School secretaries: pros/cons

[lovetoscrap]

The best school secretaries make it look easy. You know the old saying about a duck bobbling along slowly on the water, while his feet are paddling madly underneath? That's a good school secretary! At least in this area, a lot is expected for a little (pay).

First and foremost, you MUST be professional, and extremely discreet. Secretaries know where all the skeletons are buried, and have to make sure they stay that way . Seriously, though, you will have access to all sorts of data, student records, etc, and none of it can be shared without permission, even casually or to be "helpful".

Second, you MUST be a multitasker. You probably have huge long and short term projects on the computer due in the next days/weeks/months, and yet you will rarely get any amount of uninterrupted time in a row to work on them. In the same vein, you must be good at prioritizing, because every "fire" will think it needs to be put out first . If you are lucky, you will get training when technology is updated/changes, if not, you will be expected to learn it on your own, around everything else that you already do.

Third, in a small school district you will tons of different hats (whether or not you have any training in them). You may be called on to do any other support staff work that there is a need for, you will probably run interference for the administration, you may well be the athletic department's "right hand man", etc, etc. This can be fun, and make work diverse, but don't forget those reports that need to be turned into the state by next week!

As a classroom aid, you have probably developed some very very close relationships with some (if not all) of your students, for good or bad. Although you will "know" all of the students as a secretary, you will not have time to chat and make friends with them the way you did in the classroom. There just isn't time!

I've known school secretaries who are absolutely worth their weight in solid gold, even at today's prices . Unfortunately, with the added pressures, higher expectations, and lower pay that we are seeing today, we're also seeing more turnover than what we have in the past. If you are in a good school district, that values it's secretaries, and you think it would be a good change of pace, go for it!

Terri

This said pretty much everything. I am a Middle School "Office Clerk"-- basically the front office secretary. We also have an Attendance Secretary who primarily does attendance (check ins and outs) and is also in charge of our substitutes, and we have a Bookeeper/Principal's secretary. She is in charge of all ordering and all financial matters as well as most of the Principal's needs although I help with much of that too. And we have a Guidance Secretary who is also the school Registrar.

Pay sucks, but I do have good benefits - I am full time but I only work the days the kids are in school + 5 days before school starts. DH says I am a volunteer with benefits! If I was the sole wage earner there is no way I could support us, but the job is helping with the college costs we have for at least the next 8 years. I am not working there for the money. I am there because I LOVE the job. You have to have a great sense of humor-- especially in middle school. There are many days if I don't laugh I might cry. Many times I just have to shake my head and think "did that really just happen?".

My day is often hectic and stressful. Definitely multi tasking almost all day between the phones, kids, parents, administration, walk ins, teachers, paras and more. First and foremost I need to have great communication skills, lots of tact/customer relations skills and problem solving. Any problem that comes up, I am the one that answers the phone and hears about it first. I have to quickly determine the severity of the issue, who to transfer it to or if I need to handle it myself. As support for our administration many times I need to handle it myself.

Here is just a small sample of what I may be faced with in one day:
Xerox is jammed (I have become VERY good at xerox repair!)
Student is missing-- left for the bathroom 15 mins ago and hasn't returned -- I start making calls to see where he may have gone
Call from teacher's daycare -- I transfer the call and then alert the other secretary that we may need to cover her classes if the child is sick so she can start trying to figure out who can help. I follow up with the teacher.
Angry parent calls because her child has just texted her that someone stole her pencil in class (yes, really!) - I transfer to an administrator
Another parent calls concerned because child has called her from the bathroom that he is sick so we need to check on him ASAP and she will hold until we let her know what is going on.
4 parents have brought in lunches for their kids.
3 parents have brought in band instruments.
Another 3 have brought in gym clothes.
2 kids have come in to use the phone because they forgot something
One has brought in math homework- need to determine if the child is in that class now or can I call them between classes
Student comes in crying because they have lost their phone and is hoping I have it. I calm them down, suggest where they look and have them check back with me later.
Teacher comes in and needs 60 glue sticks for class this afternoon (we don't keep that amount in stock!)
Substitute calls because student is disrupting class. All administrators are currently in meetings so I have the student sent to the office to sit
Teacher calls that a student just threw up in the trash can. Need the custodian and the nurse
Administrator calls from her meeting, she left a folder on her desk, can I please go to her office and get it and bring it to her
Teacher calls from the computer lab, 2 students can't log in to their accounts. I have to go in on my computer and change their passwords.
Same teacher calls back with 2 more that need password changes and also the printer is out of ink, can I bring her a new cartridge?
Athletic director emails to let me know that practices are being altered due to weather. I will get calls from parents the rest of the day about the changes.

