There was a new addition to the Student Support and Counseling department — counselor Dan Meara. There are now five counselors rather than the traditional four. Meara brought with him 29 years of education experience, the last 19 of that being a counselor at Bishop Miege High School in Roland Park, Kansas.  

Staley’s student population has increased significantly over the years, with the current population being 2,127, allowing fewer opportunities to meet with a counselor. 

“The student body has gotten bigger by just over 100 students,” assistant principal James Wheeler, Ed.D. said.  “Adding a fifth counselor was a game changer for us in the office to be able to serve students.”  

That is an increase of nearly 600 students over 10 years, with the student population in the 2015-2016 school year being 1,530.  

The chance to talk to a counselor is more likely now that there is an additional person to help distribute the workload. 

“The goal with having a new counselor is to be able to provide more accessibility to students, be able to case manage better, because we’re able to split out the student body over five people instead of four,” Wheeler said.

With the experience that he has, Meara is a valuable asset to the counseling department.  Coming from a small school in Kansas to a big community Meara has goals he wants to set.

“In my first year here at Staley, it’s a big learning curve,” Meara said. “I mean, obviously the way they do things here are a little different because of the size of the school and the size of the school district. So really, it’s just getting comfortable and getting to know how things work around here.”  

The counseling department prides itself on creating a warm and inviting safe space while providing academic support to those in need. Having another counselor  to welcome students, Meara is hoping to help provide that to anyone and everyone.

“A lot of times, the greatest growth occurs when we do something wrong and then try to do it again and learn from that,”  Meara said. “So, I think that’s a pretty good piece of advice because if we’re afraid to fail, we’re never going to try anything new or different.”