This Counseling Handbook provides an overview of the comprehensive counseling program at AIS. The program supports the academic, social-emotional, career, and global identity development of students in Grades 1–12. It is informed by internationally recognized professional standards and best practices established by the International School Counselor Association (ISCA), of which AIS is a member. The AIS Counseling Department is committed to supporting students holistically as they progress through elementary, middle, and high school.

The counseling program at AIS supports the holistic development of students—academically, socially, and emotionally—in alignment with our campus’s global mission, vision and the ESLRs. When students are informed and emotionally centered, they are more able to focus on creativity, self-directedness, and the development of their quality of life (AIS Mission). With a concrete, embedded counseling program, they are also more intellectually, socially and emotionally available to be socially and globally involved, to think critically and creatively, and to be academically prepared to succeed in their current classes as well as reflect on their future potential careers (the ESLRs).

It is our belief that students thrive best when counseling is provided proactively and preemptively, rather than reactively when problems arise. Our comprehensive counseling will provide a curriculum appropriate for each elementary to secondary grade level. The ISCA Association models its counseling domains and student standards on the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) and is therefore highly suitable for our American curriculum campus.

It consists of four broad areas that empower students to set meaningful goals, develop resilience, and prepare for higher education and life beyond school.

1. Social/Emotional
2. Global Perspective and Identity Development
3. Academic
4. Career

The counseling team divides its time between direct and indirect support to students in the form of counseling curriculum delivery, individual student planning and responsive services, as well as system support (selecting programs, coordinating protocols and needs expressed by parents, students, and teachers). The counseling focus evolves and shifts to detailed career and college planning as the students advance to the upper grades (10-12).

To deliver its curriculum, the counseling team relies on vetted programs such as Second Step (developed by CASEL, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) for social-emotional learning (SEL), Responsive Classroom for elementary morning meetings and for personality, interest, character-strength, career fit, and ultimately college-fit research.

Each year, the counseling team promotes a data-driven program and evaluates annual impact and results in terms of wellbeing and belonging, attendance and behavior, and community perception.

Each student is assigned to a specific counselor that they can reach out to at any time regarding any issue of concern.

Grades 1–5

• Support students’ transition from preschool to elementary school, including adjustment to routines and academic expectations.
• Develop positive attitudes toward learning, confidence and readiness for academic success.
• Collaborate with teachers and families to support students’ learning and academic growth.

Grades 6–8

• Support students’ transition from elementary to middle school.
• Develop organization, study and time-management skills.
• Support goal-setting and academic progress monitoring through individual student planning.
• Provide workshops on note-taking, time management and examination preparation.
• Collaborate with teachers and families to support students experiencing academic difficulties.
• In Grade 8, students meet with their counselor during the spring semester to begin developing a four-year high school academic plan. Course planning considers graduation requirements, students’ interests and their initial post-secondary goals.

Grades 9–12

• Students meet with their counselor each year to review their four-year academic plan, monitor progress toward graduation and select courses for the following year.
• Counselors guide students in selecting appropriate AP courses, electives and other subjects aligned with their abilities, interests, career goals and potential university requirements.
• Grade 11 and Grade 12 students meet with their counselor to discuss university plans, application strategies and relevant academic requirements.
• High school students receive guidance on standardized assessments, including the PSAT, SAT, ACT and AP examinations, where appropriate for their university plans.
• Every high school student participates in at least one individual annual conference with their counselor to discuss academic progress, graduation requirements and evolving college and career plans.
• Students may also arrange additional appointments with their assigned counselor when needed.

Grades 1–5

• Support students’ emotional adjustment and sense of belonging, especially during transitions and new school experiences.
• Embed the SEL curriculum into homeroom.
• Use Responsive Classroom morning meeting ideas to help elementary students feel secure, build relationships, and engage deeply in learning.
• Provide individual counseling check-ins to build self-awareness and emotional regulation, create safe spaces for expression, strengthen relationships, and provide proactive mental health support.
• Provide small-group support in problem-solving, conflict resolution, friendship, emotional regulation, and safe play.
• Deliver grade-level-focused lessons.

Grades 6–8

• Provide developmental guidance lessons on self-awareness, friendships, and digital citizenship.
• Provide small-group support in conflict resolution, peer pressure, emotional regulation, kindness, collaboration, and anti-bullying.
• Provide individual counseling for adjustment issues, anxiety, or stress.
• Embed the SEL curriculum into advisory or homeroom.

Grades 9–12

• Provide workshops on identity, stress management, and healthy relationships.
• Provide counseling for mental health concerns, with referrals to external providers when appropriate.
• Provide support groups for grief, transitions, and self-esteem.
• Provide senior-year stress and transition workshops focused on college anxiety and independence.

Bullying & Harassment Prevention

• Provide clear reporting channels, including an anonymous reporting option.
• Provide a peer mediation program.
• Organize an annual anti-bullying campaign with student leadership involvement.

