Recognitions & Celebrations
October is Bullying Prevention Month
Every student deserves to feel safe, connected, and ready to learn. School counselors support bullying prevention through classroom instruction, student support, and collaboration with staff and families. Use this month to reinforce how students can recognize bullying, seek help from a trusted adult, and safely support peers. These conversations can strengthen belonging and support prevention efforts throughout the school year. Visit StopBullying.gov for resources to support your school’s bullying prevention efforts.
Join us statewide on October 21st for Unity Day and wear your orange to show support for bullying prevention and promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.
National Health Education Week
National Health Education Week raises awareness of major public health issues and promotes understanding of the role of health education and offers an opportunity to partner with health education colleagues in your building to support student well-being.Consider how school counseling lessons and health and physical education instruction can reinforce shared topics such as stress management, healthy relationships, decision-making, and healthy habits.
This collaboration reflects the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model’s emphasis on coordinating efforts to support student health and academic achievement. Planning together and sharing resources can help students connect classroom learning with practical skills that support their physical, social, and emotional well-being. Visit SOPHE to learn about more resources.
Policy, Practice & Legislative Updates
College Application Week
NC Countdown to College (C2C) kicks off in October and ne of the most anticipated events of the campaign is College Application Week (CAW), where many NC colleges and universities waive their application fees. This year’s College Application Week will take place from October 19th at 7:30am through October 25th at 5pm. Review the List of Participating Institutions to share with your students.
NC Military Support for Students
North Carolina supports military-connected students through the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children and remote enrollment options for eligible military families. Visit NC Supports Military Children for guidance on enrollment, placement, eligibility, and graduation requirements.
2026–27 Purple Star Award applications are open! This award recognizes schools that demonstrate military-friendly practices and a commitment to military-connected students and families. Share this opportunity with your administrator and colleagues. Applications close February 1, 2027. Find application materials and virtual office hours on the Purple Star Award webpage.
North Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities Counselor Handbook
Support students’ college planning with the newly published NCICU Counselors Handbook, featuring information on tuition, enrollment, and degree offerings at North Carolina’s independent colleges and universities. Each North Carolina public high school will receive a hardbound copy, and a digital version is available for individual use. Visit the NCICU publications page and select “Download PDF” beneath the 2026–28 Counselors Handbook to access your copy.
Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities
Regional NC Student Success Standards Training Opportunities
Join us this fall for a half-day regional training designed to help school counselors move from understanding the NC Student Success Standards to putting them into practice. This interactive training will deepen school counselors’ understanding and application of the NC Student Success Standards, while infusing key updates from the ASCA National Model, 5th Edition. Participants will explore how to use data to prioritize student needs, align comprehensive school counseling programming and delivery to the standards, and identify practical strategies to strengthen implementation within their schools. Click below to register for your region:
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Southeast, October 28th, 9am-12:30pm, Eastern Skills Regional Center, Jacksonville, NC
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Northcentral, January 27th, 9am-3pm, Gentry Education Development Center, Erwin NC.
Trauma-Informed Approaches to Support Health and Learning Success Training
Join us Thursday, November 5, 2026 - 9:00 AM-4:00 PM, in Wilmington, NC for a session that will look at trauma, trauma-informed approaches, and how the justice systems intersect with ACES, trauma, and learning success. Alternatives to discipline for behavioral issues and court-involved youth, including discussion around trauma-informed accountability will be discussed. Lunch and CEUs will be provided. Stipends for travel and attendance will be provided to all who need that support. Please note this event is for current educators, school nurses, counselors, psychologists, social workers, administrators, and support personnel/directors. Register here.
NC Student Success Standards Webinar Series
Join us for the 2026-2027 NC Student Success Standard Webinar Series that will provide a variety of ways to integrate into your program delivery as a school counselor. Click here for all dates, session descriptions and webinar links.
November 3rd, 10:30-12noon, The Character Continuum: Integrating NC Student Success Standards into Character Education
NCSCA Fall Conference
Join us November 4th-6th at the Embassy Suites in Concord, NC for our fall conference for school counselors. This year's theme is Constellations of the Heart: Empowering Each and Every Student. It is an opportunity for professional development and networking with school counselors and educator partners statewide. We hope to see you there! Find more details and registration here.
October ASCA Virtual Events
The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) offers a variety of virtual professional development opportunities for school counselors, including webinars, affinity groups, and specialty learning experiences. Click here to see full calendar and register for upcoming events.
October 20th, 12-1pm, Getting It Done: How School Counselors Can Help Boost FAFSA Completion Rates
October 28th, 2-3pm, Supporting Students with Eating Disorders
October 29th, 2-3pm, Assess Your Counseling Practice
NC College Connect Connections Webinar
Join us October 21st at 2pm for our monthly NC College Connect Connections. You will gain a better understanding of NC College Connect, receive critical information and updates, be able to ask questions and receive real-time feedback. Use this webinar link to join.
Rural Student Support Collaborative Webinar Series
The Rural Student Support Webinar Series is back for Year Two! This year’s series expands to support both school counselors and school psychologists serving rural communities across North Carolina. Sessions will feature higher education partners and focus on timely, research-informed topics designed to strengthen practice, collaboration, and student support in rural schools. Click here for all dates, session descriptions and webinar links.
November 12th, 10:30-11:30am, Moving Beyond Talk: Using Somatic Interventions to Enhance Emotional Regulation
Better Together: School Mental Health Summit
Join this exciting new opportunity from the Healthy Schools section at NCDPI, December 8th & 9th for 2 full days of professional development exclusively for school counselors, school social workers, school psychologists, school-based mental health clinicians, and their supervisors and directors. All of these positions will be invited to register soon. This event will be held in Concord, NC. Make plans now to attend and stay tuned for more information.
2026-2027 Office of Teaching & Learning Statewide Professional Learning
The NCDPI Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) provides leadership and support for the review, revision, installation, and implementation of the NC Standard Course of Study, which includes resources and professional learning for providing high-quality, standards-aligned core instruction for every K–12 student.
Resources
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