Welcome to the E.M. Burke Guidance Website!

Thank you for visiting our site! My name is Nicole Warrington and I am the School Counselor here at E.M. Burke School. Please feel free to browse our site to find out about our student activities, counseling services, character education programs, upcoming events, and resources.

Character Education

This year we will continue to offer a school-wide character education program. The program will center around ten character traits which we will be teaching, discussing and modeling throughout our school. We recognize our parents to be the most primary and influential to teaching character to our students. We are very excited to work as partners with our parents and community to allow our students to thrive not only academically, but socially and emotionally as well.

The traits we will be focusing on this year will be introduced as follows:

September-Responsibility- Be accountable for your own behavior, complete all your homework, listen to your teachers, and treat others kindly.

October- Respect/Courtesy- Show your regard for yourself, other people, and property. Volunteer to help others.

November- Citizenship/Community Service- show pride in your community, protect your neighborhood, help others at school and in your community.

December- Kindness/Sharing- Be considerate of others, be helpful to others in need.

January- Cooperation/Tolerance-Be a team player, be appreciative of others’ differences, respect views and beliefs of other people.

February- Friendship/Caring- Be a good listener, offer friendship and kindness to others.

March- Honesty/Trustworthiness- Tell the truth, admit when you have done something wrong, and show loyalty to others.

April- Conservation- Don’t be wasteful, take steps to conserve water, electricity and other resources, participate in community programs to recycle.

May- Pride/Self-Esteem-Be happy with who you are, appreciate your own talents, try new things.

June- Patriotism – Show support and devotion to our country.

Character Club

March- Honesty/Trustworthiness- Tell the truth, admit when you have done something wrong, and show loyalty to others.

Miss Corn- Marcus Madiedo

Ms. MacAdams- Nicole Nickolson

Mrs. Rice- Prerona Malla

Mrs. Swanholm- Angela Trinidad

Ms. Bien- Brian Nguyen

Ms. Kormann- Julia Vitko

Mrs.Devault- Jacob Durham

Mrs. Heller- Faith Shultz

Mrs. Johnson- Ryan Black

Ms. Vespe Autumn Baldini

Ms. Cranin- Jake Commander

February- Friendship/Caring- Be a good listener, offer friendship and kindness to others.

Miss Corn-Zebulon Fimple

Ms. MacAdams- Isabella Fanelli

Mrs. Rice- Dylan Davis

Mrs. Swanholm- Evan DiVito

Ms. Bien-Jacob Young

Ms. Kormann- Julia Falchetta

Mrs.Devault-Caitlin Monroe

Mrs. Heller-Brianna DiBona

Mrs.Vespe-Andre Baldini

Mrs. Johnson- Vraj Patel

Ms. Cranin- Cristina LaMonico

January Cooperation/Tolerance-Be a team player, be appreciative of others’ differences, respect views and beliefs of other people.

Miss Corn- Mandy Davis

Ms. MacAdams- Marissa Johnstin

Mrs. Rice- Alivia Vona

Mrs. Swanholm -Kacy Ewing

Ms. Bien-Roheema Saleem

Ms. Kormann- Angelina Shearer

Mrs.Devault- Mason Tessier

Mrs. Heller- Daliah Leginski

Mrs.Vespe- Conor Osborne

Mrs. Johnson- Nicky Cristinzio

Ms. Cranin- Jake Commander

December Character Club

Miss Corn- Gianna Shearer

Ms. MacAdams- Kaylee Osorio

Mrs. Rice- Zachary Capone

Mrs. Swanholm- Joey Marino

Ms. Bien- Calvin O’Donell

Ms. Kormann- J.T. Coleman

Mrs.Devault- Drashti Patel

Mrs. Heller- Korina Darji

Mrs.Vespe- Thomas Maloney

Mrs. Johnson- Ava Marsella

Ms. Cranin- Rebecca Okrem

Rebecca Miller- Jacob Knowles

November- Citizenship/Community Service

Miss Corn-Joseph Young

Ms. MacAdams-Ben Wells

Mrs. Rice-Rodrigo Sandoval

Mrs. Swanholm-Emily Perez

Ms. Bien-Jack Hume

Ms. Kormann- Liam Osborne

Mrs. Devault-Luke Sandoval

Mrs. Heller-Gretchen Aulenbach

Mrs.Vespe-Amanda Morales

Mrs. Johnson-Audrey Blain

Ms. Cranin- Dylan Przbyszewski

October- Respect/Courtesy

Miss Corn-Michael Dell Bueno
Ms. MacAdams-Billy Chew
Mrs. Rice-Shawn Sepulveda
Mrs. Swanholm-Jimmy Burleigh
Ms. Bien-Waliyah Rahman
Ms. Kormann- Mohibbah Rahman
Mrs.Devault-Kaitlyn Alberto
Mrs. Heller-Joey Fanelli
Mrs.Vespe-Madison Robb
Mrs. Johnson-Armani World
Ms. Cranin-Pail Gilchris
Ms. Miller-Danny Renzetti

September-Responsibility

Ms. Corn    Mackenzie K.
Mrs. Mac Adams    Madeline G.
Mrs. Rice     Eric P.
Mrs. Swanholm    Kara C.
Ms. Bien    Gia A.
Ms. Kormann    Mary Lou R.
Mrs. DeVault    Billy F.
Mrs. Vespe    Madison DeS.
Mrs. Johnson    Joey P.
Ms. Cranin    Jake C.

Ms. Miller Jason G.

Counseling Services

In addition to Classroom Guidance Lessons and our school-wide Character Education Program, we also offer small group and individual direct services to our students. These services are available only to students that are considered to be at-risk academically, socially, emotionally, or behaviorally.

We are currently planning our first set of counseling groups for this year. These groups are for students not already receiving counseling through an IEP. Below is a listing of the groups that can be offered, along with a description of what each group is about. If you have a child that you feel displays a significant need for counseling services, please contact us as soon as possible. Groups will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis due to limited group capacity.

CHILDREN OF DIVORCE/SEPARATION GROUP: This group is aimed to help students accept that their parents are no longer living together. The focus of the group is helping the students understand that the divorce/separation is not their fault and that there is nothing that they can do to change the outcome. The divorce/separation does not need to be recent if it is still interfering with the child’s schoolwork. Signed permission slips are required for participation in this group.

ANGER MANAGEMENT/BEHAVIOR CONTROL: This group is for students who have angry outbursts that they cannot control and whose anger often lands them in trouble.

SELF-ESTEEM GROUP: This group is for students who make statements like, “I can’t do this”, who are afraid to try something for fear of failure, and who make negative comments about himself/herself frequently.

SOCIAL SKILLS GROUP: This group is for students who lack the social skills necessary to make/keep friends, not because of bad behavior, but because of poor socialization skills. Students who appear to be loners or can’t keep friends because of constant tattling would benefit from this group.

LUNCH BUDDIES GROUP: This group helps students to communicate effectively with each other and develop closer relationships with their peers.

MOTIVATION/ACADEMIC SUCCESS GROUP: (for 3rd and 4^th grade students only): This group is for students who can do the work, but are unwilling to try or appear not to care about their work. This group is not for students who are truly not capable of doing the work, or who have a medical condition that interferes with their progress.

SPECIALIZED GROUPS: These groups are run on an as-needed basis. Please contact me if you feel your child would benefit from inclusion in one of these groups. I will run one or both of these groups if there are enough names given. If not, individual counseling can be provided as needed:

Grief
Children of Parents who are Deployed

Bullying Policy

Bullying Policy/Student Harassment

The Bellmawr Board of Education firmly believes that all of its students are entitled to an educational environment conducive to learning and free of harassment. Students should have the opportunity to enjoy coming to school and they must look forward to learning in each of our schools.

The board realizes that a part of growing, maturing, and developing into a productive citizen requires learning the necessary social skills to be successful in our diverse society. In order to ensure that our students are successful, the board will not accept harassment of students by other students and promulgates this policy to ensure that everyone is working toward an environment devoid of harassment.

All incident reports of harassment will be fully investigated and appropriate action will be taken.

1. Verbal or Physical Intimidation- to hurt by treating wrongly, injury; to attack with coarse or insulting language.

Examples of verbal intimidation include name calling, teasing, stating untrue or disparaging stories, screaming, demanding or threatening.

Examples of physical intimidation include punching, hitting, pushing, slapping, prohibiting someone to walk to their destination, crowding around a student or group of students with the purpose to intimidate, ethnic slurs, racial slurs, etc.

2. Bullying- as with aggressive behavior generally, bullying intentionally causes hurt to the recipient. This hurt can be both physical or psychological; while some bullying takes the form of hitting, pushing, taking money, it can also involve telling nasty stories, teasing, and social exclusion. It can be carried out by one or a group. Three criteria particularly distinguish bullying: unprovoked, repeated action, and perceived intimidation by a stronger person.

Examples of bullying include taking money, making an individual walk a route to avoid confrontation, physical abuse, verbal abuse, threatening looks or insulting stories.

3. Sexual Harassment- unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment.

Examples of sexual harassment include unwelcome jokes, touching, verbal comments about parts of a person’s body, clothing, and looks, spreading sexual rumors, suggestive gestures, pressure for sexual activity, malicious activities such as pulling down a person’s pants, or clothing.

4. Any behavior which creates the perception or actually causes a hostile environment for others.

Reporting Procedures

Any student who believes they are a victim of harassment by another student should report the alleged acts or circumstances to their teacher, school counselor, or administrator. A conference will be scheduled to address the situation and proper course of action will be taken. This conference may include parental involvement at the discretion of the administrator. The administrator will implement an appropriate remediation plan.

In an effort to minimize harassment from occurring, the district’s health, guidance, family life curriculums as well as acceptable behavior standards will stress positive social behavior among all our students.