Stewart and Tray are the seventh- and eighth-grade school counselors in a new middle school in a large urban district with a diverse student population. Wintercrest Middle School has been a magnet school for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for only 3 years. Currently students can take Algebra I, Geometry, Honors Biology, and semester classes in Advanced Computing, Introduction to Physics, Robotics, and Trigonometry. Logistically, the magnet school functions as a school within a school, with students attending classes in one wing of the school building. Teachers and students who are not involved in the magnet school are located in two other wings on the opposite side of the school. During the past school year, Tray and Stewart have sensed tensions in the school in various relationships, including within, between, and among teams of teachers, between parents and teachers, among students, and between administrators and teachers. Mr. Wallace, their building principal, has seen the explosive outcomes of some of these tensions and has encouraged the counselors to investigate the current school climate.

Angela was extremely excited to begin school as a kindergarten student and was matched with a supportive teacher for her first year in the rural community in which her family lived. She was lively and talkative around adults, and her parents worked hard to find opportunities for Angela to connect with kids her own age. However, in their small community there were limited possibilities for connection, and Angela often retreated physically behind her parents in public.

During the first parent–teacher conference for Angela, her parents were surprised at the teacher’s observations that Angela was reading well beyond the level of her peers. Not knowing many other children with whom to compare Angela’s abilities, they had assumed she was on par with most other kids her age. While there were no services available in their school system until the third grade, the kindergarten teacher remarked that the Lees might want to look into additional enrichment opportunities for Angela elsewhere. However, the teacher was eager to provide additional reading opportunities. Because reading was one of Angela’s favorite activities, this arrangement seemed to be a good fit.

It was during Angela’s third-grade year that challenges began for her at school. She often came home upset that she was reprimanded at school, and she rarely talked about positive interactions with her peers. She shared with her parents that she did not have much in common with many of the girls in her class, and that they often teased her about her friendship with a boy in the class they all thought was “weird.” This social tension was exacerbated when she was reprimanded for not showing her work in math class. She expressed her frustration with “Why do I need to write out all the steps for something when I just know the answer!” A friend of Angela’s parents worked in the school Angela attended and shared with them that contacting the school counselor might be the best next step.