My name is Maggie Samson, I am the school counselor at Barnette Magnet School. I have been a school counselor for 16 years and am excited to join the wonderful staff here.
As a parent to both current and past Barnette Blazers, my face may be familiar to many of you. I am enjoying my time this year getting to know all the wonderful families and students at the school.

Families and students may not be aware of who school counselors are and what they do. School counselors serve students and their families by providing education, facilitating communication and working with teachers to deliver social and emotional skill lessons in the classroom. My day is spent teaching social and emotional lessons in classes, meeting and working with parents and teachers to support student learning, and touching base with students as needed. I present classroom guidance lessons to kindergarten through 4th grade students weekly, 5th grade students every other week, and Middle School students once a month or as needed. I work with students individually for personal, social, or academic difficulties, and I sometimes meet with small groups to discuss various issues occurring in students' lives (social, emotional, or academic). In addition, I serve as a resource for parents, teachers, and other staff and can help connect families with district and community resources. 

Though school counselors are not able to provide therapeutic counseling services to students in school, we do work with students and families in challenging times by providing a safe place in the school to talk. Students can meet with the school counselor when they need help working through problems they might be having, whether social/emotional or academic. There are several ways for students to see me if they need to. They can: 1) Tell their teacher 2) Email me 3) Fill out an Appointment Please! form outside my office by the blue mailbox, or 4) Go to the link above and complete the form. If parents need to get in touch with me, please feel free to call me and leave a message if I’m not available, or email me. Since most of my day is spent in classes or meeting with students, parents or staff, I am generally not able to answer my phone to talk, so email is generally the best way to contact me.

As school counselor at Barnette, I am looking forward to a great year and hope to promote a culture of kindness, respect, and responsibility. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.