It takes a team of people to ensure Evesham’s children receive a quality education. Meet your child’s team:
School Staff and Safety
You already know your child’s teachers are among the most highly-qualified in the country, according to the Council of Chief State School Officers report. Did you know the staff in your child’s school is also required to hold a variety of licenses and undergo periodic supplemental training? Most important of all, every school district employee is required to undergo criminal background checks. That helps make our schools a safe environment for learning.
Beyond the classroom
It takes a lot of good people to make a great public school.
When you think of your child’s education, the first person who comes to mind is most likely the teacher. But it’s helpful for you to know everyone who is important to your school and to your child’s education. If you make an effort to meet and get to know them, you’ll learn about the important jobs done by each member of the school team and also open up lines of communication that can help you and your child.
Of course, this brief information could never fully describe all the things these people do. Also, different school districts are staffed differently, so some schools may not employ the people described here while others may include staff whose jobs are not covered here.
Secretaries
Spend some time in a school office on an average day and you’ll understand why school secretaries are so important. They perform all the work done by secretaries in most businesses, but school secretaries also do a lot of other jobs.
Secretaries are the people to whom everyone comes for information – students with questions, parents, teachers checking records, and visitors to the school. They also keep attendance records, register new students, and sometimes keep track of the school’s budget. In addition, they help find lost books or lunch money, assist a child who’s missed the bus, and hundreds of other things that help children and other school staff throughout the day.
Custodians and Maintenance Staff
The custodian keeps the school running. Just operating the boilers that heat the schools is a big job requiring special training and a state license. Custodians also keep the school and grounds clean and safe.
The school maintenance staff repairs everything from the floor to the roof of the school – including the broken oven in the cafeteria kitchen so your children can have hot lunches and the stuck window in your child’s classroom so it’s comfortable on a warm spring day. Maintenance staff also may handle the remodeling of classrooms or other areas so the school can be used more efficiently.
Transportation Staff
These are the people responsible for taking your children to and from school and on field trips. In some school districts, each driver transports as many as 400 children per day! That means knowing the children well so that everyone is safe and well-behaved. School bus drivers must have special training and a commercial driver’s license, and are also required to pass a physical every two years.
Food Service Staff
Some schools serve as many breakfasts and lunches as the local fast food restaurant. Each day, school food service staff prepare and serve hot, nutritious meals to thousands of children.
Paraprofessionals
The word “paraprofessional” can describe one of many people in a school who perform important jobs: teaching assistants who work with teachers to allow for more individual attention with students; library or media center assistants who keep books and equipment in order and help children find what they need; and other staff who help supervise children in the cafeteria in the cafeteria, on the playground, or on the bus.
And that’s just the beginning
A good school includes all of these people – and others – who work as a team to keep things running efficiently and children learning better.
Your school team might also include security staff who work to reduce the costs of vandalism, remove any threat of violence, and ensure the safety of children walking to and from school. Attendance officers also work to ensure children attend school regularly.
In addition, there are many other teaching staff who provide essential services to children:
- The school nurse helps when children are sick or injured and also teaches and counsel students.
- The school librarian or media specialist helps instill a love of reading and teaches research skills.
- The school counselor guides students and parents in making important decisions.
- The child study team staff evaluates children who may have disabilities.
- The special education staff provides appropriate programs and services.
Many members of the school team are mentioned here, but surely some have been left out who deserve to be mentioned. The fact is, your children’s education does not begin and end in the classroom. That’s certainly the focal group, but it takes the whole school family to provide your child a quality education. Getting to know the rest of the school team can improve your children’s educational experience, because when families and schools work together, our children are the winners.
Our School Staff
Keep this list handy – perhaps on your refrigerator.
Teacher:
School Secretary:
Custodian/Maintenance:
Classroom Aide/Paraprofessional:
Bus Driver:
Nurse:
Librarian/Media Specialist:
Counselor:
Principal:
School Phone:
School Address:
School Website:
