Hi St. Clare Families!

Many of you may remember me from last year, but I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. My name is Mr. Taylor Merritt. Most students call me Mr. Taylor but I also answer to Mr. Merritt or simply Taylor as well. I'm the school counselor from Champion Consulting that is assigned to St. Clare Catholic School. I received my M.A. in Counseling from Lindenwood University. This is my 2nd year working at St. Clare and I'm very excited to get to know your child this school year and help them grow and learn.

One part of my role as a school school counselor is that I get to go into all classrooms to teach social skills lessons. We learn a lot about understanding and managing emotions, being a kind friend, understanding our school character traits, and following the rules. I strongly feel that social emotional skills are very important and I enjoy the opportunity to help our kids learn and build these skills at a young age.

Another large part of my role is to support students who may need some extra support at school. If you feel your child is struggling with any behavioral or social/emotional concerns, feel free to reach out and contact me at any time. We can talk and brainstorm ideas of how to help, and if needed, I can meet with students individually or in a small group setting to work on some of these more individualized concerns.

*** something new: This year it is my goal to send all students who participate in individual school counseling sessions home with a parent communicator titled "I Saw The School Counselor Today" which will briefly communicate what types of things your student worked on in counseling and when they attended a session. It will be the responsibility of the student to ensure this communicator is brought home to share with parents.

Lastly, I would like to encourage you that I am here to support you and your family as well. I am at St. Clare on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays so please feel free to contact me at the school or email me if you have a concern you'd like to discuss. And if you are ever in need of assistance with any outside resources, please contact me and I will do my best to help you in any way that I can. I hope everyone has a wonderful school year!

Attached below are the two necessary documents for students to participate in school counseling at St. Clare for the 2023-2024 academic year. The first is a permission slip and the second is a referral form. The permission slip MUST be completed by a parent or legal guardian. Referrals can be requested and completed by teachers, administrators or parents and turned into the school office or returned to my email at tmerritt@championconsult.org.

God Bless,

Mr. Taylor Merritt, M.A.