When students become overwhelmed with school, slip on their grades or struggle in class, guidance assistant Petrita Lipkin is there to help. 

“I’m very gentle and encouraging to them so they are not scared,” Lipkin said. “They tell me how they need help.”

Lipkin serves as an English Language Development (ELD) guidance assistant, a role that has existed in the district for decades. She works alongside counselors for students in ELD by meeting with students who are struggling, providing academic support and facilitating communication between students and teachers. 

Former guidance assistant Rory Kaplan pitched the idea to administrators back in the 1980s. At the time, counselors had to spend significant amounts of time on paperwork and other administrative responsibilities. The guidance assistance program was created to alleviate counselors of their routine tasks.

“I thought that the counselors shouldn’t be doing menial work which is a waste of their time,” Kaplan said. “They should be spending more time with the students.”

Lipkin’s motivation to help students runs deeper than helping counselors. Her parents immigrated to the United States in the 1950s from El Salvador and Central America without knowing English. Watching them work and overcome the obstacles of only speaking Spanish inspired Lipkin to support students in similar positions.

“I knew I was going to give back when I grew up and help other students,” Lipkin said.

Lipkin first became involved with the program as a parent volunteer in 2000 while her sons attended Los Altos High School. After completing her bachelor’s degree at San Jose State University, she returned to LAHS and has been working as a guidance assistant for students since 2012. While she used to work with all students, her work has become increasingly specialized.

“It’s narrowed to the students in the ELD community,” Lipkin said, “Especially because the program has tripled in size recently.”

Since Lipkin speaks Spanish, her work primarily consists of working directly with multilingual students and families, offering support to students and families with weekly check-ins in their native languages.

“Students benefit from having someone paying attention to how they’re doing,” ELD department head Jacob Larin said. 

As technology has become more integrated into the administrative systems, the need for  guidance assistants have decreased, leading to a reduction in the program. 

However, despite the downsizing of the program, Lipkin approaches her job with the same compassion as she did 20 years ago.

“I love working here, I love the kids, and I want to help as many as I can,” Lipkin said.