Gretchen Rhodes

Gretchen Rhodes is the Director of School Counseling in the Office of School Counseling and Postsecondary Advising (OSCPA) within Chicago Public Schools (CPS). In this role she leads, collaborates, and coaches teams to support the implementation of systems, structures, resources, and professional development for the nearly 800 School Counselors and other postsecondary champions in CPS.
Before this role,, she served as a High School Counselor for 11 years, 3 of them as a solo counselor, including as a Model Counselor for CPS and enjoyed a brief stint of 1 year as Dean of Students for Evanston Township High School. She received Honorable Mention for the Ray Piagentini High School Counselor of the Year in 2019 and most recently was awarded the 2024 School Counselor Advocate of the Year and was successfully elected to the Illinois School Counselor Association (ISCA) Board of Directors for a 3 year term.
She holds a BA in Spanish Language and Literature, a Masters in School Counseling, and a Masters in Principal Preparation. She is currently pursuing her EdD in Educational Policy and Organizational Leadership at American University in Washington, DC. She is also a Counselor Educator at Roosevelt University in Chicago. She has also been published twice in the ASCA School Counselor Magazine.
Gretchen has presented at local, state, and national conferences and enjoys expanding her network at each conference. She has worked alongside amazing colleagues and is proud of the many accomplishments and groundbreaking counseling leadership work CPS has achieved. She proudly declares the #BestarewithCPS.