The Stanbridge Counseling Department
Stanbridge Academy has two, full-time, licensed counselors on staff (see below) who teach social-emotional learning classes, offer short-term individual therapy, and collaborate with teachers and parents to address the social and emotional needs of students. Counselors work with families to ensure consistent messaging between home and school. Our counselors are a consistent presence throughout the school day. Counselors visit classrooms, monitor the recess yard, and often act as chaperones on day trips and overnight experiences to support students in their personal development. Our counselors also consult with outside professionals and provide referrals.
In collaboration with teachers and our speech therapist, counselors provide explicit instruction in areas of Social-Emotional Learning. Our Emotions & Relationships and Social Learning classes are provided to all students from Kindergarten through Grade 12. In these classes, students learn and develop skills in 5 areas: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. The curriculum for these classes is guided by the standards developed by Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and integrated with Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking and Leah M. Kuyper’s Zones of Regulation.
Students receive explicit instruction to support their social and emotional development. Teachers are supported in recognizing when students are not ready to learn and encourage them to use strategies to self-regulate and/or seek emotional support. Emotional supports include meeting with a counselor, logging a student's perceived emotional state on Emote (a secure, online, schoolwide system), or creating individualized support plans as needed.
Student Behavior Goals and Emote Support
Stanbridge Academy CARES is a schoolwide program that integrates academics and social-emotional development. Our counselors, teachers, and staff collaborate to promote Community, Academics, Respect, Empathy, and Safety. These key attributes of the program ensure that students thrive at Stanbridge and are prepared for future success outside the classroom, and in their lives beyond the school. Teachers, with the support of the counseling staff and the speech and language pathologist, use this positive schoolwide behavior support system (CARES) in all grade divisions. The CARES program supports students of all ages in working towards interpersonal and academic goals. At the end of each class period, the teacher awards points on the sheet when a student's goals are met, and when an established threshold of points has been collected, a student receives a reward. Rewards for meeting CARES goals in grades K–8 involve purchasing items at the "Stanbucks Store" (a token reward system), while high school students can opt to receive gift cards from vendors such as Amazon or Target.
In collaboration with teachers and our speech therapist, counselors provide explicit instruction in areas of Social-Emotional Learning. Our Emotions & Relationships and Social Learning classes are provided to all students from Kindergarten through Grade 12. In these classes, students learn and develop skills in 5 areas: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. The curriculum for these classes is guided by the standards developed by Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and integrated with Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking and Leah M. Kuyper’s Zones of Regulation.
Students receive explicit instruction to support their social and emotional development. Teachers are supported in recognizing when students are not ready to learn and encourage them to use strategies to self-regulate and/or seek emotional support. Emotional supports include meeting with a counselor, logging a student's perceived emotional state on Emote (a secure, online, schoolwide system), or creating individualized support plans as needed.
Student Behavior Goals and Emote Support
Stanbridge Academy CARES is a schoolwide program that integrates academics and social-emotional development. Our counselors, teachers, and staff collaborate to promote Community, Academics, Respect, Empathy, and Safety. These key attributes of the program ensure that students thrive at Stanbridge and are prepared for future success outside the classroom, and in their lives beyond the school. Teachers, with the support of the counseling staff and the speech and language pathologist, use this positive schoolwide behavior support system (CARES) in all grade divisions. The CARES program supports students of all ages in working towards interpersonal and academic goals. At the end of each class period, the teacher awards points on the sheet when a student's goals are met, and when an established threshold of points has been collected, a student receives a reward. Rewards for meeting CARES goals in grades K–8 involve purchasing items at the "Stanbucks Store" (a token reward system), while high school students can opt to receive gift cards from vendors such as Amazon or Target.
Our counseling team
Mary Stadler, MA, MFT
Director of Counseling Mary has been with Stanbridge Academy since 2004 as a substitute teacher, a junior high teacher, as a wellness and pragmatics teacher, and since 2008, as counselor. Mary graduated from Santa Clara University with a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and has been a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 2005. Prior to this, she was a counseling intern at a Santa Clara County mental health clinic that specialized in serving people with intellectual disabilities and their families, a population she also served for many years at HOPE Services in San José. Mary’s first career was in teaching high school and junior high at schools in the Chicago area and in Santa Clara. Mary has advanced training in crisis management and trauma and recovery interventions. She assists with admissions, discipline, monitoring the schoolwide behavior plan, pragmatics planning and delivery, and one-on-one counseling. She also consults with teachers about classroom management, student well being, and other concerns. |
Emma Mamis, MA, BC-DMT, LPCC 15358
Counselor Emma is a graduate of the dance/movement therapy & counseling program at Columbia College Chicago where she learned the integration of traditional counseling with creative arts and body based interventions. Prior to working at Stanbridge Academy, Emma worked with adults and children in outpatient and residential settings including providing therapy for survivors of domestic violence and child abuse. Emma published her masters thesis in The American Journal of Dance Therapy and co-presented work at the American Dance Therapy Conference, A New Phrase for Violence: Understanding Domestic Violence and Culturally Relevant Interventions in Dance/Movement Therapy. Emma advocates for diverse and holistic services for those in need regardless of background, language, disability, neurodiversity, sexuality, and gender-identity. At Stanbridge, Emma works closely with students and faculty to reenforce affirming methods of structure and counseling to our neurodiverse population. She brings her energy, positive attitude, and creativity to connect and build relationships with each Stanbridge Bulldog. In her free time, Emma can be found dancing, leading Girl Scout adventures, rock climbing, or doing anything outdoorsy. |
