the structure, culture, and expectations of the St Agnes school environment.
    • Personal Development: Foster self-awareness, personal growth, and character development in students through self-reflective practices.
     
  • Our Role


    • To deliver a wide variety of workshops, events, and preventative programming to students based on a range of topics that support a student's personal growth

    • To collaborate with teachers, administrators, and parents on how to best support students throughout their high school journey

    • To assist in registering freshman students for their sophomore year courses and to answer questions regarding their course requirements

    • To provide academic advising to students in their freshman and sophomore year

    • To offer students the option to meet one-on-one with their counselor as needed

    • To provide a quiet and calming space in the wellness center that is open to students throughout the day
  • Wellness Programming


    • Wellness Parent Lunch and Learns: The wellness department will host a selection of speakers to present to parents on important topics surrounding mental health and adolescent development in an informal convenient zoom platform.
    • Grade Level Programming: The Wellness Department collaborates with faculty and administration to offer grade level programming dependent upon the needs of the students during that academic year. Some examples of grade level programming include study skills, healthy relationships and boundaries, and helpful tips for course registration. 
    • Care Dogs: In collaboration with the organization Faithful Paws, the Wellness Department will host care dogs periodically throughout the school year to offer stress-relief and relaxation to students, especially before final exams.
    • Wellness Workshops: Based on common or relevant themes, the Wellness Department will provide small group workshops for students to dive deeper into a topic and learn helpful skills. Some past workshop topics have included friendship, anxiety coping skills, and practicing body acceptance.
    • Self-Care Fair: Held in the spring semester, students will be invited to visit the self-care fair where they can visit various booths containing self-care activities, mindfulness techniques, and calming strategies. Examples include art activities, breathing exercises, and the chance to win prizes along the way!
  • What does "school counseling work" look like with students?

    When school counseling work is approached from a solution-focused perspective, the focus is on identifying and building upon students' strengths, resources, and potential solutions to their challenges. St Agnes Wellness Department uses a solution-focused approach to counseling that focuses on resiliency building allowing students to return to class to ensure academic success. Here's what our approach with students focuses on:
    1. Identifying Goals: The counselor works with students to identify their desired outcomes or goals. This could be related to academic achievement, social relationships, emotional well-being, or personal growth.
    2. Assessing Strengths and Resources: The counselor helps students recognize and explore their existing strengths, skills, and resources that can contribute to their desired success. This could involve discussing their past successes, positive attributes, supportive relationships, or coping strategies.
    3. Collaborative Problem-Solving: The counselor and student work together to identify and define the challenges or obstacles the student is facing. They engage in a collaborative process to generate potential solutions or strategies to address these challenges.
    4. Building Skills and Strategies: The counselor helps the student develop and strengthen the skills, knowledge, and strategies necessary to achieve their goals. This could involve teaching problem-solving techniques, stress management strategies, communication skills, or study skills, among others.
    5. Celebrating Successes: Together the student and counselor celebrate the steps in their progress and aimed for successes. This helps boost their self-confidence and reinforces their belief in their ability to overcome challenges.
    Throughout the solution-focused approach, the school counselor maintains a positive and strengths-based perspective, emphasizing the student's abilities and potential to create positive change. They facilitate a collaborative and empowering environment that encourages students to take an active role in their own growth and development.
  • Wellness Advising

    Freshman and Sophomores primarily receive academic advising from the Wellness Counselors. Juniors and Seniors are primarily advised by the College Counselors. This division allows students to select an appropriately rigorous curriculum which builds on their individual strengths.

    Advising for the next school year begins in second semester with classroom guidance which is followed by student generated counseling appointments. For more information on the process to move from the College Preparatory Program into the Honors Program please see our Contingencies page.

Student Success Center

The Student Success Center provides a place for students with various learning differences to attain skills in study techniques, time management, organizational strategies, and goal planning, as well as providing reasonable accommodations for students to ensure their full participation in the academic programs. The Center is also a source for all students to develop effective learning and academic strategies to help meet the curriculum demands of St. Agnes Academy.

The highly trained specialists in the Student Success Center collaborate with teachers and counselors to ensure academic support for students is aligned and applicable to coursework and student goals. 

List of 7 items.

