Kodaikanal International School is a 125-year-old dynamic international school with a rich history of holistic education, offering the IB continuum of the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), and the Diploma Programme (DP) to our learners. Our beautiful school and community are nestled in the Palani Hills of Tamil Nadu, South India.
At KIS, we empower our students to navigate through life’s challenges to achieve their true potential. We follow an inquiry-based approach that promotes critical thinking, learner agency, and a dedication to serving others. We recognize the importance of a meaningful, relevant, and engaging curriculum that connects students to real-world contexts for their learning. We are keenly aware of the need to adapt our teaching and learning model to respond to the needs of our students in a world of fast-paced change.
This position is a full-time role. The school counselor is responsible to provide comprehensive school-wide support and best-practice emotional and mental health counseling. Provide individual and group counseling for emotional, behavioral, social, or academic concerns. Foster a safe, inclusive, and positive environment for all students. All members of the KIS professional community are expected to fully support a residential-school ethos and environment.
KIS Vision Statement: We strive to be a school the world needs: Our graduates will be transformative leaders, caring humans, and thoughtful ambassadors for a just, sustainable, and peaceful world.
KIS Mission Statement: Kodaikanal International School (KIS) is committed to empowering young people from diverse backgrounds with vision, knowledge, compassion and cross-cultural understanding. We are a community that welcomes everyone and seeks our purpose in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
KIS Values: Accountability, Appreciation, Concern for Others, Consistency, Context, Cooperation, Integrity, Openness, Performance, and Reverence.
We are seeking colleagues who are driven by:
- A strong belief in KIS’s guiding principles;
- The IB philosophy;
- Service and action
- A focus on trust, relationships, and community.
Our learning environment is characterized as:
- Inquiry-based learning;
- Fostering agency in our learners;
- Transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary;
- Service-oriented;
- Diverse, safe, and inclusive.
KIS is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people in our care. We support the rights of the child and will act without hesitation to ensure a child-safe environment. We also support the rights and wellbeing of our staff and volunteers and encourage their active participation in building and maintaining a secure environment for all participants. Teachers at KIS must follow the guidelines of the school’s protective behavior policies and protocols, including reporting any situation that might constitute a health and/or safety hazard to students or school employees.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Clinical psychologist, preferably licensed or counseling psychologist with an active professional membership, with a minimum of 5 years of work experience, preferably with adolescents and an international school context.
- Proficient in counseling skills and techniques and adopting and implementing appropriate and specific interventions.
- Knowledge of the personal, developmental, and academic needs and challenges facing adolescents, and all aspects of adolescent emotional and psychological health.
- Experience in a residential-school setting (preferred).
Preferred Skills and Dispositions:
- Proven ability to work successfully in a diverse and inclusive environment
- Ability to collaborate effectively with students, parents, teachers, and residential parents
- Understanding and awareness of the challenges faced by learners in a multicultural environment
- Dedication to student learning, experience with delivering SEL curriculum
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Strong organizational skills, data collection, and interpretation
- Team player with the ability to delegate and coordinate work
- Willing to work creatively with available materials/resources
- Capacity to support the goals and mission of KIS through his/her personal philosophy.
- Adept at safeguarding, child protection protocols, and crisis intervention
- Familiarity with the MTSS framework and ISCA guidelines
- Experience with multicultural contexts and diverse populations
- Initiate preventive and proactive school-wide programs for social-emotional health
- Guide students for student-led community programs on Mental health awareness
Conduct initial screening and work with external mental health professionals
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Reports to: Dean of Religious Life
Coordinates with: Dean of Residential Life, Assistant Dean, Residential Parents, Coordinators, Teachers, and Senior Management.
Time Period: Initial 2-year contract, potential extensions after initial contract.
Instruction
- A KIS Personal Counselor:
- Along with the Dean of Religious Life, responsible for planning and implementing comprehensive and effective Social and Emotional Learning and Living (SELL) programs at KIS.
- Responsible for promoting the school’s child protection and welfare policies and serving as the school’s child protection officer.
- Counsel students on a one-on-one basis for mental-health concerns and personal issues, and provide group counseling when appropriate.
- Meet and consult with administrators, learning resource staff, other teachers, students, parents, the school doctor, consulting specialists, and residential parents to resolve student and staff issues and concerns.
- Address presenting or underlying concerns (and/or disorders).
- The counselor will screen where necessary and recommend external qualified mental health professionals for any further assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, including medication and medical leave (mental health-related) when necessary.
- Document and maintain confidential, concise, and accurate case files and records of all counseling sessions, including therapy plans for students.
- Understand and maintain confidentiality in a school setting while communicating effectively and proactively with students, parents/guardians, and staff.
- Establish and lead programs that address important student issues, including bullying and cyberbullying, substance abuse, socialization, and anger management.
- Train and supervise student peer mentors/encouragers.
- Provide training to KIS staff on topics relating to the position.
- Support and advise residential parents on handling student concerns and behavior; facilitate residential parent discussions on relationships, discipline, sexuality, and other relevant topics.
- Respond to student emergencies as necessary (including weekends and after-school and evening hours).
- Responsible for ensuring that school policies and procedures relating to counseling are followed; helps with policy content development.
- Consult with the administration regarding student discipline issues, handling staff and student issues and concerns, and decision-making for critical cases.
- Be ethical, mature, and professional with the best interests of the students and the school in mind.
- Take part in supervision and be responsible for professional growth, thus providing quality care to students.
School Community
A KIS counselor is expected to support the holistic development of the child. The counselor:
- Understands and supports the diversity of the school community and students’ backgrounds;
- Works in a positive, cooperative, and supportive way with students, parents, co-workers, and other stakeholders;
- Communicates regularly with students, residential parents, and students’ parents on matters of school business;
- Engages in and supports activities that help promote school spirit and sense of community;
- Promotes opportunities for developing community involvement throughout the wider community;
- Recognizes the importance of service learning to our community and promotes this with students and the wider community;
- Support the residential life of the school by chaperoning activities, clubs, field trips, camp, long weekend field day, and other activities, and serves as an advisor to a group of students.
- Supports, promotes, and enforces the ethos of KIS as defined in the mission and vision statements, guiding principles, and strategic plans;
- Promotes a positive attitude about the school with all members of the school community;
- Implement decisions made in department- and school-committee meetings, as relevant to the department;
- Follow the guidelines of the school’s protective behavior policies and protocols and personal data protection policies and procedures, including reporting any situation that might constitute a health and/or safety hazard to students or school employees, and reporting any personal data breach.
- To respect the confidential nature of discussions at staff meetings and other contexts in which sensitive information is likely to be communicated, particularly in terms of interaction with students;
- The counselor is expected to perform other appropriate duties as assigned by the Dean of Religious Life or Principal.
