WALPOLE -- The most popular staff member at Blessed Sacrament School in Walpole is a California native with light blond hair and an irresistible smile.

He's a big guy, but he's soft-spoken, and an eternal optimist. All of Blessed Sacrament's 317 pre-K to eighth-grade students know they can come to him when they're having a crisis, and he'll do all he can to help. In his spare time, he enjoys swimming, stuffed animals, and hanging out with his sister Maggie and his two cats. He loves to eat, especially frozen carrots, which he can devour in a few seconds.

On his way to work on the morning of Nov. 3, he was distracted by a smell in the bushes and nosed around to investigate before entering the school doors. He then went to his office to drink some water out of a bowl. He's Grizz, a six-year-old English cream golden retriever who serves as Blessed Sacrament's therapy dog. On the school's website, his headshot appears in the staff directory, alongside those of the teachers, administrators, and his handler, School Counselor Michelle Gaudet.

"Everyone here now knows that Grizz is on staff, and he's a big presence here," Gaudet said. "I think parents, when they reach out to me if their child is having any anxiety or any negative things going on, they always ask if Grizz can be a part of their lives."

Gaudet said students and families often say hello to Grizz before they say hello to her.

"I'm chopped liver," she joked.

Gaudet shares her small office with Grizz. He takes up a lot of space, and she had to move his bed to exit through the door, shaking a box of treats to lead him along. She called him "the anxiety magnet" because whenever he senses that she's feeling nervous, he cuddles with her. Her office walls are decorated with doodles of Grizz drawn by students. Those drawings and letters students write about their feelings go in Grizz's personal mailbox. Of course, Gaudet is the one who reads and responds to them.

"His primary responsibility is to be a sense of calm when the kids are anxious or overwhelmed by anything," she said. "A test, a disagreement in a friendship, anything and everything he's here for."

When students are upset, their teachers will send them to Gaudet's office to pet Grizz. He teaches them faith, kindness, and inclusivity.

"Even though he's canine, he's accepted like he's human," Gaudet said.

Students enjoy taking him for walks, even though at 110 pounds, he weighs more than most of his walkers. He knows a move called "pressure," where he will sit on students' laps like a big, warm, weighted blanket. He demonstrated that move on fourth grader John, who said that he loves how "warm and cozy" Grizz is.

Fourth graders Marian, Lucie, and Sabrina play with Grizz every day at recess. Marian likes how soft and gentle he is. Whenever Lucie is exhausted with schoolwork, she comes to him.

"I never had a pet, so I like petting him, and he's so furry," she said.

Gaudet called Grizz a "gentle giant."

"What you're seeing right now is his demeanor," she said as Grizz rested peacefully, curled up on his bed.

Outside the fourth-grade classroom, there's a poster with all the students' signatures. Gaudet regrets that she didn't put Grizz's pawprint on it. The staff also like having him around when they relax. He, along with Frankie the wolf, is Blessed Sacrament's mascot. He occasionally attends Mass and, when the priest asks the assembly to rise, Grizz will obey.

"He's a rule follower," Gaudet said. "He knows his commands."

She first met Grizz at Golden Opportunities for Independence (GOFIDOG), a Walpole-based nonprofit that trains service and therapy dogs. She was looking for a puppy to raise to be a therapy dog, and one-year-old Grizz was already trained. When the owner of GOFIDOG went to pick up Grizz and the rest of his litter in California, she stopped at a national park and saw a bear. That's how he got his name.

"It was love at first sight," Gaudet said.

Gaudet was trained to be his handler. She provides positive reinforcements, gives him treats, and calls him a good boy. Grizz does not live with Gaudet but with a family in Foxborough and has a good work-life balance. When his vest comes off, he's as playful and energetic as any other dog. He chases squirrels and once ate a cheeseburger off the kitchen counter. At work, though, he's a balm for middle schoolers dealing with social media, cyberbullying, and gossip, and elementary schoolers growing up in what Gaudet called an "uptick of uncertainty in this country and in this world."

"I don't think it's just our school that needs a therapy dog," she said.

"What would Grizz do?" is a common refrain in the school. Gaudet thinks that, if he could talk, Grizz would answer, "Remain calm. It's gonna be okay."

"I think he's thinking that we can help our kiddos who are feeling different emotions," she said. "We can help them feel like we are here for you. You matter. And whatever you're going through, we can help."

Grizz himself declined to comment.