The Magic Of Boulder Valley School District Office Managers

Boulder CO

04 May, 2022

12:51 AM

Description

Press release from the Boulder Valley School District: May 2, 2022 Have you ever put together a 5,000 piece puzzle in one day? That's what work is like for our BVSD school office managers. They navigate each day assembling various pieces of the puzzle, to help our schools run as efficiently as possible. And they make it look easy. Leslie Jackson (pictured above), the office manager at Creekside Elementary, explained that it's important to keep the front office working like a well-oiled machine so teachers and administrators can focus on what's most important, the students. "You kind of hit the ground running most days. As soon as the kids start arriving, it's controlled chaos," Jackson said with a chuckle. "The bells are ringing and the phones are ringing and you just really have to enjoy the chaos." Jackson explained that on a typical day at the front office many things are happening at once. For example, a parent may be dropping off a forgotten lunch, a bus is showing up late, a child needs help finding a toy on the playground, and another child skinned their knee and needs care. Even with two front office employees, she often helps out. "The front office is hopping and sometimes it takes all three of us to keep it going," Jackson explained. "You never know what to expect. You can try to plan your day and say you are going to accomplish this and this, and the universe might have other plans for you. Flexibility is key. It makes it all worth it when a first grader comes in with his laptop, and says 'I can't sign in" and you help the little guy get signed in and he's like 'wow, you're magic.' If they think I have the magic touch, I'm going to let them think that." "It's all very simple stuff that adds up," said Jackson. From keeping tabs on the budget, to helping teachers order supplies, to scheduling buses for field trips, her role is critical. With all of these responsibilities, Jackson says she will drop any of it when a child walks in and needs something. "That's why we're here." At Monarch High School, Office Manager Barbara Olsen starts off each morning ensuring there is teacher or sub coverage in every classroom. "The first thing we try to do is make arrangements for all of our classes with sub coverage and make sure everything is taken care of there," said Olsen. "In a High School, we have a lot of subs in the building on most days. If we have unfilled teacher sub requests, other teachers will sometimes give up their planning periods and fill in where we need extra help. It's just this magic puzzle we do every morning to make sure that all of our classes are covered and students don't miss instructional time." From there, Olsen's day takes her to wherever help is needed. That could include helping to fix the copy machine, dealing with a leak under the fridge, contacting custodians for supply needs, contacting maintenance if the classrooms are too hot/cold, helping teachers in any way possible, and maintaining the principal's schedule. "I would like to say that my day follows a set pattern every single day, but it doesn't," explained Oslen. "The minute you walk in the door, it's like you just never know what you're going to be dealing with. Every day is different." Olsen has been with the district for almost 31 years and is getting ready to retire in June. She has worked as an office manager at both the Elementary School level and the High School level. "This core group of support staff are unsung heroes," added Olsen. "They really are. I think a lot of times what we do might go unnoticed because we just do our jobs, but if we didn't do our jobs, there would be a big hole.The office support team at MHS is an integral part of the staff. We work with parents, students, teachers and administrators; and we find lost phones, lost earbuds and car keys in addition to taking care of all of the key elements of our jobs. It's a well-oiled machine and every person on the staff - office support, custodians, paraeducators, teachers and administrators all play such an integral part in making this work." Olsen and Jackson both agree that they love their jobs. They love working with the students and contributing to the success of each school day. "It's amazing to me to see how everybody has their little piece in the puzzle and how it just works so well," added Jackson. "I'm really grateful to my staff, they are amazing. Everyone seems to be really proud of their piece of the puzzle and it's a nice feeling." This press release was produced by the Boulder Valley School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.