The development of the individual student is the primary concern of the staff of the Kemmons Wilson Leadership Development and Counseling Center. Success requires building relationships among administrators, faculty, students, and parents. Counseling, advising, and other caring programs are designed to facilitate the academic, social, and psychological evolution of each student.
Dedicated professionals work with students in the areas of academic and social/emotional development. The team includes college counselors, Upper School and Lower School counselors, the academic deans, coordinators of academic support, and the directors of student life. Counselors use a collaborative approach involving students, parents, faculty, and sometimes professionals in the community to promote learning and development.
For more information on parent programs including our Parent Speaker Series, Safe Home Pledge, and Parents' Association, please follow our web news and read our weekly e-newsletter.
Academic and Social Emotional Support
To promote academic achievement and personal well-being, our counselors meet with students as needed to help identify and implement problem-solving strategies. If a student's difficulties cannot be dealt with effectively in the school setting, the counselor will refer the student (via his parents) to professionals in the community.
Students and parents who have questions are encouraged to contact our counselors.
Academic Support
MUS provides many avenues for improving academic performance – programs that not only help students who may be struggling with low grades, but also benefit students who wish to deepen their understanding of a topic. Most important, our teachers provide assistance during office hours as well as before and after school.
Lower and Upper School academic support options include the following:
Hyde Library website
Our library offers many resources available to MUS community members through the Hyde Library Resource Board on our intranet, OwlHub.
Math and English Learning Help
- Lower School Math Lab
- Lower School English Lab
- Upper School Math Lab (rotates among math instructors' classrooms)
- Upper School English teachers offer additional help during office hours.
Additional Resources
- Lower School Study Hall
- Upper School Supervised Study Session (called S-Cubed)
- Peer tutoring
- Educational workshops (published in our weekly email newsletter)
- Evening semester exam study sessions
- ACT/SAT/PSAT prep sessions
- Lower School ASAP (After School Academic Program)
- NCAA eligibility counseling
- Summer math packet labs
Alcohol, Drugs, Dangerous Behavior
Prevention is a primary goal of our substance-abuse programs. The focus is on presenting students with relevant, up-to-date, and compelling information that points them toward a reasonable, self-determined, personal policy of healthy decision-making.
Our ultimate goal is to prevent alcohol and other drug use/abuse and to promote responsible decision-making on the part of our young men in an effort to maximize their safety and welfare during this time of their lives.
Toward this end, we offer speakers and parent programs that equip families with information to help them avoid substance abuse issues, plus the following resources:
Confidential Concern Referrals
Any parent, student, teacher, or administrator may share their concerns with our office if they have reason to suspect that ANY student is using alcohol or abusing themselves through drug use or other dangerous behavior. All information will remain confidential, protecting both the person referring and the subject of concern.
Safe Home Program
This program requires a parent commitment to host drug- and alcohol-free parties and to communicate with other parents. At the start of each school year, parents are encouraged to sign the Safe Home Pledge. Parents make this pledge on the Safe Home Resource Board under Resources when they are logged in to this our OwlHub intranet.
Substance Testing
Some parents choose to have their sons drug tested. We provide a list of drug-testing centers for families who may be interested in this option.
View our handbook for our official policies on Alcohol, Drugs, and Tobacco.
Leadership Development
The King and Judy Rogers Endowment for Leadership Development
Judy and King Rogers, parents of King W. Rogers IV ’98, provided an endowment in 2000 to fund annual leadership development programs for MUS students. The income from the fund provides the resources for a renowned speaker on leadership and expanded leadership opportunities for students. The goal of the endowment is to prepare students for roles as servant leaders at MUS, in college, and in their communities.
Our approach challenges students to discover and acquire the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to improve life for others. The program includes field trips, community service projects, speakers, and mentoring.
Wingman Wednesdays
The Wingman Wednesday program pairs Upper School students with younger students in face-to-face meetings and group activities. The goal is to help underclassmen learn about the U and build supportive relationships. Supervised by our counselors, the program includes leadership training for the mentors.
Wilson Society
The Wilson Society was established to give students an opportunity to demonstrate their full grasp of the seven tenets of the MUS Community Creed — Truth and Honor, Scholarship, Service, Respect, Humility, Involvement, and Accountability. Celebrating the legacy of longtime MUS supporter and friend, the late Kemmons Wilson, the Wilson Society includes all representatives of the Civic Service Organization. Additional members may be appointed at the discretion of the faculty advisor.
What Is a School Counselor?
A professional school counselor is a licensed educator trained in school counseling. This person often holds a master's or doctoral degree in counseling. School counselors are knowledgeable about human behavior and provide assistance to students in four main areas: counseling (both academic and personal), group guidance (educational programming), consultation (with parents, faculty, and mental health professionals), and coordination of programs such as standardized testing.
Learning Differences and Disabilities
If a student has a psychoeducational evaluation on file showing that he has a diagnosed learning disability, a counselor will meet with the student and parents to determine how best to provide support.
Important links concerning learning disabilities:
Personal Counseling
Personal counseling is the primary focus of the Counseling Department. One-on-one verbal interaction in a friendly and encouraging environment allows the counselor to build a relationship, based on trust, that enables the counselor and student to explore potential roadblocks to success and possible actions that will help him avoid or overcome those obstacles. Our goal is to help students look within themselves and become aware of their unlimited capacity to achieve.
Adolescents face a variety of challenges throughout their teenage years. Students often enter the Counseling Office to discuss difficulties with their classes, relationship troubles, stressful home environments, depression, and anxiety. When addressing students’ concerns, the counselor offers empathy, unconditional support, and trust to provide a comfortable environment for the young men to discuss their problems. The counselor encourages the students to look within themselves and consider alternative perspectives.
Referral Process
A student, parent, teacher, administrator, or counselor may initiate a request for academic or personal assistance on behalf of a student. The counselor is responsible for coordinating the community connections necessary to put the party in touch with the appropriate professional resource.
Do School Counselors Provide Therapy?
No. School counselors do short-term counseling interventions in response to everyday issues such as grief, stress, getting along with others, etc. Students needing long-term interventions will be referred to therapists in the Memphis community.
How Do Students, Parents, and Faculty Utilize the School Counselor?
The school counselor meets with sixth and seventh graders during the first quarter of the academic year to get to know each student, and assesses his progress throughout the year. Counselors are available to meet with any student as needed or following a referral from a teacher or parent. Students may also come to the Counseling Center on their own.
School counselors are also available to parents and teachers during the year regarding student issues requiring a team approach.
Confidentiality in School Counseling
If a student presents a problem to the school counselor, the counselor will engage in a limited amount of personal counseling. The majority of personal counseling that takes place at MUS involves a counselor listening and attempting to help the student help himself based on a foundation of trust and confidentiality.
The school counselor will always seek to maintain confidentiality within each counseling relationship. However, if the school counselor has any reason to believe that a student is a danger to himself or another, confidentiality will be breached and the student’s parent will be notified immediately (and the family will be referred to a professional in the community).