Oakland North
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In a single day, school counselor Alice Philips may field concerns from parents when they drop their children off in the morning, help an eighth grader weigh his options for transitioning to high school, or assist an English Language Learner with a schedule change—and meanwhile discover that a student has also been a target of bullying.
Philips works at Oakland’s Edna Brewer Middle School, where she is responsible for keeping tabs on the academic needs of more than 800 students, grades 6-8. But while counselors focus first and foremost on academic guidance and working to keep students on the track for graduation, many find themselves fielding students dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts, abuse at home, or violence in their neighborhood, among other traumas—things that encompass much more than academics.
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