Academic Support
For information about any of the services below, please contact the School Counselor, Michelle DiBenedetto, at (225) 751-0273 or mdibenedetto@mbsbr.org.School Counseling
The mission of the Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic School Counseling Office is to provide a supportive environment in which each child can develop emotionally, socially, spiritually, physically, and academically. This is accomplished through short-term individual counseling, small group counseling, classroom Life Skills lessons, academic counseling, and parent/teacher consultation and support. The Administration and School Counseling Office reserve the right to speak to any student at any time without parent notification.
ACCESS Program
The ACCESS program is for students with academic diagnoses and classroom needs. Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic School attempts to meet the needs of students within our school by making reasonable adjustments and incorporating minor interventions in regular classroom activities. Adjustments and interventions are only available to students who have a current, full educational evaluation on file with the School Counseling Office. A note or prescription from a pediatrician is not an acceptable form of documentation for accommodations. If your student qualifies for accommodations, a meeting between the school counselor, classroom teacher, and parent will be coordinated to create the Accommodation Plan.The School Counselor meets with teachers at least twice per year regarding ACCESS students and their Accommodation Plans. At the beginning of each school year, the School Counselor will “introduce” the teachers to their ACCESS students, supplying them with pertinent data and details of their Accommodation Plans needed for the year. At the end of each school year, the School Counselor will meet with the teachers again to obtain status/progress data and recommendations for the next school year. The information and/or any Accommodation Plan changes from that end of the year meeting is communicated to parents via a letter sent home with each ACCESS student’s report card. Other ACCESS meetings are scheduled throughout the school year on an as-needed basis.
From the Diocese:
“For students with disabilities or those who elect to register in a Catholic school for any reason (such as having been enrolled in an under-performing public school or having a change in residence) and for students who have an IEP or 504 plan from a public, private, or parochial school, parents must acknowledge that the IEP or other services that the student received in public, private, or parochial schools do not transfer automatically with the student. Because the student is a parentally-placed student, FAPE no longer applies. The student may receive some IDEA services, which will be determined in the IDEA consultation process, but that is not guaranteed.” - Dale McDonald (www.ncea.org)
Dyslexia Lab
Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic School hosts a Dyslexia Lab. This lab is managed by the Diocese but housed on campus. The Dyslexia Lab focuses on remediation of this specific reading disorder. Enrollment in Dyslexia Lab requires an appropriate educational evaluation, applicable diagnosis, application, and fee. The application and fee are completed with the Diocese, not MBS.Enrollment in the lab allows for specific academic accommodations. If a student is enrolled in Dyslexia Lab and demonstrates academic need reflected by his/her grades (C or below), the student is eligible for additional accommodations such as oral testing. Due to the resources required to implement this accommodation, oral testing is not offered to the general population of students at MBS.
The goal of remediation and/or accommodations is to assist the student, but students must be prepared for a high school environment wherein these accommodations are not provided. Each year, Accommodation Plans will be evaluated and updated, decreasing the amount and intensity of services as the student progresses. In particular, evaluation of a student’s need and use of the Testing Room will be reviewed every nine weeks. Testing Room accommodations apply to major tests only; no quizzes. Criteria for Testing Room services include: current educational evaluation, applicable diagnosis, and average grade of C or below. Max number of Testing Room students is 25. Middle school students - specifically 7th and 8th graders - with an 85% (or above) subject average will be moved out of the Testing Room to testing in the classroom environment. Should their subject average fall below a 77%, they will be allowed to return to the Testing Room.
SCOOP Program
New for the 2020-2021 school year, SCOOP is a fee-for-service academic support lab. There are no criteria for enrollment. Students are referred by a teacher and/or parent in consultation with the teacher. The assistance is tailored to each student’s needs -- subject area and number of sessions per week. The SCOOP teacher will reinforce what is currently being taught in the classroom or address remedial skills, as appropriate. SCOOP sessions are $35 each. That fee will be paid monthly via FACTS. The sessions are 30-45 minutes each, conducted individually or in groups of students of 3 or less, depending on enrollment. Sessions will be during Enrichment/Exploratory class times, so students do not miss core instruction time. Contact your child’s teacher or the School Counselor if you are interested in enrollment in SCOOP.Modifications to any of the above policies are at the discretion of Administration.