School Counselor Office Tour 2013

Thanks to Carol, the author of The Middle School Counselor Blog, School Counselors all over the world will be opening the doors of their offices and sharing how they decorate & use their spaces to help veteran School Counselors generate new ideas & new School Counselors prepare their new spaces for students.

I remember when I landed my first job out of grad school and the many web queries I typed to try to find the best ways to decorate my office. There wasn't much out there, but I did find the School Counselor Blog as a result, which has helped me grow so much as a counselor. Hopefully this Linky venture will become a great new resource as we all prepare our spaces for the upcoming school year.

I've shared some photos of my office on Twitter (follow me @FSabens) in the past, but here is the full disclosure on my space and how I use it.

Welcome to the CHS Student Services Office

I am the only School Counselor at CHS; I have an assistant, and together we serve roughly 350 students. To the right of the Students Services Office door is a small bulletin board that we use to advertise our Mission etc. I also post a monthly calendar with all of my school counseling activities, information relevant to the activities and ASCA Position Statements that support the activities.

Student Services Office Bulletin Board

We share a two room space with a main office & a separate counseling office; we also have a small closet for storage. The main room is where the Student Services Assistant sits. Most of the information students would drop in to pick up is in this part of the office. We also have a large table for group meetings and 6 computers for student use.



As you enter the Student Services Office you will find a huge storage unit to your left with many slots full of organized information about Career & Technical programs, the Armed Forces, ACT, our Student Portfolio system, AP programs, school forms, College information, financial aid information etc. To your right is a bulletin board with Daily announcements etc. Directly in front of you is a sign up sheet for visiting with college representatives and School Counseling Groups.

Our Vision

Inspirational Quotes

Sign up here

My inner office is (to the left) in the back of the main room. Once I was officially hired my room was painted the color of my choice. I chose orange, it is one of our school colors. On my door I have my "Where is Mrs. Sabens?" sign, my office hours and our district PLC poster. To the right of my door I have another "Welcome" sign and a dry erase board where students can write a note for me-they really like tagging the dry erase board with inside jokes and words for me to remember them by.

Where is Mrs. Sabens?

My inner office has a desk for an intern or practicum student, my desk, multiple filing cabinets for all of the student files and comfy chairs for parents & students. One entire wall is bookshelves where I keep information for students, my credentials & a few family photos are posted in the middle and the last section is where I keep Academic Review binders, my books and things I am working on (out of student reach). 

My pillows were purchased from Cafe Press.

Private Bookshelf section

I taped wrapping paper to the front of my desk

The area rug gives the office a touch of home

Own the Turf Pledge hangs on my wall for all to see

The walls of my office are decorated with black & white photos of landmarks, inspirational posters, photos of former students, newspaper clippings about events I've held and student successes, ACT information etc.

I hope you've enjoyed the tour of my space and it helps you as you create a space where you can practice your craft and grow as a School Counselor.