Some days this is just my first hour! While I am also writing bus passes, updating the school website and social media sites, working on special projects for administrators, and constantly helping out students and parents.

I am the also generally the first contact in case of an emergency. I must always be aware of the emergency radio that is on my desk and used by the district and law enforcement to contact us. I am the one that may get a call that we may need to evacuate or go to lockdown. I am the one that makes that announcement and initiates the exact procedures either at the request of administration or law enforcement or my own assessment of the situation. When an emergency happens I must grab everything needed and be the right hand for administration. And I am always aware that I may have to actually be the one to decide if the school needs to be locked down. My principal (and my district) has empowered me to make that decision if no administrator is available or if there is no time to talk to one. I pray that I never have to though. And when we do have something happen I am the one that has to answer the phone as all 10 lines are ringing at once and calmly talk to parents and ensure them that their children are safe--even when I can't tell them what is happening, and may not even know myself!

I have LOTS of contact with students. Maybe not a broad cross-section of them, I do tend to see the same ones over and over but I enjoy getting to know them. My goal is to be a friendly place for everyone to come and get help. Especially the kids-- I want to be a welcoming place for them to come no matter what they need. Some of the kids are afraid to ask for what they need. I try to develop that relationship with them and their parents so they know that they can always come to me. Parents know that I will help them anyway I can. I have to be able to stay calm. I have had parents screaming at me, either because they are mad at me or at someone else. Some parents just need a place to vent because they are mad at the teacher or the administrator or their kid and you are the one they see first and last so they take it out on you. So far all those situations were able to be resolved and I have a good relationship with all of our parents.

My job seems to have pretty quick burn out. In the nearly 20 years the school has been open no Office Clerk has stayed beyond 4 years. I am in my 3rd year and still love it, but some days I come home so worn out I do wonder how long I can do this! The only reason that I have the energy to answer this is because we are on Spring Break this week!

Feel free to contact me privately if you have any questions.

 

[Minnesota!]

The town where I lived didn't get 911 until mid-to-late 80's and the school I grew up in never had a nurse (still doesn't) and the school my kids go to has never had a nurse.

my kids school has a very very part time nurse. It's usually the secretary that handle medical issues.

 

[mombrontrent]

Wow!!! How many years were your kids held back that they spent in total 17 years there?

Well I am assuming his kids went to school at different times. There will be a span of 21 years from the time my oldest started school until the time my youngest graduates high school.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

LOL. And I am the one at work who questions EVERYTHING on Facebook and Twitter. But I am very human. I do see I omitted one important word in my posts, in "elementary" schools. Secretaries and nurses were eliminated in elementary schools here. And the school my brother teachers at, an elementary school, a parent volunteer comes in 3 days a week for 4 hours a day to be the recess monitor does some light office work, so at least there someone is helping out.

None of our elementary schools had a secretary when I was a kid. They ALL do now. So, pretty much the opposite of your experience.

 

[marlynnp]

Well I am assuming his kids went to school at different times. There will be a span of 21 years from the time my oldest started school until the time my youngest graduates high school.

Of course that is not unusual!

But he amended his answer to be Elementary School... not their entire academic time.

 

[dminnie]

yoopermom, lovetoscrap, spacemountainmom, princesselena and hrhpd: thanks so much for your insights. Some of your comments and descriptions are very helpful for me. Lovetoscrap...Wow. Princesselena, the Forbes article is something to consider, but I do think that this particular position will be around for a while more...someone has to handle all that issues that lovetoscrap describes. I do think a lot of admin assistant jobs are going away in businesses, but kids will continue to forget things, parents will continue to be upset or have a question about one thing or another. Parents will also always still need to pick their kids up during the day for appointments and what not. We require ID(and verify they are authorized to pick up a child) and don't just let anyone walk into a classroom to get a kid. We also require all visitors and volunteers to sign in. Someone has to be there to monitor that.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

yoopermom, lovetoscrap, spacemountainmom, princesselena and hrhpd: thanks so much for your insights. Some of your comments and descriptions are very helpful for me. Lovetoscrap...Wow. Princesselena, the Forbes article is something to consider, but I do think that this particular position will be around for a while more...someone has to handle all that issues that lovetoscrap describes. I do think a lot of admin assistant jobs are going away in businesses, but kids will continue to forget things, parents will continue to be upset or have a question about one thing or another. Parents will also always still need to pick their kids up during the day for appointments and what not. We require ID(and verify they are authorized to pick up a child) and don't just let anyone walk into a classroom to get a kid. We also require all visitors and volunteers to sign in. Someone has to be there to monitor that.

