On Jan. 8, Jones College Prep welcomed a new counselor, Alejandro Padilla, to kick off the semester, causing mixed emotions for students.

Padilla is a high school counselor who has years of experience working in schools.

“I’ve been a counselor at Chicago Public Schools since 2004,” said Padilla. “My job was always pretty similar to here where we would work with students and follow them from freshman year all the way to graduation.”

Padilla previously worked at schools including Von Steuben, Solorio Academy, and Ogden International.

“This is the first selective enrollment school that I’ve worked at. The schools I worked at previously were either neighborhood high schools or magnet and IB schools,” said Padilla. “It’s definitely a little bit different.”

Padilla will be taking the caseload of former counselor, Marshall Goins, for the remainder of the school year.

“Ms. Goins just left Jones pretty recently. I only ever met with her a couple of times while she was here,” said Abby Weinraub ‘26.

Goins’ students only officially met with her once due to complications which caused multiple periods of absence. 

Goins’ students were only able to meet with her once due to medical leave.

“I didn’t initially get to meet my first counselor because she was out of school for a while last year, so we met a different counselor at first.,” said Weinraub. “We then met Ms. Goins later into the year.”

Goins’ departure caused current sophomores to have to meet with multiple counselors during their freshman year.

“Because of the way their absences have been lined up, we had our freshman meetings really late in the year,” said Weinraub. “It was harder for me to transition into my first year of high school because I didn’t get to meet a counselor like everyone else.”

Goins’ abrupt leave shocked and saddened her students.

“I did really like Ms. Goins when I met with her, but I was sad to learn she wasn’t going to be in a permanent position,” said Anastacia Torres ‘26.

Padilla was able to quickly get situated at Jones, despite hesitations.

“It’s just a little bit nerve-wracking because there’s so many people to meet, students and staff. The building is the biggest I’ve worked at,” said Padilla. “It’s also more stressful because it’s the middle of the school year.”

As another counselor joins the team, some students may face stress around yet again establishing a relationship. 

“The fact that my counselor has continued to switch throughout my time at Jones has made me very anxious because I don’t feel very connected to my counselor,” said Weinraub.

Forming a connection with another counselor has contributed to student nerves. 

“Whenever I’m struggling with schoolwork or figuring out what classes I want to take, it’s hard because I know I’m gonna have to go to someone who I’m not connected with from previous meetings,” said Weinraub.

Having a consistent counselor has proven to be very beneficial to students from other caseloads.

“My counselor is Ms. Stimac. It feels really good to have a consistent counselor at Jones because I know that my counselor will be with me for all four years,” said Carys Lewelling ‘26. “When the time comes for college and everything, I’ll have a counselor who really knows me.”

Although students are feeling slightly uncertain, Padilla is excited to begin his position.

“I’m feeling very excited. I started last week, been very busy. It’s exciting meeting the students and seeing how well they’re doing in school and how excited they are about learning.,” said Padilla.

Students are trying to remain optimistic about meeting their brand-new counselor.

“Even though it’s a little stressful to meet another new counselor, I’m excited to meet Mr. Padilla, and to hopefully get comfortable talking with him,” said Weinraub.