Student wellness

Advisory is one of the few spaces students stay for all four years of high school, and while it can sometimes be taken for granted, for many students it's a consistent, steady source of support and joy throughout their high school journey." –PE Department Chair and Advisor Kayla Robertson

Students are assigned to a group of 16–18 students, with one or two adult advisors, and meet multiple times each week for communication, community building, and guidance. Advisors serve as student advocates and are the primary link between the school and the family. Advisors follow their advisees through their time in Middle or Upper School, allowing for consistency and connection. 

For many students, navigating social scenarios and stress during adolescence can be difficult. Providing guidance at this critical point in their development is a major focus of our work." –Counselor Andrea Moore

Each grade level is paired with a counselor who follows them throughout their time at UPrep. This allows deep, long-lasting relationships to form. 

Our three school counselors are active participants in the life of the school, paying close attention to the social and emotional health of our entire community. 

The counselors proactively build a safe and caring learning environment by:

• providing short-term, confidential individual student counseling
• consulting with faculty/staff on student support interventions
• helping students and their families navigate typical developmental challenges as well as more substantial emotional challenges
• making referrals to community mental health providers when more specialized care is necessary
• coordinating with students' existing therapists to provide wraparound support

UPrep’s Counseling Office employs both qualitative and quantitative assessment—from thoughtful conversations to the annual administration of school-wide surveys—to inform its practices. We also partner with a number of local experts and organizations and UPrep's Parent Guardian Education Committee to keep our programming current.

UPrep's Parent Guardian Association collaborates with our counseling team to organize the Parent Guardian Education Series, which features experts on adolescent development. Recent guest speakers include Dr. Nicole McNichols, who teaches the University of Washington's most popular class, Diversity of Human Sexuality, and Dr. Lisa Damour, the author of The Emotional Lives of Teenagers.

This Upper School club is comprised of self-selected students who are ambassadors on the topics of mental health, suicide prevention, stress mitigation, and promoting a healthy balance between school and life outside of school. 

The advisory board organizes therapy dog visits to campus before the end of the semester and "Take What You Need" space before final exams that includes Post-It Notes with messages of encouragement, optimism, inspiration, and comfort. Students are encouraged to share and take the note, or notes, that speak to them. 

A student-led initiative, UPrep's annual Student Organized Consent Conference in Seattle (SOCCS) is supported by the national E. E. Ford Foundation and is modeled after a similar conference held at the Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C.

The theme of the 2025 conference was Burn it Down: Igniting the Conversation About Sexual Assault and Consent. More than 100 high school students, parents/guardians, and educators from UPrep and other schools gathered on our campus for a full day of conversations about creating cultures of consent in our communities. The conference featured a survivors panel, keynote speakers, and workshops on topics like safety in college, enforcing boundaries, supporting survivors of sexual assault, consent in the digital era, and engaging in healthy arguments. 

UPrep's counseling team, in partnership with expert organizations, provides annual educational programming for our students and families on suicide and substance abuse prevention.

Each year, specialists from Prevention Solutions—one of the nation's leading school-based substance abuse prevention organizations—and Forefront Suicide Prevention—a Center of Excellence at the University of Washington—visit our campus to work directly with our students and parents/guardians to promote healthy choices and provide the tools to recognize when someone is struggling and intervene.

Our faculty/staff receive suicide prevention training every other year.