Annie Roe

School psychologist Annie Roe’s journey to her new life in Cupertino began this summer with a seven day, cross country road trip, accompanied by her fiance and black goldendoodle puppy, Sasha. Despite the initial shock of moving to California after having lived on the East Coast all her life, the culture and diversity of the MVHS community made her feel at home. 

 

Growing up in New York City, Roe recalls having to take the subway to school each day, a stark contrast to what she sees in the Bay Area. In her adult life, she worked as a full-time teacher while finishing her graduate program in Boston; she then moved to New Hampshire with her fiance, where she furthered her career as a school psychologist. Roe shares that she has always been curious to start a life in California, and with high-tech job opportunities for her fiance in the area, they decided to move to Silicon Valley.

 

Having attended a diverse and academically-oriented high school, as well as being Asian American herself, Roe approaches her work at MVHS with a deep level of understanding. 

 

“I really sympathize a lot with the population of the students here, who are very high achieving, but I'm sure they feel stressed,” Roe said. “Working and helping them is the most rewarding for me because I really understand what that feels like.”

 

With the stigma that surrounds mental health, which Roe believes to be especially prevalent within Asian culture, she understands that students’ mental health struggles can be difficult for their parents to understand — she hopes that her role at MVHS can allow her to “bridge that gap” between parents and kids.

 

In addition to her immediate connection with the students, Roe has found the staff to be “warm,” making her feel “well-supported.” Opportunities such as free food and coffee for the staff have allowed her to adapt smoothly as a new staff member by meeting and sharing meals with staff members beyond just her team.

 

“The day gets so busy, so I would love more opportunities to engage with all of the students — that's something that I've been trying to be more mindful of,” Roe said. “I would love to try to not be so busy with my work, but also make time to get to know the students outside of the classroom setting.”