In a few of my previous articles, I have addressed the fact that school support staff receives little of the credit that they deserve. I have discussed the importance of educational assistants and bus drivers.
There is also another very important person (or people) in a school. In this article, I will discuss the importance of a school secretary.
School secretaries are often thought to sit and manage the telephone calls and the visitors in the school. However this is only a small fraction of their job.
The school secretary is usually located at the entrance of the school in the office. She is the first person that most people come into contact with when they enter the building. She is also the first person that they speak with when they call the school. She sets the first impression and the tone that visitors, students, and parents receive about the school.
In addition to being the face of the school, the secretary monitors who comes into the building. This can be a very important and critical issue. The secretary is in charge of who picks up children early and who can and cannot check the children out of school. The secretary has great responsibility when it comes to the safety of the children.
The secretary is also in charge of all major scheduling. She keeps up with where students are at any given point of the day. She knows the schedules of the teachers and the support staff. She helps the principal with scheduling and events.
The secretary also is in charge of attendance. The secretary must keep a record of the days each child is absent along with who leaves early and who comes in school late. Unlike teachers, secretaries do not have an assigned class, they are responsible for every child in the school.
In my opinion, the secretary in the school likely knows more about what is happening and about the children more than any other person.