The door leading into Christina Gotelli’s office stays slightly ajar as long as students are on campus. Even if there’s a brisk breeze rolling through West Marin School, as there was on Tuesday afternoon, the prevention and early-intervention counselor wants her ears readily available for students to come in and chat. It could be about test anxiety or the unavoidable peer pressure to experiment with alcohol and drugs. Maybe a student is experiencing strong emotions and doesn’t quite have the tools to address them. Whatever is going on inside their burgeoning minds, Ms. Gotelli, as Shoreline Unified School District’s new counselor, is available to listen and help. She’s not a therapist, but a resource who can guide students, teachers and parents as they solve conflicts. Alongside the school’s family advocate and psychologist, Ms. Gotelli, who has expertise in assisting children and families impacted by depression, anxiety and trauma, rounds out a comprehensive team focused on student mental health. Her position also solidifies a growing relationship between the school district and the Coastal Health Alliance. She’s a C.H.A. employee, although the school district directs her work. She meets with the health alliance monthly and has access to their licensed clinical social worker for support. Her position is funded through the statewide Mental Health Services Act. “She’s not officially a liaison, but it establishes a working relationship [with the health alliance],” said Bob Raines, Shoreline’s superintendent. He noted an effort underway to bring the health alliance’s dental van to campuses and to collaborate on providing vaccinations to students. Ms. Gotelli, newly a Fairfax resident with a decorated resumé that includes a master’s of science in clinical psychology from Palo Alto University, two years working at San Mateo County Juvenile Hall and experience with homeless children on the peninsula, was a perfect fit. She splits her time every week between the West Marin, Tomales and the Bodega Bay schools, where she collaborates directly with teachers to facilitate workshops in the classroom on subjects such as online bullying and problem-solving. For Matt Nagle, the principal at West Marin School, her position unites the community in an effort to begin caring for and intervening in its more vulnerable population before it’s too late. “With West Marin students, like any student in Marin, there are a lot of social and emotional challenges they have to overcome,” he said. “When they get to eighth grade, the issues tend to get more serious in terms of self-harm, drug abuse and online bullying [and] sometimes it can be too late when they get to high school. It’s much easier to teach kids in the early grades. And now with the C.H.A. being five minutes down the street, we’re all in this together in the same small town.”