The Upper School Counselor or Psychologist promotes student wellbeing, provides preventative mental health services, and responds to student emotional, psychological, academic, and social needs. Likewise, the Counselor or Psychologist is a resource for parents, teachers, and administrators for developing action plans for student support. This person embraces and advances the principles set out in Kinkaid’s core documents: mission and core values, DEI commitment and strategic plan, Upper School Educational Philosophy and the Portrait of a Teacher. The Upper School Counselor or Psychologist reports to the Head of the Upper School, and he or she collaborates with the Director of Wellbeing and Success, three other Kinkaid counselors, and other members of the Student Support Team including learning specialists, nurses, and deans.

The Kinkaid School is a co-educational non-sectarian day school enrolling over 1,500 students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. Located on a sixty-five-acre campus in the heart of Houston, Texas, the School offers a thriving intellectual community in the midst of a vibrant, urban, diverse culture.

With an enrollment of about 630, the Upper School fosters a learning environment centered on academic excellence, intellectual curiosity, and personal attention. The Upper School faculty enjoys small class sizes and a collegial, collaborative environment centered on intellectual curiosity and continuous professional development.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Promote student health and wellbeing
• Provide preventative mental health services, and respond to student emotional, psychological, academic, and social needs
• Act as a resource for parents, teachers, and administrators, developing action plans for students needing support and broadly assisting the School’s efforts to best serve students
• Introduce students to mental health skills and strategies
• Execute student risk assessments based on best professional practices
• Provide crisis intervention when needed
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with external health professionals to facilitate student referrals to external resources and coordinate care and return to school when needed 
• Assist Learning Specialists in interpreting educational and psycho-educational reports to help determine accommodations at Kinkaid and interpret findings to help others understand how the findings impact learning
• Collaborate with the Kinkaid counseling team and the Director of Wellbeing and Success to inform, create, and provide school programming in support of mental health and wellbeing
• Serve as guest lecturer in Upper School classes as needed
• Sponsor student groups responsible for peer mentoring in the Kinkaid community
• Support the School, its mission, and its leadership
• Engage in the school community by attending school athletic and art events
• Maintain collegiality and high professional standards
• Demonstrate the natural ability to model Kinkaid’s four core values (honesty, responsibility, respect, and kindness) in interactions with all members of the community