Yup, all that stuff will continue to be necessary, and these days all of it is documented. It's for that reason, we're seeing an expansion (rather than a retraction) in such jobs around here.

 

[sam_gordon]

The representative from the fire department at our safety class made it clear, do not hesitate to call 9-1-1 for any injury, no matter how minor it seems.
And while my training was all before the Natasha Richardson incident, I'll be honest, I will never hesitate to call 9-1-1 no matter how minor it appears.

I would be upset if someone I know had to wait for life saving treatment because EMTs were busy dealing with a "minor" injury.

 

[Luvstotravel]

I wonder, if anyone were to call their own elementary school before, during or after school hours: who would answer the phone?

 

[Luvstotravel]

I also get the feeling that tvguy means "secretary" to mean someone who takes dictation, and runs a switchboard. Like this:

 

[PrincessElena]

I couldn't imagine schools without a secretary--at least just one.

 

[JanaDee]

I wonder, if anyone were to call their own elementary school before, during or after school hours: who would answer the phone?

Before 7am and after 4pm, voicemail. During the day, if the secretary is away from her desk, the call will also go to voicemail.

 

[Luvstotravel]

Before 7am and after 4pm, voicemail. During the day, if the secretary is away from her desk, the call will also go to voicemail.

But it does get answered...by a secretary. Not a teacher or the principal.

 

[JanaDee]

But it does get answered...by a secretary. Not a teacher or the principal.

Correct, unless the principal happens to be walking past the desk when the secretary is out. I've had that happen a couple times. It surprised me, since I wasn't expecting her to answer. LOL

 

[snapppyd]

My high school had a nurse AND a doctor.

 

[kamik86]

All my schools had secretaries. Some multiple (in my high school the superintendent also had an office at the school so he had a separate secretary/admin assistant.

I don't think my high school had a full time nurse though. The school had a form that students could be given certain meds when requested (and parents could fill in what ones we could/couldn't) and I think one of the guidance councelors handed those out if the nurse wasn't in that day. This covered things like tylenol, neosporin and bandaids. We were in high school so we were expected to just use these items ourself. Kids with inhalors or other meds technically were supposed to keep them there too.

In practice this was only used about 10% of the time and was to cover their butts that they told us not to keep our own meds. No one actually stopped you from carrying your own and most of us did. So if you needed tylenol you had some or had a friend that did. Same with bandaids. If you had an inahlor you probably carried that.

We had a few teachers/staff and even a student or two with full EMT training (regional high school that covered quite a few areas with volunteer fire departments and EMTs) that would respond to anything bigger then that (student that got stung and needed an epi pen administored) student that had a seizure, student that passed out, broken bones etc.

As for who decides if a sick student could go home or back to class that was generally dependent on if the students parents were willing to come sign them out, or for seniors if they were over 18 and could sign themselves out.

 

[sam_gordon]

I don't think a single school my kids went to (1992 to 2009) had a secretary. They went the way of the school nurse when schools got voicemail systems.

I am curious... if your school doesn't have secretaries, who does the following:

* Checks kids in/out of school (doctor's appointments, etc)?
* Keeps track of visitors (our doors stay locked and school personnel have to unlock them for someone to enter)?
* Wait with a sick child (for the parents to come get them)?

Secretaries do a lot more than just answer phones.

 

[Allison]

LOL. And I am the one at work who questions EVERYTHING on Facebook and Twitter. But I am very human. I do see I omitted one important word in my posts, in "elementary" schools. Secretaries and nurses were eliminated in elementary schools here. And the school my brother teachers at, an elementary school, a parent volunteer comes in 3 days a week for 4 hours a day to be the recess monitor does some light office work, so at least there someone is helping out.

Adding the word elementary doesn't change anything.

 

[spacemountainmom]

This said pretty much everything. I am a Middle School "Office Clerk"-- basically the front office secretary. We also have an Attendance Secretary who primarily does attendance (check ins and outs) and is also in charge of our substitutes, and we have a Bookeeper/Principal's secretary. She is in charge of all ordering and all financial matters as well as most of the Principal's needs although I help with much of that too. And we have a Guidance Secretary who is also the school Registrar.

Pay sucks, but I do have good benefits - I am full time but I only work the days the kids are in school + 5 days before school starts. DH says I am a volunteer with benefits! If I was the sole wage earner there is no way I could support us, but the job is helping with the college costs we have for at least the next 8 years. I am not working there for the money. I am there because I LOVE the job. You have to have a great sense of humor-- especially in middle school. There are many days if I don't laugh I might cry. Many times I just have to shake my head and think "did that really just happen?".

