On Whole Child: Personalized Tiered Supports, host Naren Balasubramaniam sits down with Julie Hollander, Director of MTSS for Standards at Manteca Unified School District (California), for an inside look at how districts strengthen Tier 1 instruction while coordinating supports across academic, behavioral, and social-emotional systems.

Julie shares her 23-year journey within MUSD—from classroom teacher to district leader, shaped by a passion for professional learning, instructional coaching, and supporting teachers so every student thrives. Together, they explore how Manteca Unified organizes MTSS leadership across three district targets—Standards, Safety, and Emerging Students, and why strengthening Tier 1 instruction is the most powerful lever for improving outcomes across the system.

Listeners will also hear how MUSD uses learning walks, MAP assessment data, attendance and discipline insights, and school strategic plans to identify where students and schools need support. Julie explains how calibration across leaders helps ensure consistent classroom observations, how district teams avoid working in silos by aligning around shared data systems, and how teacher development plays a critical role in delivering whole-child support.

The conversation also looks ahead to MUSD’s next frontier: adopting a new K–8 math curriculum, strengthening inclusion practices, and continuing the district’s post-pandemic literacy recovery efforts.

Key Moments

06:01 "Supporting SEL in Schools"

10:04 Learning Walks for School Insights

12:14 Evolving Teacher Hiring Norms

17:15 Balancing Growth and Achievement

20:48 Personalized Training and Administrative Support

23:23 "School Strategic Planning Overview"

27:11 Identifying and Addressing Student Needs

29:53 Data-Driven Academic Collaboration

34:56 "Collaborative Classroom Learning Walks"

37:05 Addressing New Teacher Challenges

40:59 "Focused Leadership and Core Vision"

Why You’ll Love This Episode

This episode offers a practical look at district-level MTSS leadership. Julie shares how strong Tier 1 instruction, aligned professional learning, and consistent data practices can reduce fragmentation across large school systems. If you’re thinking about how to scale MTSS across multiple schools, strengthen teacher development, or unify academic and behavioral supports, this conversation provides both strategy and real-world implementation insights.

Connect with Our Guest

Julie Hollander
Director of MTSS for Standards, Manteca Unified School District
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-hollander-4a8321203
Website: https://www.mantecausd.net/  

Connect with Host & Metamorphix

Host: Naren Balasubramaniam
Founder & CEO, Metamorphix, Inc.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/narenbalasubramaniam/

Metamorphix, Inc.
Website: https://www.metamorphix.co/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/metamorphix-inc./

About Whole Child: Personalized Tiered Supports

Whole Child: Personalized Tiered Supports is the podcast where district leaders, school teams, and practitioners share how they are personalizing MTSS to support every learner. Hosted by Naren Balasubramaniam of Metamorphix, Inc., each episode dives into real systems, stories, and strategies for delivering the right academic, behavioral, and social-emotional supports at the right time—so all students can thrive.