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School Counseling Department Head
Mrs. Smith, Certified School Counselor ext. 217, [email protected] 7th Grade (J-Z) & 8th Grade Mrs. Smith was born in Massachusetts but moved to Inverness when she was just 2 weeks old! She has a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in Counseling Psychology – both from Saint Leo University. Mrs. Smith has been a Certified School Counselor at D.S. Parrott Middle School for 7 years and is also the School Counseling Department Head. Prior to joining us at Parrott she worked at Eckerd Youth Alternatives as a Group Treatment Coordinator and Program Clinician as well as Cypress Creek (a level 8/10 juvenile male residential facility) as a master's level mental health therapist. At Parrott, you can find Mrs. Smith in her office helping students with academic achievement, personal/social development and career development - individually as well as in groups. She also schedules/facilitates many parent-teacher conferences, MTSS meetings, crisis counseling sessions, etc. Some fun facts about Mrs. Smith are that she can’t do cartwheels or whistle but she loves the family-like atmosphere that comes with being a leopard. Parents: Please feel free to contact me if you would like to schedule a Parent-Teacher Conference! Students: Please feel free to come see me if you are unsure if you need to complete grade repair/course recovery! You MUST have all necessary credits to go to high school! See below for this year's Red Ribbon Week activities. Red Ribbon Week will be held from October 22 - 26, 2018. The theme is: "Life Is Your Journey! Travel Drug-Free!" MONDAY (10/22/18): “RED”Y to Live a Drug-Free Life!” day - All students, staff and teachers are encouraged to wear red and will be provided with a Red Ribbon to wear. TUESDAY (10/23/18): "I’m too Bright for Drugs!" day - All students, staff and teachers are encouraged to wear sunglasses and neon in order to ‘shade’ out drugs! WEDNESDAY (10/24/18): "United We Stand against Bullying and Drugs!” day - All students, staff and teachers are encouraged to wear orange. THURSDAY (10/25/18): "Hats Off to being Drug Free!” day - All students, staff and teachers are encouraged to wear a silly hat in order to put a ‘cap’ on drugs! FRIDAY (10/26/18): “Team Up against Drugs!” day – All students, staff and teachers are encouraged to "team up against drugs" by wearing their favorite sports team shirt or jersey! Students wearing a jersey must wear a shirt underneath! NOTE: Students MUST be in school dress code ALL week as they are NOT dress down days. Stay tuned for this year's Acts of Kindness (AOK) Week activities. For information regarding the Hernando County School District: Bullying and Harassment Policy, please visit the Hernando County School District webpage at https://www.hernandoschools.org Ms. Eppley, Certified School Counselor, ext. 219, [email protected]
7th Grade & 8th grade (A-I) Ms. Eppley is joining us at DSPMS for her first year in middle school, though she has been an elementary counselor for 17 years at Brooksville Elementary, Challenger K8, and Spring Hill Elementary! As a school counselor, Ms. Eppley spends most of her time creating schedules, performing credit checks, talking with students, and helping students develop their social-emotional skills. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work and a Master's in Counselor of Education and Guidance, both from University of South Florida. She was born and raised in Gainsville, FL and bleeds orange and blue. Prior to beginning her career in education, she worked as a social worker for Hospice, in banking, and in grocery stores. Ms. Eppley's favorite thing about Parrott is the staff and students. When not at school, you can either find her outdoors, in a gym, riding her bike, hiking or on her paddle board. Mrs. Busacca, Certified School Counseling Secretary, ext. 408, fax 352-797-7053, [email protected]. Also originally from Long Island, N.Y., Mrs. Busacca has made Hernando County her home. She has been working in the HCSD for the last 19 years - seven at Brooksville Elementary and 12 at Parrott. Mrs. Busacca has served in many roles, including substitute, paraprofessional and receptionist, but her primary function is as Guidance Secretary / Registrar. She also assists with scheduling truancy meetings, gathering information from teachers as to how the students are doing in class, and getting paperwork ready for the guidance counselors for truancy meetings with the school social worker and parents. One fun fact about Mrs. Busacca is that she likes to hunt and fish. Parents should contact Mrs. Busacca to enroll or withdraw students and to obtain student records. |