As traditionally elite, predominantly white independent schools build endowments, increase financial aid and strategize how to recruit and retain underrepresented students, it is imperative educators understand the links between school culture and student agency that create equitable access and outcomes. Through interviews and focus groups, our participatory action study situates six second-generation Mexican American alumni voices at the center of research and analysis and explores their peers' and families' psychological safety, inclusion and identity development in one independent secondary school. Our data reveals that second-generation Mexican American students' willingness to commit and contribute to school and to their own futures is interwoven with their perceptions of whether the school believes they are worthwhile investments and with the school's actual investments in programs and practices that create academic and social access and leverage achievement.