Leveraging Your School's Support Network: Psychologists, Social Workers, Nurses, and More
Learn how to effectively partner with the non-teaching professionals in your school — school psychologists, social workers, counsellors, school nurses, behaviour specialists, and community liaisons — to create a comprehensive support network for students. Understand what each role actually does (most teachers don't know), how to make effective referrals, how to share information ethically, and how to co-design interventions that leverage everyone's expertise instead of creating isolated, disconnected services.
What you'll walk away with
Describe the training, expertise, and professional lens of each school support role (psychologist, social worker, counsellor, nurse, behaviour specialist)
Make effective referrals using specific observations, asset-based language, and clear professional questions
Initiate proactive (non-crisis) consultation with support professionals to access expertise before problems escalate
Navigate ethical information sharing across professional roles using FERPA and need-to-know frameworks
How a Learning Series works
Work through the snacks — short, evidence-based lessons that build your understanding. Each one gives you research, a classroom connection, and one thing to try or discuss.
Test your understanding in a low-stakes mini-experiment before you bring it to your classroom. Leverage our downloadable materials to support you in your teaching and classroom practice and let us know how it goes!
For credit towards an Accingo Course certificate, try something from this series in your own classroom, then complete a short, structured reflection on what you learned and what you would bring to your PLC and/or regular practice. You will see "Application Artifact" if required.
