ABOUT AWREN ADVISORS
Built from watching what’s possible, and what’s missing.
AWren Advisors exists because the support most teenagers receive during high school isn't enough. Not because the people around them don't care, but because the system isn't designed to truly see them. We are.
THE ORIGIN
What two decades in schools taught us about what teenagers actually need.
AWren Advisors was founded by Kristen Peterson after 20 years working inside some of the most demanding independent and boarding school environments in the country — as a Dean of Students, Director of Advising, Director of Residential Life, and classroom teacher.
Over those years, Kristen witnessed something consistent: the students who thrived were not always the most academically prepared or the most accomplished. They were the ones who felt genuinely known by at least one adult who believed in them. And the students who struggled most were often those who had the credentials but not that relationship.
She also saw what happened when that support disappeared; when a student graduated or transferred, when a trusted advisor left, when the relationship that had been holding everything together was suddenly gone.
AWren was built to close that gap. To offer the kind of sustained, relational, identity-centered support that changes the trajectory of a teenager's high school years, and that treats families as partners in that work, not bystanders to it.
The students who thrive are not usually the ones with the most activities or the highest GPA. They're the ones who feel the most known.
—Kristen Peterson, Founder
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MEET KRISTEN
An educator, advisor, and relational guide whose life’s work is supporting adolescents.
Over the course of her 20 year career working in boarding and independent schools, Kristen witnessed something consistent: students navigated the high school years better when they had adults in their corner who truly saw them, valued them, and believed in them. That kind of support lives in the small moments—checking in to ask how their day was, what was going well, where things felt hard, and how they were holding up under the weight of everything being asked of them. It comes from helping a student feel—not just hear, but genuinely believe—that who they are right now, as their true self, is enough. That they don't have to change or perform or optimize to be worthy of what comes next. The best support helps students grow the confidence to step into themselves fully, and to embrace exactly what makes them who they are.
She has served as Dean of Students, Dean of Student Life, Dean of Residential Life, Director of Advising, Director of Leadership, Associate Athletic Director, and classroom teacher of 9th Grade Health & Wellness and Leadership. She holds a master's degree from Dartmouth College, where her graduate research examined the impact of screen use and time in nature on adolescent wellbeing, and earned her bachelor's degree from Trinity College, where she was a two-sport athlete.
That research has taken her beyond one-on-one work with families. Kristen now brings her findings directly to parents and communities across New England through a public speaking series, Nature's Antidote: Screens, Kids, & the Path Forward . The talks offer parents, caregivers, practitioners, and professionals a research-grounded, honest, and practical look at how technology is affecting the teenagers in their lives, and what the science says about nature as a meaningful antidote.
Kristen lives in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts and works with families both regionally and nationally. She takes on a small number of students at a time, which allows for genuine connection.
20 years in independent and boarding school student life, college counseling, and youth development
Roles: Dean of Students, Director of Advising, Director of Residential Life, Associate Athletic Director, classroom teacher
Taught Health & Wellness and Leadership to 9th graders throughout her school career
M.A., Dartmouth College (graduate research: screen use, nature, and adolescent wellbeing) · B.A., Trinity College (two-sport athlete)
Public speaker: Nature's Antidote series, libraries and community venues across New England
Works with families in grades 9–12, regionally and nationally
THE AWREN MODEL
A different philosophy, not just different services.
The AWren Model is not a rebranded college counseling practice. It is a distinct approach to supporting adolescents that centers identity and wellbeing alongside academic outcomes and that treats the relationship itself as the primary tool.
01
The whole adolescent
We work with who a student is, not just what they're trying to achieve. Identity, wellbeing, and relationships are not secondary to academic outcomes. They are the foundation of them.
02
Families as partners
Parents are central to their student's life. AWren strengthens that relationship — supporting parents in their own experience of these years, not just giving them updates on their student's progress.
03
Who they are becoming
AWren accompanies students across months or years, showing up week after week, through the hard parts and the good ones, as someone who genuinely knows them.
04
Meeting students where they are
Families can begin in 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade for a single year of intensive support, a multi-year partnership, or anything in between. The engagement fits the student and the moment.
What we believe.
High school is formative, not just preparatory. These years shape who a student becomes, not just where they go. That distinction changes everything about how we show up for them.
The relationship is the work. Strategies, essays, and college lists matter. But none of it works without a foundation of genuine trust. We earn that first.
Identity and achievement are not in conflict. A student who knows who they are navigates everything better, including the college process. We build the former so the latter reflects something real.
Parents deserve support, too. Watching your teenager navigate these years is its own challenge. AWren makes space for what parents are carrying, not just what their student needs.
If this resonates, let’s talk.
We start with a conversation. No pressure or commitment, just an honest look at what your student and family need, and whether we're the right partner for it.
(717) 491-4000 · kristen.peterson@awrenadvisors.com