Kathleen Maloney Immaculate’s New Dean of Counseling and Special Student Services

The Counseling Department at Immaculate focuses on student academic planning, college guidance, scholarships, grants and student well-being. Our counselors begin to know their students freshman year and work with the same students for their four years at Immaculate. Our comparatively low student-counselor ratio average of 95:1 provides greater opportunities for students to receive the individual services that they need to be successful as an Immaculate student and beyond.

“As counselors, we have the opportunity to get to know the whole student, their interests and passions; part of our role is to help them to discover and nurture those gifts and help them find the path that leads them to their true purpose,” said Kathleen Maloney, who was recently appointed the Dean of Counseling and Special Student -Services, a new administrator position designed to provide enhanced educational, intervention, mental health and specialized student college placement services.

“As counselors, we have the opportunity to get to know the whole student, their interests and passions; part of our role is to help them to discover and nurture those gifts and help them find the path that leads them to their true purpose,”

Ms. Maloney, an IHS counselor for four years, now leads the specialized team that includes counselors Elizabeth Lato, Allison Longfellow and Michael DiGennaro, school therapist Jenny Casey, LCSW, Robin

Moravsky, Director of the International Student Program, MuMu San, Assistant to International Student Programs and Grace Smyth, Counseling Office Administrative Assistant. According to Elizabeth Lato, the department offers individualized support to families and students. Counselors get to know students very well through various ways of continuously connecting with them. “We meet with students one-on-one, in group settings in the classroom and at monthly developmental programming such as advisory and workshops. We are a collaborative team which helps us to continuously focus on the needs of our students and families,” she said. In addition, Lato notes that a top priority of counselors is staying current with ever-evolving college programming, career readiness and student needs to offer the best support possible.

”We are able to advocate for all of our students academically and emotionally in order to maximize their student success,” said Allison Longfellow. New to the team, Micheal DiGennaro explains that the new normal that has emerged means students are facing a whole new level of challenges combined with their school work. “Students need reassurance, whether they are struggling or not, that they are not alone and that we are all in this together.”

School therapist Jenny Casey works with students and families by providing support for emotional, psychological and social issues as well as crisis management. She works with students individually and in groups and also supports parents and guardians. In addition, she coordinates four wellness student assemblies annually, bringing resources and experts in to address issues common to high school adolescents and writes articles for parents on issues such as grief, anxiety, substance abuse and more. Picture to left: From left to right Robin Moravsky, Terri Allen, Elizabeth Lato, Kathleen Maloney, Grace Smyth, Allison Longfellow and Jenny Casey. They dressed up as super heroes on group spirit day.

Robin Moravsky, Director of the International Student Program, assists international students with their transition to Immaculate High school and prepares them to become actively involved in student life as well as prepare for college, “Immaculate offers services that other programs do not including an Orientation Week, a full-time counselor, a Bridging the Gap program that connects domestic specialized freshman courses in English and Religion and a Student Success program for academic support.” She relies on her assistant,MuMu San to help deliver these services.

Administrative Assistant Grace Smyth is a great source of caring and support for the students. She helps them meet their deadlines, prompts them to apply students with international students,

for scholarships and is always ready to welcome and listen to them.

The 2019-20 School year brought extra challenges for the Counseling Department. Every staff member faced these challenges with the students, providing distanced but effective support for coping, bereavement, and an uninterrupted academic journey to college.

Counseling News: Michael DiGennaro

Michael DiGennaro of Fairfield joins the Counseling team as School Counselor. He has 20 years of professional counseling experience in clinical therapy and has held positions as a College and Career Counselor, High School Counselor and Director of School Counseling. Mr. DiGennaro has vast experience with intervention services for students as well as in specialized student college placement. “I am very happy to be a part of this amazing school and it is my goal to work with a team that shares my dedication to the growth and advancement of students so that they are competitively prepared for postsecondary education and life in the 21st century,” Mr. DiGennaro said.