Counseling Department
School counselors are key members of your child's educational team, collaborating with other school staff to provide support. They work with students individually, in small groups, and within the classroom through guidance activities. Counselors help parents and teachers better understand the social, emotional, and academic needs of students. They teach essential skills in areas such as leadership, test-taking, decision-making, coping strategies, communication, personal safety, healthy peer relationships, and career awareness. Additionally, school counselors are available to assist during crises.
Your child can visit the counselor if they are facing challenges such as making friends, adjusting to a new school, managing classroom behavior, dealing with family changes (like a new family member, divorce, or loss), completing assignments, handling bullying, or anything else that may hinder their success in school. School counselors advocate for all students.
During digital learning, Gwinnett County School Counselors will continue supporting students' academic, career, and social-emotional development through Zoom and Google Meet for individual meetings, conferences, presentations, group sessions, and classroom lessons/activities.
Parent Empowerment Workshop - Recordings
Coping Skills for your Child Ten Tips for Academic Success Behavior Strategies for Children
Attendance Policy
Alcova Elementary School State Attendance Law
Attendance at school is an important part of student success and achievement. A pattern of absences may put a student at risk of not achieving the Academic Knowledge and Skills (AKS) for their grade level and courses. Certain absences are considered to be excused according to state guidelines. Excused absences include:
- Personal illness or attendance in school endangering a student’s health or the health of others.
- A serious illness or death in a student’s immediate family requiring absence from school
- A court order or an order by a governmental agency, including pre-induction physical examination for service in the armed forces, mandating absence from school
- Observing religious holidays, necessitating absence from school
- Conditions making attendance impossible or hazardous to student health or safety
- Serving as a page in the Georgia General Assembly
- A student, whose parent or legal guardian is in military service of the United States or the National Guard, and such parent or legal guardian has been called to duty for or is on leave from overseas deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting, shall be granted excused absences, up to a maximum of five school days per year, for the day or days missed from school to visit with his or her parent or legal guardian prior to deployment or while on leave
Please remember that if your student is absent from school, you need to send a note to the school stating the reason for his/her absence. Should the reason be one noted above, your child’s absence will be marked excused.
After 10 absences without a medical note being submitted, a medical note may be required to excuse an absence.
A state truancy law (O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-690.2) defines truant as “any child subject to compulsory school attendance who during the school calendar year has more than 5 days of unexcused absences.” This same state law also ties attendance to a student’s driving privileges.
It is important for parents to be aware of attendance requirements. Please read Gwinnett County Public Schools’ Student/Parent Handbook, which outlines attendance expectations. In addition, our teachers and school leadership will communicate with you regularly on school attendance issues. Parents will receive an attendance letter when their child accumulates 5, 7 and 10 unexcused absences. When a student reaches 10 unexcused absences the school social worker will hold a Student Attendance Review Committee (SARC meeting). When a student accumulates 15 unexcused absences the family will be referred to DFACS.
Thank you for your support of your student’s academic achievement. Your child’s regular attendance at school makes a
difference!
Sincerely,
Professional School Counselors
*All attendance excuses must be turned in within five days of the absence. We will not accept late attendance excuses.