Counseling Support
Hello Whittier Families!
My name is Laura Smith (Reinacher) and I am joining the Whittier community in my 2nd year as your School Counselor! I am originally from near Santa Barbara, CA and moved to Colorado in 2020. This will be my 8th year as a school counselor, and I love my work supporting students and families! I worked in the San Francisco Bay Area as a School Counselor for 4 years, in K-8 and 6-8 schools, and spent the last three years in Westminster Public Schools as a School Counselor in the PK-8 setting. As your school counselor, I am a resource for ALL students. As part of our counseling program, I provide education, prevention and intervention services in the areas of academic, career and social/emotional development throughout the year. I teach whole-class lessons and provide short-term small groups and/or 1:1 support to teach skills using a strength-based, solution focused approach. I look forward to partnering with families, staff teams and the community to address barriers to learning so that every child at Whittier has access to educational opportunities and reaches their full potential.
Please reach out to me if you feel I can be of support to you or your student. You can reach me at 720-561-2464 or via email at laura.smith@bvsd.org.
You can learn more about our comprehensive school counseling program at my website Whittier School Counseling Website.
October is bully prevention month. BVSD has created a bullying behavior prevention behavior curriculum that will be delivered to your student over the course of this first semester. Here is a link for more information about the curriculum Parent letter Bully Behavior Prevention Letter.
Elementary Counseling
A comprehensive elementary school counselor provides education, prevention and intervention services in the areas of academic, career and social/emotional development supports. It is important to note that elementary counselors are not therapists; rather they are professional educators with a mental health perspective. They typically spend the majority of their time working on universal instruction and working with all students. The elementary counselors will work in collaboration with administration, teachers, the mental health team and parents to determine the needs of all students within each building.
Elementary Curriculum Benchmarks