Academic Support

The School Counselor at Nativity Catholic School supports students and their families and works collaboratively with faculty and staff to assist students in their social-emotional growth. 

The fundamental goals of the school counselor’s office are: 

The school counselor conducts developmental screenings for pre-kindergarten students twice per school year using the Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) and provides results to families.      

The school counselor also provides mental health screening annually to fifth-grade students. Confidential results are provided to the parent/legal guardian and are not part of the student’s education records. Families may choose to opt out of this screening by contacting the school counselor directly.   
 
Please contact the School Counselor to request a meeting. Requests may be initiated by a student, parent/legal guardian, teacher, administrator or other school personnel. The school counselor will respond to requests by the end of the following business day.

To ensure we meet the enrichment and intervention needs of all students at Nativity Catholic School, there is school-wide time in the academic for student support. We call this “Whatever I Need” or W.I.N. time. Enrichment and intervention supports are designed to address the needs of students above grade level, at grade level and below grade level. Students work to achieve their growth target goals to either catch up, keep up or move up in academic achievement.  

 

STREAM Enrichment: This weekly program is for students in grades 2-5 who have demonstrated high academic ability and meet specific achievement criteria as demonstrated on NWEA MAP assessments, the Terra Nova In-View assessment, and/or the SAGES-2 Reasoning subtest. Each trimester will consist of several rigorous, standards-based units of study. Students become immersed in each topic through a variety of activities and assignments. Creativity is encouraged, and students must be able to work independently. The goal of enrichment is to challenge students to further develop their content knowledge, critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving skills.  
 

Reading Intervention: Nativity Catholic School implements a comprehensive reading intervention program for struggling readers in grades K-5. Our reading interventionist meets with students to identify needs, provide interventions and support reading growth target goals.
 

Resource Program: Nativity Catholic School offers a diverse and differentiated curriculum designed to meet the needs of all our students. If a student struggles academically and classroom interventions are not enough to support them, the school may recommend an evaluation process to identify their specific needs. If a student is identified as having a diagnosed disability, the resource teacher, along with classroom teachers, the assistant principal of academic affairs, and the school counselor, will develop a Diocesan Student Support Plan (SSP), which outlines appropriate accommodations for the student.

Our resource program aims to provide students who encounter academic difficulties the opportunity to achieve success, build confidence in their skills and become their own self-advocates. The resource teacher recognizes each student's unique gifts and learning needs and strives to help each student she serves experience Christ's love and compassion.

Speech: Hillsborough County Public Schools offers speech/language therapy to students on our campus who meet the criteria for speech (articulation) and/or language. The assigned speech/language pathologist provides therapy to eligible students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade in pull-out sessions during the school day on campus.

Title I Instructional Interventions: Title I instructional interventions are delivered via a pull-out program during the school day to address academic challenges for eligible students via Hillsborough County Public Schools. This program is provided by national Title program funding that the public school system receives.