Meet Prep for Prep’s New Director of Post-Placement Counseling

Roberta Osorio joins Prep for Prep as the Director of Post-Placement Counseling. In this role, she will oversee the department that supports Prep students once they have enrolled in their respective independent schools. Roberta comes to Prep from the Convent of the Sacred Heart, an independent Roman Catholic all-girls school on Manhattan's Upper East Side, where she served as the Middle School Academic Dean. 

While Roberta is new to her role at Prep, she is not new to the Prep community. She is married to a Prep alum, Eric Osorio (VIII), an educator who is currently Associate Head of School at The Calhoun School. And, she is a former Preparatory Component faculty member. She taught writing and reading during the summer of 2008. 

“I was always interested in the organization, especially what Prep has done for people of color in the independent school world,” said Roberta. “The results are amazing. Prep students are some of the best students—really engaged, hard workers, some of the most considerate students.”

Roberta discovered her love of education as a pre-med student at Columbia University. Through the school’s work-study program, she taught GED reading and writing to students from age 18 to 70 at a local community center. One day, one of her older students approached her in the hallway waiving a certificate and exclaiming “I did it! I did it! I got my GED!” At that moment, Roberta realized that medicine wasn’t her calling. Teaching was what she was meant to do. She changed her major to English and earned a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature/Letters. After graduation, she landed an internship teaching English at her alma mater, Noble and Greenough, a day/boarding school in Dedham, Mass. The internship developed into a full-time position and she spent nearly five years there teaching Ninth Grade English, working in the Admissions Office, and supporting the school’s diversity programming. 

Over the past two decades, Roberta has developed an impressive curriculum vitae. She earned a Master of Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education and has held academic and administrative positions at several schools, including Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Worcester Academy, the Swift School, The Galloway School, and Sacred Heart. 

In addition to her professional experience, her time at Nobles has provided first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to be a student of color at a predominantly white independent school. As the Director of Post-Placement Counseling, she will focus on giving students the life skills and tools needed to navigate their schools and become self-advocates. “You don’t actually have to fold yourself up small to be a part of the [school] community,” said Roberta. “They admitted you for who you are, for your perspective, and your unique abilities. You should be confidently and proudly showing that to everyone.” 

Roberta’s initial weeks at Prep will be spent meeting with her counseling team and colleagues, Prep students, and administrators at Prep’s partner schools. “It’s going to be a lot of learning, a lot of asking questions, a lot of just being in spaces to see where we are and where we need to go,” said Roberta. “I’m excited because part of the strategic plan is holding our schools accountable. I think that's something that the Post-Placement Counseling Department can really push the envelope on.” 

Roberta recognizes that students of color aren’t the only ones at independent schools who need support. In addition to her full-time position, she volunteers as the Co-Director of the New York City chapter of People of Color in Independent Schools, an affinity support and networking group for staff, faculty, and administrators of color. “Our students need support, strategies, and a network, and the adults in the community need the same thing,” said Roberta. “We have to be able to take care of ourselves and make sure that we are setting good examples for our students.”