JOB DESCRIPTION – SCHOOL COUNSELOR

Mission

Cistercian Preparatory School is rooted in the life and spirit of Catholic monasticism. It offers talented and motivated young men challenging programs within a supportive community, allowing them to develop their strengths and face their weaknesses in preparation for college and life beyond,

all for the good of the whole person in service to God and neighbor.

Curricular Philosophy

As an outgrowth of Catholic monasticism, Cistercian values striving for academic excellence as a pathway towards personal transformation within community life. The School has therefore established a curriculum that is both demanding and shared, extremely rigorous across all disciplines at every level and identical for all students of a given Form. The intense communal nature of the pace, depth, and breadth of the academic program challenges each person to understand that they must grow beyond their native strengths, and asserts that the highest nature of individual success is found in developing talents alongside of and for the sake of others.

Organization and Curriculum

Cistercian operates both a Middle (grades 5-8) and an Upper (grades 9-12) School, but the faculty is fully integrated: the same departments and teachers provide instruction for both divisions. The curriculum is an eight-year, all-advanced honors program. All faculty in core subjects are expected to have or pursue at least a Master’s degree in their teaching field. In both Middle and Upper School, all students of the same grade (about 44 students in each) take the same advanced courses. Students are thus required to complete four years each of the core classes of Theology, English, Foreign Language, Social Studies, Math, and Laboratory Science. Cistercian is also dedicated to integrating study of Fine Arts into the Humanities curriculum.

Advanced Honors is the only “level” at which the School offers any required courses. By Advanced Honors, Cistercian does not intend a simply comparative reference to more advanced pacing, more accelerated content, or a greater depth of inquiry but that the quality of discourse and study is profoundly rigorous while also profoundly thoughtful, and thus worthy of being honored.

Cistercian offers no AP or College Board courses but rather has built a fully independent curriculum in which the coursework requirements typically meet or exceed the intellectual demands, critical thinking skills, and depth of understanding required in an AP course. As a consequence, Cistercian students do very well on numerous AP tests, achieving AP recognition even though they do not take AP-recognized courses. Of those taking AP Exams, 70% earn scores of 4 or higher, and over 90% of those taking AP Tests score 3 or higher. Cistercian students produce other standardized test scores in line with their talents and education. Average SAT scores are approximately 1450, and ACT scores average approximately 31. Similarly, scores on SAT II Subject Tests in Math or Science areas average at or above 700.

Another outgrowth of monastic stability (and long tenure by lay faculty) is a thoughtful and deliberate approach to curricular or instructional change. Cistercian’s well-established curriculum, while advanced, has remained traditional in both scope and sequence while adapting to the needs of students. For example, the School has consistently chosen not to follow the current educational trend of a one to one, student to tablet educational technology program. However, the School is committed to integrating educational technology into its classical approach. Students in the 5^th and 6^th grades have long been required to take introductory programming classes, the language used being Python to better prepare the boys for future study.

JOB DESCRIPTION – SCHOOL COUNSELOR

Cistercian seeks an experienced School Counselor for the 2026–27 academic year to help provide part-time or full-time assistance to students with academic, behavioral, and emotional concerns and to their families:

• Counseling for students requiring assistance in both Middle (Grades 5-8) and Upper School (Grades 9-12)
• Screening for emotional, behavioral or safety concerns
• Parent consultation regarding their son’s academic, behavioral, or emotional health
• Intervention with students and families requesting assistance
• Coordination of care and collaboration for students and parents working with a mental health provider outside of the school
• Referrals to mental health providers in the community
• Development and implementation of initiatives focused on bolstering the Health and Wellness of every student
• Coordination of school-wide prevention initiatives focused on Substance Abuse and bullying prevention

Position Description: The School Counselor will work closely together with our current part-time counselor and with the Headmaster, Division Heads, Form Masters, and School Nurse. The School Counselor is expected to have significant training and experience in counseling, wellness education, therapeutic intervention, and program development.

Essential Functions: This position (whether part-time or full-time) is primarily responsible for the support of students in collaboration with Cistercian faculty, Administration, and students’ parents. The School Counselor reports directly to the Headmaster and meets regularly with him, with the other counselors, and with Division Heads and Form Masters to review student issues and plan programming that supports the students, faculty, and parents.

The School Counselor provides developmentally-appropriate individual counseling; addresses the developmental needs of students by designing and implementing Health and Wellness programming for students and faculty/staff; consults with and counsels parents on the personal success of their sons; consults with faculty on developmental issues which impact a student's performance in the classroom; provides crisis intervention within the school setting; and makes appropriate referrals to outside agencies as needed.