Job Description

The Director of Student Well-being is a full-time, 12-month faculty member responsible for ensuring that every middle and upper student is known, supported, and able to thrive socially, emotionally, and academically. This role integrates leadership of the school’s counseling program and wellness curriculum and collaborates with academic learning support services to create a coherent, mission-aligned system of care.  The Director works closely with students, families, faculty, administrators, and outside professionals to support a healthy school climate and promote social-emotional learning (SEL). The Director also participates in school-wide administrative meetings and serves as a key consultant to faculty and leadership on mental health and wellness matters. The Director reports to the Head of Middle School.

Duties and Responsibilities: 

Vision and Strategy for Student Success:

• Partner with Division Heads to develop and lead a comprehensive, integrated vision for student success that unites counseling, wellness, and academic support from grades 6-12.
• Use data and research to evaluate programs, identify trends, and drive continuous reflection and improvement.
• Serve as a strategic thought partner to school leadership on student well-being.

Counseling Program Leadership

• Provide leadership and oversight of the school counseling program, ensuring high-quality, ethical, and developmentally appropriate services. 
• Supervise counselors and support departmental professional growth, collaboration, and program coherence.
• Provide short-term, school-based counseling to students as needed and guide crisis response protocols.
• Lead schoolwide systems for:
• Mental health support, including leaves and support plans
• Risk assessment and crisis response
• Mandated reporting and compliance
• Partner with families and external providers to coordinate care
• Ensure counseling services align with best practices in adolescent development.
• Collaborate closely with the learning specialist and student success teams to ensure coordinated support plans that address students' academic and emotional needs. 

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or higher in school counseling, clinical psychology, social work, or a related field required. 
• Current California licensure (LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, or Licensed Psychologist) highly preferred. A California credential in School Counseling also considered. 
• Minimum of 3 years of experience providing counseling to adolescents, preferably in a school setting.
• Demonstrated experience with short-term, school-based counseling models.
• Experience leading or coordinating student support programs.
• Extensive knowledge of and experience applying SEL frameworks and trauma-informed practices.
• Deep understanding of adolescent development and mental health.

Schoolwide Social-Emotional Learning and Wellness Leadership

• Serve as the Department Lead for Wellness, leading regular department meetings and representing the department in administrative and curricular discussions. Support wellness teachers through collaboration, mentorship, and ongoing curricular refinement.
• Potential to teach wellness classes and help ensure alignment of wellness instruction across grades.
• Partner with the MS and US Deans of Students, grade-level deans, and college counselors to ensure that SEL and wellness goals are reflected in advisory, community time, health and sex education, and other schoolwide programs.
• Provide consultation and thought partnership to faculty, staff, and administrators to build social-emotional literacy and trauma-informed practices.
• Develop and deliver faculty professional development related to mental health, student wellbeing, and SEL-informed teaching strategies. 
• Partner with administrators to ensure that school climate and culture support the social and emotional development of all students. 
• Identify and engage relevant outside speakers to support students, faculty, and families.

Schoolwide Leadership & Administration

• Serve as a key member of the school’s curriculum and administrative teams to ensure wellness and SEL are integrated across academic and co-curricular programs.
• Collaborate with the Academic Leadership Team to support program evaluation and innovation.
• Use both quantitative and qualitative data to assess impact, identify trends, and recommend strategies that support student wellness and engagement.
• Represent the school in external professional networks related to student mental health, counseling, and wellness.
• Participate in school events and faculty gatherings as a visible and trusted school leader.

About Castilleja School

Castilleja School is a non-sectarian independent college preparatory school for young women located in the San Francisco Bay Area near Stanford University and in the heart of Silicon Valley. Founded in 1907 by Stanford University graduate Mary Ishbel Lockey, the school has an enrollment of girls in grades six through twelve, and has a long-standing reputation for the excellence of its academic program. Castilleja educates young women by fostering their intellectual, physical, creative, and emotional growth through an exemplary college preparatory experience within a diverse and supportive community.

Connections working at Castilleja School