Academic Risk Detection and Support

• Use an early warning system to flag failing grades and attendance concerns.
• Provide tiered support: teacher tutoring → counseling intervention → parent conference.
• Develop individualized Academic Improvement Plans for students requiring additional support.

Crisis Response Protocols

• Follow suicide risk assessment procedures.
• Maintain an emergency response team for critical incidents.
• Provide confidential referral pathways for staff and parents.

Wellness & Prevention

• Organize mindfulness and mental health awareness weeks.
• Provide parent workshops on adolescent development and screen time.
• Maintain a school-wide advisory program linking students with mentors.

College & Career Readiness Development

• Middle School: Provide career exploration activities, including interest surveys and guest speakers.
• High School: Provide career and university fairs, internships, career assessments, and research opportunities.

Students are encouraged to get to know their assigned counselor and schedule regular check-ins to discuss their progress and well-being.

AIS also has access to external counseling support through Citta Consultancy for students who may require additional assistance.

Additionally, the counseling team serves on the AIS Safeguarding Committee and is committed to promoting the safety of every student.

At AIS, university guidance is not limited to Grade 12. It is a structured four-year process beginning in Grade 9 that supports students’ academic planning, career exploration, extracurricular development and preparation for university applications.

Grade 9 — Foundation & Awareness

Goal: Build strong academic habits and early direction

• Explain how university admissions work globally (US, UK, EU, Asia)
• Guide course selection to ensure long-term rigor and balance
• Identify academic strengths and weaknesses early
• Introduce extracurricular strategy (depth over quantity)
• Encourage participation in:
  • Clubs
  • Sports
  • Community service
• Begin career exploration (interests ≠ commitments)
• Teach study skills, time management, and organization
• Start a student profile record (activities, awards, service)

Grade 10 — Strategic Academic Planning

Goal: Align academics + activities with future goals

• Review academic performance and adjust course rigor if needed
• Help students identify potential majors / fields of interest
• Ensure subject choices meet top university prerequisites
• Advise on meaningful extracurricular leadership paths
• Begin early testing awareness (SAT/AP)
• Introduce summer program planning (academic, research, service)
• Identify students with scholarship or elite-university potential
• Start long-term planning for competitive pathways (medicine, engineering, arts, Oxbridge, Ivy League)

Grade 11 — Execution & Profile Building

Goal: Build a competitive, evidence-based application profile

• Finalize university target strategy (reach / match / safety)
• Guide standardized testing plan and timelines
• Support leadership roles and high-impact projects
• Oversee major extracurricular initiatives or research
• Begin personal statement brainstorming
• Prepare for:
  • UK admissions
  • US admissions
  • Canada
  • Asia
  • Australia
  • Europe
• Identify and prepare for competitive scholarships
• Coordinate teacher recommendations
• Advise on summer after Grade 11 as a critical application period

Grade 12 — Application & Decision Support

Goal: Execute applications flawlessly and strategically

• Finalize university lists and application timelines
• Oversee:
  • Personal statements
  • Supplemental essays
  • Portfolios
• Ensure recommendations, transcripts, and school documents are submitted correctly
• Guide students through:
  • Interviews
  • Demonstrated interest
  • Visa and financial documentation
• Support scholarship applications
• Help families evaluate offers (academic fit, cost, outcomes)
• Assist with final decision-making
• Prepare students for transition to university life

At AIS, we place a strong emphasis on extracurricular development. Participation in extracurricular activities helps students strengthen their analytical and critical-thinking skills, fosters a changemaker mindset, and encourages effective problem-solving. Meaningful extracurricular involvement helps students develop their interests, skills, initiative, and leadership. It can also provide valuable evidence for university and scholarship applications, particularly when participation is sustained and connected to the student’s goals.

Throughout the year, counselors offer students information about summer and winter programs, pre-college programs, Olympiads, competitions, and internship opportunities.

At AIS, we carefully select and offer opportunities that provide:

• A profile-building pathway from Grade 6 to Grade 12
• Strong regional accessibility, which is especially important for Myanmar passport holders
• A range of cost options, from elite programs to accessible and free opportunities
• Flexible alternatives, including online programs when visa restrictions apply

• School Counselors: Plan and review the SEL curriculum; review students’ responses, progress, and outcomes; provide individual counseling, academic advising, university and career guidance, crisis response, and grade-level-focused group meetings for elementary students.
• Teachers/Advisors: Deliver the secondary SEL curriculum, implement Responsive Classroom morning meetings, collaborate with C3 SDG at the elementary level, and identify and refer students who need support.
• Administrators: Support school-wide protocols and allocate appropriate resources.
• Parents/Guardians: Partner with the school in students’ academic planning and emotional support.