  • Our Role 

    Through one-on-one consultations with students, the specialists provide support in the following areas: organization, time management, study skills, test taking strategies, self-advocacy, and executive functioning skills. The specialists also help to facilitate implementation of accommodations in the classroom, as well as limited interventions outside of the classroom.  
     
    The Director of Student Support works with the school administration to share best instructional practices to differentiate instruction that supports the diverse learners in the classroom. 
  • Services for Students with Disabilities 

    We understand that there may be circumstances when a parent may request that the School provide an accommodation for a student’s medical needs or physical, mental, or learning disability. As the range of requests has grown over the years, the School believes that it is appropriate at this time to outline the School’s policy and general guidelines for addressing such requests.   
  • General Accommodation Policy  

    In general, it is our school’s policy to provide accommodations for a student’s minor needs in circumstances in which the administration determines, in its sole discretion, that doing so is within the reasonable ability of the School and/or its staff and will not result in a significant disruption to the teacher’s ability to instruct other students, to classroom or school order and discipline, will not require a threat of harm to the safety of other students or employees, will not require a fundamental change to our educational environment or mission, and will not impose responsibilities on school employees for which they are not trained. We also ask parents to realize that, given the size of our school and our available resources, we may not be able to provide all requested accommodations. To the extent we agree to provide accommodations, we may require a sharing of responsibility for the accommodation. 
  • Available Accommodations 

    St. Agnes provides students with documented learning differences (5) accommodations:
    • Extended time on assessments
    • Testing in the testing center (smaller and quieter environment free from classroom distractions)
    • Preferential Seating
    • Note Partner
    • No Scantrons for exams and tests 
  • Assessment Documentation of Need 

    Once the educational evaluation or medical documentation has been received by the School, the Director of Student Support will meet with the parents to clarify information and to discuss how the five accommodations will be implemented to support their child. In some cases, the parent may be asked to provide (at the parent’s cost) any special equipment suggested, training for the School’s staff, or other associated matters. In addition, the School may advise the parent that the School will allow a particular accommodation, but the full responsibility for doing so will rest with the parent. For example, if the student needs to be tested or have certain types of medicines administered during the day that the School or nurse believe are beyond the scope of the School’s responsibility, the School may allow the parent to make arrangements to visit the campus for the purpose of testing and administering. 
  • ACT and College Board Accomodations

    Students who are receiving classroom accommodations at St. Agnes based on a current diagnosis, may be eligible to receive accommodations for ACT or College Board (PSAT/SAT/AP) tests. College Board requires an educational evaluation conducted within the past 5 years and ACT requires an educational evaluation conducted within the past 3 years.  They both require the implementation and use of accommodations in the School setting for at least one semester. It is important to remember that even if a student receives accommodations at school, it does not necessarily mean that the student will be granted extended time on standardized tests. The governing board of each institution makes the decision independent of the School, based on their interpretation of the documentation presented. More information can be found at (ACT website: www.act.org) and (College Board website: www.collegeboard.org). 
  • School Code   

    443-420 is the number assigned to St. Agnes Academy for use on college entrance test registration forms for SAT and ACT, financial aid applications, and some college applications.  Use it any time "School Code", "CEEB Code", or "ETS Number" is requested. 

Wellness Counselors

List of 4 members.

  • Photo of Kallie Allen

    Kallie Allen 

    Director of Student Support
    713.219.5500
    Bio
  • Photo of Cecelia Waters

    Cecelia Waters 

    Wellness Counselor
    (713) 219-5442
    Bio
  • Photo of Joy Liao

    Joy Liao 

    Wellness Counselor
    (713) 219-5465
    Bio
  • Photo of Asmait Gebrekristos

    Asmait Gebrekristos 

    Wellness Counselor

Student Success Center Team

List of 4 members.

  • Photo of Kallie Allen

    Kallie Allen 

    Director of Student Support
    713.219.5500
    Bio
  • Photo of Ariann Pradia

    Ariann Pradia 

    Academic Support Coordinator
    (713) 219-5469
  • Photo of Josephine DeForke

    Josephine DeForke 

    Learning Support Specialist, Academic Data Analyst, Science Teacher
    (713) 219-5519
    Bio
  • Photo of Karen Lopez

    Karen Lopez 

    Learning Support Specialist
    Bio