Registrar Deana Thom helps develop counseling department

As a part of the school’s original staff, registrar Deana Thom has been able to watch the school and counseling office develop over the past 15 years.

During her time with the school, Thom has seen exponential growth within the counseling department.

“When we opened we had one counselor for 539 students and a half-time secretary, which was me,” Thom said. “The counseling office has grown from a team of 1 1/2 to six people and that’s quite a change. It really has grown in leaps and bounds.”

Although Thom is currently the registrar, she had two half-time jobs when she began working for the school.

“For the first four to five years that we were open, I was the counseling office secretary for half of the day and the attendant secretary for the other half,” Thom said. “Then, after that I became the registrar.”

However, to most of the students at the school, Thom isn’t known as the registrar. She is known as “the lady who checks out and checks in the textbooks.” Thom’s job isn’t as simple as that.

“I enroll students and I withdraw students, and in that same aspect, when I enroll students I have to collect all of their academic history and all of their testing. Everything like that,” Thom said. “I’m the total keeper of Skyward. All of your master schedules, all of your student information and all of your grades—that’s me. Your entire career is in my hands. It’s a lot of work.”

School counselor Erin Hayes acknowledges all of the work that Thom does in the office and for the school.

“I just appreciate what she does. She goes to games, she works extra duty, she goes and watches [the students] outside of school,” Hayes said. “She’s just always so involved and knows so much about what’s going on with the students.”

Hayes also enjoys having Thom in the counseling office to support her and the other counseling staff.

“She can tell that I’m overwhelmed or stressed and she’ll ask if there’s anything I’m working on that she can help me with. She goes out of her way to ask [us] that,” Hayes said. “She is that kind of person that will put herself out there and offer to help.”

Thom admires the other counselors and staff as well and looks at the school as a family.

“I love our school district. It truly is family first. Your family, your health and your job. We come in and we rely on each other,” Thom said. “It’s nice to have the support of other people.”

Along with the counseling department, she also recognizes the school’s high standards for its staff and students over the past 15 years.

“I honestly think that we’ve always been a good school. We have good kids, we have good teachers,” Thom said. “We just continue to keep improving and moving and hopefully we’re headed right in the direction.”

From the beginning, Thom has always had spirit and drive for the school.

“Being a Mill Valley Jaguar is awesome,” Thom said. “I wouldn’t be here for 15 years if it wasn’t.”