This school is run by building personnel students know: the principal, building service workers and teachers. But the four secretaries who reside in the main office at the front of the building are the often-unseen foundation.
Secretary Makaela Talley enters the building at 6:30 a.m. and leaves at 3 p.m.. Throughout the day she welcomes students and staff while answering the phone and questions from parents. In addition, she sets the substitute teachers up with all the information and material necessary to run the classroom they will be taking over for the day. She also takes packages delivered for school staff and makes certain they make it to the correct recipient. Talley said the main office tends to get “very busy in the morning, at lunch, and at the end of school.”

Secretaries also handle school logistics. From report cards to school-wide distributions, they are the “first point of contact with parents and the community,” according to administrative secretary Jen Hicks.

The main office has student aids who help the secretaries throughout the day. Their job includes running passes and these positions are usually held by seniors with an extra period. Senior Joseph Song has student aid in his fourth period and he runs passes to teachers for students leaving school early. Song said, “It’s sometimes busy but mostly not.”

There are many upsides to being a secretary, including welcoming students and staff in the mornings, but there are also difficult aspects of the job. Many people with a wide range of personalities enter and call the main office daily, each with their own problems and needs, all requiring a solution. Hicks said that she overall “enjoys what [she does], the hardest is dealing with different personalities, finding out the best way to help them.”

Secretaries also assist students with their day-to-day needs. Junior Varun Rajesh said, “The secretaries helped me get an elevator pass when my leg was injured, and have always assisted me in finding teachers and room numbers. They know where almost all of the room numbers in the building are, it’s so cool.”

Students find the main office secretaries to be kind and helpful. Junior Sofia Escober said, “The secretaries are super nice and welcoming to the students.”