Shining a light on the School Support Program
Public high school counseling staff face serious workload challenges. A single guidance counselor in a Maryland high school may work with over three hundred students and provide support for matters ranging from mental health issues and challenges at home, to applying for college and understanding financial aid offers. As a result, on average counselors are only able to spend 2 hours on college advising per student over 4 year of high school.
That’s why Collegiate Directions developed the School Support Program – to expand the college advising capacity of the dedicated education professionals in our region's public schools. Since its inception, the program has grown beyond serving just the schools from which CDI recruits Scholars, to serving schools representing over 7,800 upperclassmen.
Meet Jill
As Director of the School Support Program, Jill Semmens works with CDI partner schools to optimize their college advising practices. Before CDI, Jill worked with students, parents, and staff in both secondary and higher education. She began her career as a secondary English teacher, also serving as an instructional coach and consultant before transitioning to roles in higher education.
To shine a light on the School Support Program, we asked Jill a few questions about her work.
How has the program changed since you started? When I joined CDI in September 2019, the School Support Program (SSP) worked with two high schools, one in Montgomery County and one in Washington D.C., so the program has experienced significant growth in the last six years. We currently work with nine official partner schools, but we host events that serve schools, students, families, and college access professionals across Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and throughout Maryland, as well as in DC.
The program has also evolved to better support schools’ needs. We’ve added new programming for students and families, and we’ve created professional development programming for school and nonprofit staff through the Counselor Collaborative.
What type of support does the SSP provide to schools? School Support provides strategic and programmatic support to public schools in Maryland and DC. We may work with a school to develop strategies to improve FAFSA completion, for example, but we can also provide programming to support the strategy, such as professional development for counselors or financial aid presentations for students and families.
What is your favorite part of your job? The people. I feel really lucky to partner with such a dedicated group of colleagues, both externally and on the CDI team, to support student success. Even though this work is not without challenges, I appreciate that I get to serve schools and the students and families they support. It’s really gratifying to hear that a workshop has helped a teacher write a better letter of recommendation or that a process we’ve improved has led to better outcomes in the college and career office at a school.
What is something you want people to know about SSP? According to the recent Gallup poll, students’ most trusted sources of advice on career or educational opportunities are parents, high school teachers, family members who aren’t a parent, and school counselors. School Support helps to ensure that these trusted adults have the support they need to advise students. Our programming provides these adults with information about the college process, affordability, and financial aid.
Last year SSP provided professional development presentations about financial aid to staff at 19 high schools in MCPS. We also hosted admissions professionals from colleges and universities across the region, the Director of the Office of Student Financial Assistance at the Maryland Higher Education Commission, and the Executive Director of Parents’ Place of Maryland. Our parent workshops helped families think about affordability, complete the FAFSA, and understand the admissions process.
What are some of the biggest challenges of the work you do? The biggest challenge is always capacity. College admissions is rapidly evolving, and the process of advising individual students is nuanced. It’s time consuming to stay abreast of changes and best practices! High school staff are balancing support of the college process with many other competing priorities. There’s so much incredible work happening, but there is always more to do.
Counselors are allocated to schools based on enrollment projections, but that’s not always the case for the college and career navigator or coordinator. At most of the schools I support, there’s one college and career coordinator for all students. I’m also program of 1, so I relate to the struggle of conceiving ideas or solutions but lacking the time or manpower to make all of them happen. The demand for SSP programming sometimes exceeds what I can provide, too.
Where can people find out more about SSP events? We’re always adding new workshops that are open to all students and families to the CDI Events page.
Support for the School Support Program
“The most beneficial aspect of the partnership with CDI’s School Support Program has been the comprehensive, hands-on support provided to both school leadership and instructional staff. CDI does not just offer resources, they are very thoughtful partners and is always willing to assist with addressing school-specific challenges we may face.”
“The FAFSA & MDCAPS information that was given was very knowledgeable and helpful. Many families…are working on understand the questions on a daily basis and we appreciate CDI for being there to assist with the financial aid information. Thank you so much.”
“Jill has helped us streamline everything, from organizing events to meeting with students and makes the whole college and career planning process smoother for everyone. She’s always willing to jump in, support new ideas, and help bring them to life. Whether it’s helping students with applications, FAFSA, creating a curriculum, or just being a reliable presence, her support has made a huge difference. Having Jill as a partner has truly helped us reach more students and build a stronger, more accessible program.”
