Student Services encompasses a broad reach in supporting Village Tech’s students
Student Services functions in the areas of enrollment, registration and student records, elements of safer school initiatives, including counseling services, and social-emotional learning at Village Tech Schools.
In order to support the core values of Village Tech’s belonging and leadership, our counseling staff and social-emotional learning coordinator work diligently to serve students and teachers in order to provide a place where everyone belongs. Additionally, the counselors work with students in a preventative/educational capacity, and a responsive/crisis capacity and help teachers maximize relationships and strategies for students in the classroom. We believe it is essential to develop the social-emotional well-being and leadership of students, provide a curriculum that applies character in real-world challenges, and incorporate character and challenge into their community. Our social-emotional learning program prepares students for life now and beyond VT.
For more information, please contact Tori Taylor.
Homelessness and Foster Care
For additional information, please contact Tori Taylor, Counselor Coordinator.
Safe Schools
Content Coming Soon
Drug and Alcohol Use
Teen Drug and Alcohol Use –
Parents are the greatest influence on their kids – even more than friends, TV, music, the Internet, and celebrities. A teen’s experimentation with drugs and alcohol can quickly escalate to the weekend or daily use. It is critical that parents have conversations with their children to discuss the dangers and parent expectations regarding drug and alcohol use.
Be on the lookout for these symptoms of substance abuse among friends and loved ones:
- Sudden weight loss
- Chronic coughing, runny nose
- Loss of appetite or excessive hunger
- Change in sleep patterns, sleeping in class
- Skipping school or a sudden drop in grades
- Uncommon behavior problems at home and school
- Showing drastic changes in behavior or personality
- Change in friends
- Stealing
- Loss of interest in activities and/or pastimes
- Secretive behavior and frequent absences from home
- Posts on social media referencing drugs and/or alcohol
Early treatment can lead to:
- Improved quality of life for the individual and their family.
- Better education results from a clear, healthy mind ready to learn and excel.
- Higher productivity in school, in their future employment, and in every aspect of their lives.
- Less opportunity to get in trouble at school or with the law because of fewer behavior problems.
Bullying
Kindness, Empathy, and Compassion as a Proactive Approach to Bullying
Interestingly, when most of us see the words kindness and compassion we often think of how the world should treat each other. For now, I want to focus attention on our circle of control. As Stephen Covey explains Victor Frankl’s quote, we have the ability to create a space between a stimulus and a response, and in between is our freedom to choose. While this concept is inspiring; practicing it can be quite difficult. It requires self-discipline and attention to our choices.
Our students are supported to practice and develop skills of curiosity, perseverance, and compassion. These traits help our students live out the 7 Habits which include developing skills necessary for self-compassion and firm boundaries. They have the opportunity at Village Tech to learn more about who they are (character) while they are at school each week. We are supporting people (with the tools and knowledge) to build themselves.
Many traditional approaches to bullying focus on the negative behaviors of bullying. Instead, at Village Tech, we choose to focus on the positive attributes of kindness, empathy, and compassion to combat meanness and bullying. Susan Kaiser Greenland, an expert teacher of mindfulness to children, studies and writes about the importance of self-compassion in our children and adults states, “teaching strong, personal boundaries always begins with self-compassion.” This is an antidote to bullying.
Some of the tools are learning the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and learning and practicing social-emotional learning skills. To punctuate this learning we engage in experiences through our academics, Forge, and campus activities Every February, we celebrate Kindness Week, join us in celebrating and discovering more about acts of kindness, empathy toward others, and compassion for others as well as ourselves
Staff Training & Education
VT engages in several staff development experiences to build the bandwidth in all staff to identify, intervene, and stop bullying. VT provides training for all school staff, including, but not limited to, teachers, aides, and support staff, on preventing, identifying, and responding to bullying.
Bully Prevention Training for Administrators, Teachers, and Staff
Kognito online modules are available to staff. Counseling Services provides yearly training to staff on prevention and how to minimize impact through social-emotional competencies.
Bullying Resources
Bullying: Harassment Complaint Form
Bullying Prevention
Social Emotional Learning
Social-Emotional Skills are the basic building blocks we work to develop in children from a very early age. This begins when we train our children to say "please" and "thank you" or to share their toys with friends. These skills continue to develop as the child gets older and become more complex as life becomes more complex. Sometimes life brings us more than we can handle or understand. This is why social-emotional development is so important and something we believe our students need to be taught explicitly in school. The counselor guidance lessons and classroom lessons will emphasize this skill building in order to give the necessary skills to handle challenging situations that arise.
Leader in Me
“Leadership is communicating the worth and potential of people so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.” - Stephen R. Covey
Leader in Me is an evidence-based PK-12 model that cultivates life-ready leaders who develop a sense of belonging and leadership through empowerment using the 5 core paradigms to pilot their own learning, create and share in leadership culture, and goal achievement.
Leader in Me Curriculum
The social and emotional curriculum supports students in applying the principles and practices of effective leaders using foundational content and explicitly teaching the 7 Habits. Students can apply these habits as they engage with their community day to day.
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
One of the key frameworks of the Leader in Me process. In addition to helping students learn and apply leadership skills, the 7 Habits give us a common language in building a supportive emotional environment.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution
The 4 Disciplines of Execution is another key framework of the Leader in Me that helps us to identify, track and achieve academic and personal Wildly Important Goals (WIGs).
For more information, please contact Tori Taylor,
Counseling Services
The Village Tech Counseling Department provides social, emotional, and college/career counseling to students individually, in groups, and in classroom lessons. We utilize prevention, intervention, and responsive services to address the immediate concerns of students. Our department uses a collaborative approach with staff, students, parents, and the community to support our student's overall well-being. For more information please contact Victoria Taylor - Pk-5 Counselor, Stephanie Trotter - Middle School Counselor, Christina Brannon - HS Counselor, or Andy Ingram - Post Secondary Advisor.
College, Career, Military Readiness
Dual Credit
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- Take the TSI and reach the standard
- Reading - 945 or less than 945 + 5 or 6 on the diagnostic
- Writing - 5
- Math - 950 or less than 950 + 6 on the diagnostic
- Apply to Dallas College
- Take the TSI and reach the standard
Talk to the Advisor or Counselor about which courses would be best for you
Testing
SAT
- College entrance exam through College Board
- School Day SAT @ Village Tech
- Fall semester of senior year
- Spring semester of junior year
To register for non-school days click here.
ACT
- College entrance exam
- To register: www.act.org
Applications
- Apply Texas: apply to all 2-year or 4-year Texas public colleges and universities and some private institutions www.applytexas.org
- Common App: over 1,000 universities www.commonapp.org
- Black Common App: apply to 67 participating HBCUs for one low application fee www.commonblackcollegeapp.com
Financial Aid - Texas has a financial aid for graduation
FAFSA – Free Application for Student Aid – opens every year on October 1st
- Create a Financial Student Aid ID (FSAID) www.studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch
- Complete the FAFSA www.studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa
TASFA – Texas Application for State Financial Aid – for Texas residents who do not qualify for FAFSA
- Go to: College for All Texans for more information
Career
- Texas Workforce Commission www.twc.texas.gov
- ASVAB – We offer the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery to our 10th-12th grades every year and use the career exploration tools www.officialasvab.com
- Apprenticeship Readiness Programs: North America’s Building Trades Union: www.nabtu.org
Military
- ASVAB – We offer the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery to our 10th-12th grades every year (we do not offer the results to a recruiter without consent) www.officialasvab.com
- Military recruiter campus visits