I haven't had a chance to read through your profile for Jono yet so I wasn't sure how he got recruited. Of all of Monica's duties, her first responsibility is to ensure the safety the students that end up at the school. She pulls folks out of bad homes, imprisonment, and off the streets in order to make sure they make it unharmed to the school. If you're lucky enough to have accepting parents, she meets with them to talk about the school and give progress reports about their child's schooling and development.
As for Emma, yeah. I'm glad I picked Paige's powers. It turned out way more interesting than I originally thought it would be. I haven't actually had her use it yet, but I'm dying to do so.