Most academic deans have a lot on their plates, from scheduling students to parent conferences. However, Monica Quintero makes time in her busy schedule to meet with her students and help them graduate on time, no matter how far behind they are.

It is common for students to fail a couple classes classes but when it becomes a major problem, Quintero steps in, taking whatever measures needed, from calling parents to changing schedules, to make sure the student is on track to graduate. What may seem like an impossible task becomes a couple of achievable goals. 

“What I do is I’ll look at your transcript and make a plan,” Quintero said. “I track these kids and meet with them; I’ll meet with parents too and talk about where (the kids) are at, where their grades are. Then we set attainable goals. A lot of time when kids see the whole plan, they get overwhelmed, so we set smaller goals that they can achieve to reach the endpoint, which is graduating.”

While this is not Quintero’s main focus as an academic dean, she wishes it was.

“I wish this could be my focus but I also have so much other stuff to do. I have teacher evaluations to do, PGPs, student-led conferences,” she said. “I wish that I had more of a say in what we focus on or maybe realigning people’s job priorities. This is not going to help someone graduate, but me talking to them or me reviewing a transcript can help them graduate.”

Senior Kaylee Cuevas has worked with Quintero since her junior year to help her get back on track. 

“When I met her, I was skipping everyday and my grades were really low. Nobody really cared,” Cuevas said. “When she was assigned as my counselor, she started helping me, she started pushing me and she made me do the work. Now, I’m passing and I’m not missing school anymore.” 

Because of Quintero, Cuevas will graduate on time and attend college in the fall. 

“I am now a senior; I was considered a sophomore before and she got me to be a senior so I’m going to graduate this year,” she said. “I’m going to college and I’m going to see what I can do there. I could not have done it without her; I was not even thinking about college before I met her.”  

Another one of Quintero’s students, Emily Martinez, says she found Quintero after her older brother worked with her. 

“She helped my brother graduate, which is how I found her. She just really motivates me and helps me a lot,” said Martinez, who is currently a sophomore. “She’s really helpful and she cares about everyone. Just seeing how she helped my brother gives me hope to graduate.”

According to Quintero, what she does is “the most satisfying job on Earth” for two specific reasons. 

“Number one is being able to help a student problem solve. I’ve always told my kiddos, ‘There is nothing we can’t work through,’” she said. “Number two is graduating kiddos with a real plan for their future.”