Director of Counseling - Phoenix

The Director of Counseling provides division-aligned leadership, coordination, and accountability for counseling services across The Phoenix Center's six distinct alternative education programs: Turning Point, Evening Program, ISAEP/GED Prep, Regional Program, and Middle School Alternative Program (MAP). The Director ensures that every program receives fair and appropriate attention based on student need, enrollment patterns, legal and reporting requirements, program intensity, deadlines, and available staffing.

• Program Guidance, Equity, and Workload Management- Provide clear guidance, coordination, and continuous evaluation of counseling services across all Phoenix Center programs, recognizing the unique enrollment processes, calendars, student populations, scheduling structures, compliance requirements, and performance measures of each program. Develop and maintain equitable work plans that prioritize services based on program needs, caseloads, enrollment and completion activity, testing and reporting requirements, statutory deadlines, and staff capacity. Collaborate with program and school leadership to establish goals, priorities, schedules, service-delivery practices, and strategic improvements while monitoring implementation and outcomes across GED, Turning Point, Regional, MAP, Evening program, and other Phoenix Center programming.
• Counseling Department Director and Counseling Coordinator- Serve as department chair and represent the counseling department on school and district leadership teams, committees, and meetings as assigned. Lead regular counseling and PHXC staff meetings to coordinate student services, review complex cases, plan activities, distribute responsibilities, and ensure timely completion of departmental requirements. Coordinate counseling assignments based on program needs, staff expertise, continuity of student support, and equitable workload. Promote consistent counseling practices across all programs in collaboration with Regional & MAP counselors while ensuring appropriate documentation, confidentiality, professional ethics, and adherence to school division policies and procedures.
• Student Services and Direct Counseling- Ensure students across Phoenix Center programs have equitable access to comprehensive academic, career, social-emotional, crisis-response, transition, and referral services. Develop and implement an annual counseling plan responsive to student and program needs, academic planning, assessment, placement, and follow-up services. Provide direct counseling, consultation, scheduling, placement, and student-support services as assigned and as workload permits. Collaborate with students, families, base-school personnel, administrators, teachers, special services staff, and community agencies to identify student needs, determine appropriate placements and supports, and facilitate referrals to available resources. Participate in SEC, intervention, placement, threat assessment, crisis response, and other multidisciplinary student-support teams as appropriate.
• Program Enrollment, Academic progress, & Transition Coordination- Coordinate and collaborate on referral, eligibility, enrollment, transition, completion, and withdrawal processes across the GED/Turning Point/ Evening school programs. Collaborate with Phoenix Center administration to maintain accurate enrollment procedures, guidance, and stakeholder and base school communications. Support course placement and academic planning based on program and graduation requirements, testing needs, and individualized student plans. Monitor and communicate student progress, credits, testing, and graduation status with Phoenix Center staff and base schools. Coordinate January and May graduation processes for eligible students, including verification, communication, base-school coordination, and ceremony requirements. Maintain current knowledge of Virginia ISAEP/GED requirements and applicable state and division guidance.
• Compliance, Reporting, and Program Accountability- Ensure counseling services and program processes align with federal and state requirements, Stafford County Public Schools policies, alternative education requirements, confidentiality standards, and testing regulations. Coordinate required division, state, and program reporting related to enrollment, graduation, completion, dropout, CTE, and program outcomes. Maintain accurate systems for tracking student enrollment, graduation progress, coursework, and testing information and ensure timely communication with base schools. Maintain appropriate documentation of counseling guidance, direct services, and staff resource allocation across Phoenix Center programs.
• Stakeholder Collaboration and Community Engagement- Serve, alongside Phoenix Center administration, as a key counseling liaison among Phoenix Center programs, base schools, families, school divisions, court services, community agencies, and other stakeholders. Collaborate with faculty and staff to develop student and family awareness activities and initiatives appropriate to the alternative education setting. Maintain visible engagement in school and community activities while positively representing the philosophy, mission, and professional standards of Phoenix Center and the counseling profession.

• Ethical standards and professional guidelines applicable to school counseling, including confidentiality and student records requirements.
• Child and adolescent development; academic, career, and social-emotional counseling; crisis response; referral practices; and alternative education programming.
• Graduation requirements, assessment and testing processes, student information systems, data reporting, and program evaluation.

Skills:

• Leadership, facilitation, workload analysis, prioritization, conflict resolution, and cross-program coordination.
• Use of counseling resources, student information systems, collaborative documents, data tools, and educational technology.
• Accurate recordkeeping, written and oral communication, stakeholder engagement, and development of clear procedures and program materials.
• Appropriate use of assessment techniques, counseling theories, and evidence-informed interventions.

Abilities: