The Northwood counseling department has implemented a pilot program where the entire freshman class of 2027 is assigned to a single counselor, Bailey Phenicie, in an effort to ease the transition from middle school to high school.
This change—coming as a result of increased state funding for public school counseling—means that Phenicie now manages all freshmen TAs, plans freshman conferences and addresses any problems freshmen students or parents might have.
“Freshmen are coming into high school without a ton of knowledge about how Northwood particularly works,” Phenicie said. “They’re asking a lot of questions that are important to know from the beginning, and I’m more than happy to be the person who is answering those questions so they’re set up for success for the next four years.”
Northwood hired Phenicie in Fall 2022, increasing the counseling team on campus from five to six. Because of this, Northwood was able to implement “freshman counseling,” an idea that the administration had been interested in for a long time.
Counselors were inspired by a study conducted by Chicago Public Schools (CPS), where students were seen to be more successful in high school when their counselors were more involved in their transition from eighth to ninth grade.
“This research shows that freshmen who fail their classes, even if it’s just one or two, face a significantly harder battle to graduate high school four years down the line,” Lead counselor Megan Ostovarpour said. “The idea is that we would have some great targeted support for our freshman students so that they are better set up for success.”
Although this new change is yet to be confirmed to extend for future school years, initial reactions from the counseling department and freshmen have been positive.
“During my first encounter with Ms. Phenicie, she was so kind and willing to help,” freshman Kiersten Oh said. “Ms. Phenicie always made sure that I had answers to all my questions during this process, and I couldn’t have asked for a better counselor to help.”
Any further questions regarding these new counseling changes can be directed to Kortney Tambara, the assistant principal who oversees the counseling department at [email protected].
“I’ve loved working with the students that I’ve gotten a chance to work with,” Phenicie said. “I look forward to meeting and helping new faces as the school year progresses.”