My day is often hectic and stressful. Definitely multi tasking almost all day between the phones, kids, parents, administration, walk ins, teachers, paras and more. First and foremost I need to have great communication skills, lots of tact/customer relations skills and problem solving. Any problem that comes up, I am the one that answers the phone and hears about it first. I have to quickly determine the severity of the issue, who to transfer it to or if I need to handle it myself. As support for our administration many times I need to handle it myself.

Here is just a small sample of what I may be faced with in one day:
Xerox is jammed (I have become VERY good at xerox repair!)
Student is missing-- left for the bathroom 15 mins ago and hasn't returned -- I start making calls to see where he may have gone
Call from teacher's daycare -- I transfer the call and then alert the other secretary that we may need to cover her classes if the child is sick so she can start trying to figure out who can help. I follow up with the teacher.
Angry parent calls because her child has just texted her that someone stole her pencil in class (yes, really!) - I transfer to an administrator
Another parent calls concerned because child has called her from the bathroom that he is sick so we need to check on him ASAP and she will hold until we let her know what is going on.
4 parents have brought in lunches for their kids.
3 parents have brought in band instruments.
Another 3 have brought in gym clothes.
2 kids have come in to use the phone because they forgot something
One has brought in math homework- need to determine if the child is in that class now or can I call them between classes
Student comes in crying because they have lost their phone and is hoping I have it. I calm them down, suggest where they look and have them check back with me later.
Teacher comes in and needs 60 glue sticks for class this afternoon (we don't keep that amount in stock!)
Substitute calls because student is disrupting class. All administrators are currently in meetings so I have the student sent to the office to sit
Teacher calls that a student just threw up in the trash can. Need the custodian and the nurse
Administrator calls from her meeting, she left a folder on her desk, can I please go to her office and get it and bring it to her
Teacher calls from the computer lab, 2 students can't log in to their accounts. I have to go in on my computer and change their passwords.
Same teacher calls back with 2 more that need password changes and also the printer is out of ink, can I bring her a new cartridge?
Athletic director emails to let me know that practices are being altered due to weather. I will get calls from parents the rest of the day about the changes.

Some days this is just my first hour! While I am also writing bus passes, updating the school website and social media sites, working on special projects for administrators, and constantly helping out students and parents.

I am the also generally the first contact in case of an emergency. I must always be aware of the emergency radio that is on my desk and used by the district and law enforcement to contact us. I am the one that may get a call that we may need to evacuate or go to lockdown. I am the one that makes that announcement and initiates the exact procedures either at the request of administration or law enforcement or my own assessment of the situation. When an emergency happens I must grab everything needed and be the right hand for administration. And I am always aware that I may have to actually be the one to decide if the school needs to be locked down. My principal (and my district) has empowered me to make that decision if no administrator is available or if there is no time to talk to one. I pray that I never have to though. And when we do have something happen I am the one that has to answer the phone as all 10 lines are ringing at once and calmly talk to parents and ensure them that their children are safe--even when I can't tell them what is happening, and may not even know myself!

I have LOTS of contact with students. Maybe not a broad cross-section of them, I do tend to see the same ones over and over but I enjoy getting to know them. My goal is to be a friendly place for everyone to come and get help. Especially the kids-- I want to be a welcoming place for them to come no matter what they need. Some of the kids are afraid to ask for what they need. I try to develop that relationship with them and their parents so they know that they can always come to me. Parents know that I will help them anyway I can. I have to be able to stay calm. I have had parents screaming at me, either because they are mad at me or at someone else. Some parents just need a place to vent because they are mad at the teacher or the administrator or their kid and you are the one they see first and last so they take it out on you. So far all those situations were able to be resolved and I have a good relationship with all of our parents.

My job seems to have pretty quick burn out. In the nearly 20 years the school has been open no Office Clerk has stayed beyond 4 years. I am in my 3rd year and still love it, but some days I come home so worn out I do wonder how long I can do this! The only reason that I have the energy to answer this is because we are on Spring Break this week!

Feel free to contact me privately if you have any questions.

I love your post, just add the part about using the security cameras to track down a stolen pair of tennis shoes and getting an AP to check in on a student who came in angry; I discovered that he'd just had a major argument with his drunk mother in the parking lot and you've pretty much described my day yesterday!

Just have to add that the elementary schools in our district all have a principal's secretary and a secretary who monitors the security desk and nursing assistants.