The 2022-2023 school year has begun with a number of new, wonderful staff members at Arcadia High School (AHS), including Ms. Joanna Moreno, our new College/Career and English Language Development (ELD) counselor!

Prior to working at AHS, Ms. Moreno worked at Santa Barbara City College as an academic counselor, assisting students academically, socially, and emotionally. However, she has always wanted to be a high school counselor and decided to follow her dreams by moving to Los Angeles and applying to become a counselor at AHS. Ms. Moreno chose to embark on this new journey after seeing a student on the interview panel; she was highly impressed by the inclusion. She noticed how extraordinary the culture at AHS was and wanted to continue to add to the great campus community. 

“You don’t typically see a student involved in the hiring process, yet it is important for them to have a voice as we are here to serve students,” explained Ms. Moreno.

“I am very excited to be working at Arcadia High School, and become a part of the Arcadia High School community,” she continued. “My goal this year is to work with students, parents, and faculty staff, to continue our college-going culture.”

In addition to helping students who are developing proficiency in English as an ELD counselor, Ms. Moreno also helps students with college and career exploration. She meets individually with students who have reached out to her, offers workshops, posts to the school’s social media accounts, and sends information to the Student Bulletin. 

Ms. Moreno also reaches out to colleges to inquire about campus visits. She approaches schools that don’t visit our campus and inquires about the possibility of them visiting. With the availability she provides, the admission representatives use a scheduling system (RepVisits) and come to our campus to provide the information needed for students. College and Career Services are essential to the planning of many AHS students’ post-secondary goals, as it helps inform the students of their options. 

Although switching levels of counseling was difficult, she explains that “[her] colleagues have made the transition as seamless as possible.” Ms. Moreno said. “Since I am new, my goal at the moment is to build relationships with our campus community.” 

She is working on achieving this goal by surveying parents, students, and staff to gather input from the AHS community on how to enhance the school’s Career Services. 

We are grateful for all of the new members who have joined our AHS family and enhanced our community, and we are excited for the wonderful years to come!