Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, Los Altos High School plans to launch a new peer-to-peer counseling program. The program is designed to train student volunteers as peer counselors through a semester-long course held outside of school hours. Students will be coached in various skills like active listening to help with counseling peers, said Los Altos High therapist and social worker Mackenzie Gallego, who helped organize peer-to-peer. Counseling sessions will be open to students in the following spring semester. 

The program will be implemented to allow students access to another support system, along with providing students with more experience in psychology and social work fields, Gallego said. 

“In the California Healthy Kids survey, there is a question asking, ‘Who’s the first person you go to for support?’, and by a vast majority, it was peers,” Gallego said. “We recognize that at this age, it is developmentally appropriate that where people are going [for help] is peers .”

The peer-to-peer program is also meant to be less intimidating for students seeking external support. Peer counselors are bound by confidentiality, and whatever students say will not be shared unless concerns are expressed that would require a licensed therapist. While the program itself is led by adult professionals, Gallego said, peer counselors can also provide insight on issues directly observed on campus.

“It’s not [the] peer counselors’ job to solve every problem but to be emotional support and an active listener,” said Los Altos High counselor Jenny Dumas, another organizer of the program.

Though peer-to-peer was initially advocated for by a senior in Los Altos High’s Associated Student Body, it was also inspired by a similar initiative at Mountain View High School.

“Mountain View High School launched their [peer-to-peer] program a year ago. … With that pilot model, it was smoother to then look at the success that they’ve had and have everyone be on board with it [having peer-to-peer at Los Altos High],” Gallego said.

Gallego said that Los Altos High is also making an effort to recruit students who will accurately represent all parts of the student body in order to support students with varying needs.

“[Los Altos High is] really excited about launching [peer-to-peer], and we hope that it provides support to our students,” Dumas said. “It’s really fun to see how this type of support could help students flourish and create these ripple effects of preventing isolation and building connection and building a sense of community.”