Washington Middle School Counseling

Washington Middle School’s Counseling Department is part of the school’s Support Team, which also includes the Administration Team, Nurse and Wellness Center, and Security. Our department has several staff working to support students. Two are our grade level counselors who work with about 315 students each. We “loop” with our students, meaning that we stay with them all three years they are at WMS. Alfreida McKinney (Head Counselor) works with all grades with the last names A-L. Brianne Pan works with grades with the last names M-Z. 

Our services vary depending on our role. The grade-level counselors handle almost any school-related issue you could think of, including academics, lost locker combinations, peer social issues and mediation, teacher and parent problems, scheduling and grade questions, parent and teacher consults, crisis management, grief and loss, family issues, etc. We also work with groups of students and do in-class education. Our work can be short-term (one visit) or last 3 years. The nature of our job, however, does not allow for regularly scheduled, long meetings with students. For students who could benefit from such meetings we turn to our Wellness Center, mental health counselors, or to outside resources.

Scholarships for SPS Students

Scholarships are a type of grant (monetary gift you do not have to pay back) for students to use in paying for after high school training and college programs. Scholarships are available for students as early as elementary school and continue through graduate school.

Federal and State programs provide over 46 billion dollars in student aid. Private companies, community organizations, civic groups, foundations, and religious organizations provide an additional 3 billion dollars in scholarships.

Finding a Scholarships

A scholarship database can be found in Naviance (all SPS 6th-12th grade students have 24/7 access to Naviance)as well as some of the following resources. You should never pay for access to scholarships you find online.

• Search Engine for Scholarships
• The WashBoard
• Scholarships for students with disabilities
• The Free Scholly App
• Seattle Foundation Scholarships

Share a Scholarship

Are you aware of and/or sponsoring scholarships that are not in our Naviance list?
Fill out the form below to add your scholarship to Naviance for all SPS students to access.

Scholarship Examples

04/19/2024 – Seattle Association of Educational Office Professionals (SAEOP) Scholarship

Seattle Association of Educational Office Professionals (SAEOP) Scholarship. This year we are proud to continue the tradition of awarding one (1) One thousand-dollar ($1000) scholarship and (2) Five hundred-dollar scholarships. We are seeking all interested and qualified Seattle Public High School graduating senior students (class of 2024) who wish to continue their education at a 2-year, 4-year college or vocational school. Please keep in mind throughout the application process that this is not a need-based scholarship.

The deadline for returning applications is Friday, April 19, 2024.

SAEOP Scholarship Information and Application

05/10/2024 – The Edmund F. Maxwell Foundation

The Maxwell Foundation provide financial resources to student leaders from Washington state. To recognize high academic achievement, The Foundation offers financial aid of up to $5000 per year for freshmen starting a four-year program at a private university or college. The award is based on students academic records, the submission of a personal essay, and a summary of extracurricular activities. The scholarship is renewable each year for a total of up to $20,000 over a four year period. Between 10 and 30 scholarships will be awarded.

Find more local, national and college based scholarship in Naviance and search for scholarships through your internet search engine.