Counseling/Guidance Office
Counseling is sometimes referred to as the art of helping people help themselves. At Spaulding High School, we believe that an effective school counseling program is one that serves all students, is preventative in nature, has active staff involvement, provides crisis intervention, and offers short-term counseling.
Vision Statement
The SHS school counselors see and believe in each individual student’s ability to reach their utmost potential. We communicate this belief to students through our unconditional acceptance, compassion, caring, and commitment to support each student during the course of their high school years (and sometimes beyond). This support will be unwavering, regardless of a student’s socio-economic background, sexual orientation, family circumstances, failures or successes, individual challenges or conflicts, health issues or crises.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Spaulding High School Counseling program is to provide a comprehensive, developmental program designed to be an integral part of the school addressing the academic, emotional and social needs of our students.
School Counselors are devoted to the promotion of well-being for all students and the encouragement of all students to be life-long learners.
Effective fall 2019, Spaulding High School requires 40 hours of community service over the course of a student’s high school career as part of a student’s graduation requirement. For more information, please visit our Program of Studies or contact your School Counselor.
College & Career Planning Resources
The SHS Counseling/Guidance Office provides a number of services to students who are looking to attend college or pursue a career following graduation.
Through various partnerships with local employers, the Central Vermont Career Center, and the Vermont Student Assistance Corp (VSAC); as well as our Work-Based Learning partners and Student Advisory, we help students develop - and implement - a course of study that will take them in the direction of their dreams.
Every Spaulding student and parent has been provided with an account in Scoir, which provides a great deal of information about colleges, careers, and surveys that students can take to learn more about themselves. Click on the link to sign in to your Scoir account.
Scoir is also used as a main form of communication to students and parents, so it is very important that each student and parent signs up. Students can also use Scoir as messaging system to communicate with their counselors, as Scoir has an app that students and Counselors can download on their phones.
If you have not yet signed into your Scoir account, please reach out to Anna Ryan to receive an invitation.
You can also access all of VSAC's college and career planning resources directly from VSAC by clicking here: VSAC
Learn more about our College & Career Planning partnership with VSAC by clicking on this link: Future Planning Resources
The McClure Foundation’s “Vermont’s Most Promising Jobs” report for 2023-2024 is out! This is a great tool to help folks explore high demand careers, their minimum education requirements, and median wage.
In-House Scholarships
Applications are now open for the 23-24 School Year.
Click on each scholarship to learn more about them and to access the application.
College and Financial Aid
Hello Seniors
We hope this finds you well. If you have questions about colleges and financial aid, please reach out to your school counselor. Many of your questions might be answered here below from VSAC:
For Seniors:
- May 1 is typically the deadline to commit to a college. Use this tool to see if a school you've applied to has made any changes to their deadlines. Or call the school directly to double-check.
- VSAC still plans to have most scholarships selected and awarded by May 1. Check your myVSAC account for updates.
- Filed the FAFSA but something has changed for your family’s finances? There are two things you need to do:
- Call or email the financial aid office at each college to update them on your circumstances.
- Call or e-mail VSAC to update VSAC for your State Grant. Call 800-882-4166 or email grants@vsac.org
- Haven’t filled out your FAFSA or Vermont grant applications? There’s still time! For pointers, watch our Facebook Live event, which provides a question-by-question walk-through of FAFSA and Grant
applications. - Need help comparing financial aid offers? Compare offers from different colleges using our resources, watch this video to listen VSAC staff on VPR’s Vermont Edition, or download VSAC’s financial aid offer comparison tool
- As you think through all the options to pay for your education, watch this video to help you think through all the costs.
- When considering loans, start with with VSAC to Know More, Borrow Less.
Please keep in touch with us during this time. We want to help you navigate the rest of your senior year.
Click on the links below to access some tools provided by VSAC