• Career Quest: A weekly session for students in Grades 6–12 to explore academic and professional opportunities.
• Monthly Parent Workshops: Sessions covering academic pathways, adolescent development, and university applications.
• Semester Academic Planning Meetings: Meetings to review students’ academic progress, course selection, and future plans.
• Annual Counseling Calendar: Events such as Career Day, Mental Health Week, and the University Fair.

• Conduct student surveys on counseling effectiveness.
• Track key metrics, including GPA, attendance, graduation rates, and university acceptances.
• Conduct an annual program review using feedback from students, staff, and parents.

The College Board offers various opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate college readiness throughout their high school careers.

AIS provides students in Grades 9 and 10 with the opportunity to take the PSAT each October. PSAT results help students identify areas for improvement, prepare for the SAT, and inform future academic planning.

Students are encouraged to take advantage of the PSAT and Saturday SAT sessions offered at AIS starting in Grade 11. These opportunities help students develop standardized testing skills and work toward achieving their best possible scores before submitting university applications.

Students are eligible to begin taking AP courses in Grade 10. It is recommended that students begin with one AP course and gradually progress to multiple courses when academically appropriate. While taking rigorous AP courses strengthens a student’s transcript, students are also encouraged to take the corresponding AP examinations in May. The yearlong course may provide a weighted grade on the student’s transcript, while qualifying AP examination scores may provide university credit or advanced placement, depending on the policies of each university.

Strategic Planning: AP results are released in July following the May examination period. When possible, students should take AP courses relevant to their intended university major before Grade 12 so that the results can be included in their university applications. AP courses taken during Grade 12 also demonstrate continued academic rigor. Universities may request a final transcript, and students may submit their senior-year AP scores when required or when those results become available.

USA
• University of Pennsylvania
• Johns Hopkins University
• New York University
• University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
• Boston University
• Penn State University
• Purdue University – West Lafayette
• University of California, Davis
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• University of California, San Diego
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Emory University
• Michigan State University
• Boston College
• Georgetown University
• Northeastern University
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• University of Colorado Boulder
• Virginia Tech
• Arizona State University
• University of Connecticut
• Syracuse University
• University at Buffalo
• Binghamton University
• Fordham University
• Brandeis University
• Drexel University
• University of Delaware
• University of Denver
• University of Oregon
• Oregon State University
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• University of San Francisco
• American University
• Miami University
• University of Hawaii at Manoa
• California State University, Long Beach
• Trinity University
• Baylor University
• Bentley University
• Butler University
• Quinnipiac University
• University of Tampa
• Florida International University
• Ithaca College
• Augustana University
• Liberty University
• North Greenville University
• Washington College
• University of Michigan–Flint
• Rhode Island School of Design
• Parsons School of Design
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Hult International Business School
• Santa Monica College

CANADA
• University of Toronto
• University of British Columbia
• University of Alberta
• University of Waterloo
• McMaster University
• Queen’s University
• Western University
• University of Calgary
• University of Ottawa
• Simon Fraser University
• University of Victoria
• University of Guelph
• York University
• Carleton University
• Toronto Metropolitan University
• Brock University
• Huron University at Western
• Humber College
• George Brown College
• Fanshawe College

UNITED KINGDOM
• University College London
• University of Edinburgh
• King’s College London
• University of Bristol
• University of Nottingham
• Queen Mary University of London
• University of Exeter
• University of Liverpool
• University of Birmingham
• Durham University
• University of Sheffield
• University of Aberdeen
• Newcastle University
• Cardiff University
• University of Sussex
• University of Buckingham
• Northumbria University
• Oxford Brookes University
• University of Lincoln
• University of Brighton
• University of Westminster
• Istituto Marangoni London
• Ravensbourne University London
• London College of Contemporary Arts

NETHERLANDS
• University of Amsterdam
• Erasmus University College

SWITZERLAND
• Swiss Hotel Management School
• Hotel Institute Montreux

IRELAND
• University of Galway
• University of Limerick
• Technological University Dublin

GERMANY
• UMCH – University Targu Mures Medical Campus Hamburg

FRANCE
• Istituto Marangoni Paris
• IFA Paris

CHINA
• Tsinghua University
• Fudan University
• Shanghai Jiao Tong University
• Zhejiang University
• Xi’an Jiaotong University
• East China Normal University
• China Medical University
• Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
• Duke Kunshan University
• NYU Shanghai

HONG KONG
• University of Hong Kong
• Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Polytechnic University

TAIWAN
• National Taiwan University
• National Tsing Hua University
• National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
• China Medical University

SINGAPORE
• Singapore Management University

THAILAND
• Mahidol University

MALAYSIA
• Taylor’s University
• Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

AUSTRALIA
• University of Melbourne
• University of Sydney
• Monash University
• University of Newcastle

NEW ZEALAND
• University of Auckland
• University of Otago
• Victoria University of Wellington

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
• Emirates Aviation University
• Emirates Flight Training Academy
• Air Arabia Academy
• flydubai Ab Initio Programme