Military Families

The following information is provided to help military families complete successful academic transitions.

• Course sequences, graduation requirements, and college and career readiness options
• Advanced Programs:
  • Advanced Placement
  • Dual Credit/Enrollment
  • On-Ramps
  • Career and Technical Education opportunities
• School programs:
  • Gifted and Talented
  • Special Education
  • Emergent Bilingual
• Information on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, as specified in TEC §162

Additional Resources

• Texas OnCourse Website
• Texas Reality Check | Home
• The TSIA (Texas Success Initiative Assessment) | Texas Education Agency
• Special Education Services and/or Gifted and Talented
• College, Career, and Military Prep (CCMP)

• NISD Counseling Services (available to all students, including military-connected)
   
• Counseling Support Groups
  • Because children experience a variety of concerns at different ages, Northside Independent School District offers school counseling services to all children in grades Kindergarten through 12. The purpose of school counseling is to help children make maximum use of their educational experience. Schools offer different kinds of groups to help children with the following topics: self-esteem, decision-making skills, coping and life skills, peer pressure resistance strategies, and social relationships. In particular, to help support our military children, many schools offer a small group called “We Serve Too.”
• Clubs
  • Military pride clubs are established in several Northside schools with many military children. The focus is on providing military children and their families an opportunity to socialize with other students/families with similar concerns.
• Counselor Training
  • The Northside ISD Guidance Department offers additional training opportunities for counselors about the specific needs that military children face. This counselor training also teaches specific strategies/techniques that can be used when working with military children.
• Military Children and Family Task Force
  • The Northside ISD Guidance and Counseling Department formed a task force of school counselors who meet several times a year specifically to discuss current military concerns and any resources available to our military families.

• Curriculum
  • The NISD Guidance and Counseling Department developed a book bag filled with children’s books and curriculum specifically designed to target handling change (i.e., deployment, moves, loss, and coping). Counselors use this book bag as a resource to develop guidance lessons, small group sessions, and individual sessions.
• Parenting Sessions
  • Northside provides many parent education opportunities throughout the district.
• Events
  • Many Northside schools sponsor military events such as Celebrate Freedom Week, Veterans Day Assemblies, Hall of Honor, Trevor Romain and the Comfort Crew, Salute Night, and Purple Up! Day.
• Service Projects
  • Northside service projects supporting military causes include Cup of Joe for a Joe, Linus Project, Fisher House, and Wounded Warriors.
• The Military and Family Life Counseling Program provides free, confidential, non-medical counseling to service members, their families, and survivors on or near installations. Trained to work with the military community, military and family life counselors deliver valuable counseling services, briefings, and presentations to the military community. Counselors help service members and their families navigate issues such as improving relationships at home and work, stress management, adjustment difficulties, parenting, and grief or loss. Adult, child, and youth behavioral MFLCs are assigned to units, schools, child development centers, and other locations worldwide.