Student Support as Infrastructure: Hidden Leadership | Sherann Alkins

Student Support as Infrastructure: Hidden Leadership | Sherann Alkins

What if your counseling team isn't a service sitting next to the school, but the infrastructure the whole school depends on?

In this episode, Bridget Johnson talks with Sherann Alkins, LICSW, CAGS, founder of Counselor and Concierge and a 20-plus-year school counselor, assistant principal, and principal, about treating student support as central infrastructure rather than a department or program. Sherann names the hidden leadership of these teams as two things, visibility and capacity, and explains why their data has to connect to achievement instead of staying siloed.

Bridget and Sherann, who share a restorative-practices foundation, get specific about building trust across adults, giving counselors a seat at the leadership table, designing with people rather than doing things to them, and making advisory a true psychosocial space. They close on the harder questions Sherann now researches about AI, student voice, and student mental health. It's a conversation for anyone building strong student life systems and tired of doing it alone.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

Why student support is central school infrastructure, not a standalone service

What "hidden leadership" means, and how visibility and capacity unlock a counseling team

How to make student support data translate to achievement, not just attendance

Why counselors and deans belong on the leadership team, and how to claim that seat

What "design with you, not for you" protects, and what breaks when schools skip the "with"

Why advisory falls short, and what makes it a real psychosocial space

What ethical AI integration demands when student voice and mental health are at stake

Featured Guest: Sherann Alkins, LICSW, CAGS, is the founder of Counselor and Concierge and a former school counselor, assistant principal, and principal with more than two decades in student support, school culture, and leadership. A Doctor of Social Work candidate at USC, she researches school counseling leadership, trust and belonging, and the ethical integration of AI into student-centered practice.

Connect with Sherann: @counselorandconcierge across all platforms

Visit the Deans' Roundtable: https://deansroundtable.org

Community: https://bit.ly/drt-community-profile

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deans-roundtable

Email: bridget@deansroundtable.org

The Table Podcast Series: Where student life professionals and K-12 educational leaders connect, learn, share, and grow together.