Early College High School & Academic Counselor – Royse City High School
Kim Combest
Royse City Independent School District
Wylie,Texas
11
years of professional experience
Academic Counseling Professional experienced in fostering student success and development through educational guidance, academic planning, and career advising. Achieved impactful results by collaborating effectively with teams and adapting to evolving needs while building strong relationships with students and colleagues. Focused on optimizing processes and supporting team objectives in fast-paced environments.
Work History
Early College High School & Academic Counselor – Royse City High School
1 Year 10 Months- Support PTECH/Associate/Dual Credit students as they navigate the rigor of college level coursework.
- Develop and deliver college academic counseling and career guidance to students on high school campus.
- Educated students and parents about college admissions processes, trends, procedures, testing, and dual credit options, enhancing their understanding of educational pathways.
- Assisted students with dual credit applications and enrollment, facilitating smoother transitions into college-level coursework.
- Assist with college-search and application coaching.
- Advise potential and current students within the dual credit population, regarding program planning, course selection, schedule changes, transferability, and course withdrawals.
- Work with counseling services to assist students with dual credit enrollment, promotion, and career planning.
- Serve as primary point of contact for college partners college partners
- Perform ongoing high school transcript evaluations and college degree plan audits.
- Assist students with the college course withdrawal process and advise of college rules that govern the total number of drops a student can have throughout their college career.
- Assist students with academic scheduling, including interpreting prerequisite course requirements
- Assist students in academic endorsement course selection to align with industry-based certifications.
- Assist students with post-graduation plans, college applications, common course numbering system to determine transferability of dual credit courses, locate and interpret degree plans for post-graduation plans.
- Managed high school and college calendar deadlines, ensuring timely compliance with application and enrollment requirements.
Academic Counselor – Royse City High School
3 Years- Manage caseload of approximately 500 students; 9th-12th grades
- Assist students with academic scheduling, including interpreting prerequisite course requirements
- Assist parents & students with understanding differences between Dual Credit, AP, Honors, and on-level course offerings
- Assist students in academic endorsement course selection/modification
- Conducted regular evaluations of student transcripts to monitor academic progress.
- Interpret academic records/evaluate credits earned and/or needed for graduation
- Facilitated enrollment process for students new to the district or campus.
- Developed Student Ambassador Program to support new enrollees in acclimating to the campus environment and fostering peer connections.
- Assist with credit recovery for at risk students
- Facilitated high school informational sessions to enhance parent and student understanding of academic pathways and resources.
- Assist seniors and dual credit students with enrollment process
- Guided students through post-graduation plans, college applications, and understanding course transferability to ensure informed decision-making.
- Present House Bill 5 information to current 8th grade students and parents to increase understanding of high school graduation requirements
- Facilitated data entry for state academic and performance indicators.
- Delivered immediate mental health support to students facing short-term challenges.
Student Support Advocate – Wylie East High School
2 Years- Coordinated all 504 services for students with social/emotional disabilities.
- Coordinated services for Campus SSD program
- Counsel high risk students individually regarding social/emotional issues.
- Assess seriousness of student threat of self or others and intervene according to the district’s emergency notification plan.
- Follow district safety protocols and emergency procedures.
- Maintains safety plan list and ensure counselors, administrators, nurses, and teachers have updated information.
- Helped students, parents, and staff locate appropriate referral sources and built cooperative relationships with community agencies.
- Coordinated campus and district-wide responses to traumatic crisis events, ensuring support for impacted students and staff.
- Work with district administrators and campus counselors to develop presentations for district staff, students, and parents.
- Maintain a close working relationship with School Resource Officers, district administrators, counselors, and school nurses.
- Assist with planning special programs designed to inform parents, students, and staff on relevant topics.
- Collaborated with staff to identify warning signs of youth suicide, child abuse, and drug abuse, enhancing student safety and well-being.
- Attend campus, district, and community committee meetings pertinent to the work done with students and their families.
- Comply with federal and state laws concerning health and safety, including child abuse and neglect.
- Executed additional responsibilities following district guidelines for the Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program.
- Maintain the confidentiality of student assessment.
- Compile, maintain, and file all required physical and computerized reports, records, and other documents.
- Maintain a positive and effective relationship with supervisors
Academic Counselor – Wylie East High School
4 Years- Manage caseload of approximately 400 students; 9th-12th grades
- Assist parents & students with understanding differences between AP/PreAP; Dual Credit and on-level course offerings
- Assist students in academic endorsement course selection/modification
- Perform ongoing transcript evaluations
- Interpret academic records/evaluate credits earned and/or needed for graduation
- Streamlined student enrollment for newcomers to the district or campus to support their transition.
- Assist with STAAR EOC, SAT and AP testing
- Manage 504 student caseload of approximately 250
- Coordinated activities and resources as SDD campus coordinator to enhance student support services.
- Facilitated credit recovery initiatives for at-risk students to enhance academic progress
- Assist with Advanced Academics, Dual Credit and FAFSA nights to improve parent/student knowledge and understanding
- Assist seniors and dual credit students with enrollment process for Collin College
- Guided students in post-graduation planning to align with their career and educational goals
- Presented House Bill 5 information to 8th grade students and parents to clarify high school graduation requirements
- Assist Curriculum department with data entry necessary to develop required State documentation (academic indicators, CCMR, etc.)
- Provided short-term mental health support to students
Education
Master's in Education - School Counseling
Texas Teaching Certification - EC-4 Generalist
BS - Criminal Justice
Skills
Academic planning
Career advising
Student retention
Problem-solving
Organizational skills
Attention to detail
Collaboration and teamwork
Excellent communication
Student advocacy
Crisis intervention
Accomplishments
Selected as Counselor of the Month - September 2025 by district wide counseling staff.
Counselor of the Year 2025-2026 Finalist.
Timeline
Early College High School & Academic Counselor – Royse City High School
Royse City Independent School District
01.2025 - CurrentRead More
Academic Counselor – Royse City High School
Royse City Independent School District
01.2022 - 01.2025Read More
Student Support Advocate – Wylie East High School
Wylie Independent School District
01.2020 - 01.2022Read More
Academic Counselor – Wylie East High School
Wylie Independent School District
01.2016 - 01.2020Read More
Region 10 Educational Services Center
Texas Teaching Certification from EC-4 Generalist
Read More
Texas Woman's University
BS from Criminal Justice
Read More
Dallas Baptist University
Master's in Education from School Counseling
Read More