How Sequoia Union High School District Transformed School Counseling Through Grassroots Advocacy and Systemwide Alignment
Across the country, school counselors are often asked to solve big challenges with limited structures, inconsistent expectations, and little formal support from the system around them. Yet in Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD), a powerful shift is underway, one sparked not by top-down mandates, but by a small group of site-based head counselors who believed students deserved more.
During a Hatching Results® webinar, Vice President Whitney Triplett sat down with Glenda Ortez-Galán, Coordinator of Counseling & Transitions for SUHSD, to chat about SUHSD’s five-year journey to strengthen school counseling, integrate MTSS, and advance equity through strategic alignment. What emerged was a story of grassroots advocacy, shared leadership, and the belief that aligned systems help students thrive.
A District With Diverse Needs and a Desire for Alignment
SUHSD serves about 9,000 high school students across large comprehensive schools, small schools, and an alternative program. Its communities span Silicon Valley (California) wealth, working-class neighborhoods, and immigrant families building new beginnings. Despite this diversity, school counselors across sites described similar challenges: limited access to evidence-based interventions, inconsistent expectations, and no unified structure to support their work.
As Glenda recalled:
“We realized MTSS was being rolled out, but school counseling wasn’t at the table, even though our work was written all over it.”
This prompted the district’s head school counselors to organize, advocate, and push for two major shifts:
High-quality, school counselor-specific professional learning, and
District-level leadership dedicated to school counseling.
How Professional Learning Sparked Systemic Change
SUHSD’s initial Hatching Results partnership focused on professional learning and coaching for school counselors. The impact, however, quickly expanded and reshaped districtwide practice. Together, SUHSD and Hatching Results:
Clarified school counselor roles within the MTSS framework
Built a Tier 1 scope and sequence of classroom lessons with meaningful pre-/post-assessments
Developed a consistent Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle for Tier 2 supports
Strengthened expectations and support systems for measuring impact and sharing results regularly with key partners
Established structures to ensure consistency across school sites
Soon, school counselors were presenting their results to the school board! Trustees took notice – asking questions, expressing support, and publicly affirming the program’s impact. One even shared a personal story about how their own child benefited from the district’s school counseling services.
As Glenda put it:
“We now have data to show how students are different as a result of our work. That has completely changed the narrative.”
Alignment as an Equity Strategy
The shift wasn’t just about structures, it was about equity.
With clearer district expectations and stronger connections across schools, SUHSD school counselors are now able to offer:
More consistent Tier 1 lessons
Equitable access to Tier 2 evidence-based interventions
Stronger collaboration with district administrators
Clearer alignment between school counseling work and district improvement goals
The result? A more coherent experience for students, no matter which school they attend.
Building the Case for District Leadership, From the Ground Up
Before partnering with Hatching Results, SUHSD had no district-level leader for school counseling. Meetings were facilitated by non-counselor administrators who, despite good intentions, lacked the lived experience to set expectations and guide the work.
Head counselors from the high schools recognized the gap and organized around a shared message.
Together, they:
Named the system issues they couldn’t address alone
Articulated what students needed
Engaged supportive administrators, district leadership, and their union
Advocated for consistent structures and clear expectations that aligned with the district’s MTSS vision
Their efforts led to the creation of a Counselor on Special Assignment (COSA) position, which later evolved into Glenda’s current Coordinator position: an administrative role that provides leadership, coherence, and advocacy across the district.
Whitney reflected on the district’s work:
“What you accomplished is no small feat. You built the case for change by bringing data, clarity, and a unified voice.”
Advice for Other Districts: Start Where You Are
Glenda encouraged districts without centralized leadership to begin at the team level.
“Start with your team. Find your people. Identify what’s working and what’s not. Advocate for what students need and build partnerships with the people who can help you move the work forward.”
Her recommendations included:
Fostering trusting relationships
Leveraging grassroots leadership
Using data to tell the story
Staying grounded in student outcomes
And, she added:
“We couldn’t have done this without Hatching Results. Their consultation and guidance were essential to moving the work forward.”
A Partnership That Grew Into Systemwide Transformation
What began as a request for professional learning has blossomed into a districtwide movement grounded in shared purpose, alignment, data, and student success. SUHSD’s journey demonstrates that meaningful change can begin with a small, determined group of educators and grow into something far bigger.
As Whitney concluded,
“Sometimes all you need is a thought partner. And that’s what this partnership has become—one that helped fuel sustainable, systemic change.”
Interested in Strengthening Alignment or MTSS in Your District?
Whether you’re a site-based school counselor or district, county, or state leader we’d love to connect.
Hatching Results offers:
Professional learning
Strategic consultation
Continuous improvement coaching
School Counseling District Leadership Cohorts
Tools and frameworks for role clarity, MTSS, and data-driven school counseling
Let’s talk about what’s possible in your district! Tap here to connect with us.
