Front Office Staff Provide Essential Support to Staff, Students, and Families

April 25th, 2022

HCPSS’ front office staff are the first people you see when you walk into a school building. They are the ones who most often answer the phones; monitor and allow parents, guardians and visitors into the building; relay lunches or other items to students who forgot them; and so much more. They are integral to schools’ day-to-day operations, providing support to teachers, students, and administrators alike.

Here, we highlight four of our outstanding front office staff, the essential roles they play, and the reasons they love what they do at HCPSS. (Please note, since this article was written, Faria Nazrul has taken a new position and the article has been updated to reflect that.)

Laura Nichols – Principal’s Secretary, Digital Education Center

Laura Nichols’ HCPSS career has included several roles, including lunch/recess monitor, special education assistant, teacher secretary, and principal’s secretary.

As a principal’s secretary at Elkridge Elementary School, she was responsible for ensuring that staff leave was properly recorded, finding substitute teachers to cover classes, handling the budget for the school, and providing administrative support to the administrators and teachers. She also worked closely with students to make sure they had whatever resources they needed.

“If a student forgot their coat, homework or lunch, I’d often be the one to call home and work with their family to get the situation resolved,” she recalls.

In 2021, the opportunity to become the principal’s secretary at the new HCPSS Digital Education Center opened up and Nichols jumped at it.

“I loved working at EES, but the DEC offered me a chance to be part of building a new program,” she recalls.

Initially, Nichols’ role was focused on helping to open the DEC, including making schedules, hiring staff, and procuring furniture for the DEC’ staff offices. Once school started, her focus shifted to supporting students, parents, and teachers with virtual learning. She helped them access and log into Google Meets, and worked with HCPSS Information Technology to ensure that student devices and programs were running properly.

“Basically, I just tried to make sure that everyone had what they needed to succeed,” she says.

With the DEC up and running, Nichols’ role has expanded to include serving on its Student Support Team, where she works with administrators, teachers, and other staff to identify and assist students who need additional support. She also works closely with administrators to organize staff appreciation events and collaborates with the DEC’s teachers’ secretary to support teaching staff.

“I’m always busy, and every day is different.” Nichols says. “But what I love most about my job is the excitement and joy I see when I work with our students. They are so engaged in their classes; I can tell they genuinely enjoy learning. I love knowing that I am part of that experience for them.”

Faria Nazrul – Former Principal’s Secretary, Oakland Mills Middle School

Like Nichols, Oakland Mills Middle School Principal’s Secretary Faria Nazrul was responsible for a wide range of tasks. She drafted and distributed OMMS’ weekly newsletter, helped the principal with confidential communications, managed payroll, and handled much of the school’s accounting.

“Initially, I was intimidated about doing the budget,” recalls Nazrul, who began her tenure at OMMS a decade ago as a teachers’ secretary. “It seemed like there were so many accounts to keep track of, and so many rules around how each account could be used.”

But, she says, with help from colleagues, she quickly picked accounting up and found it to be one of the most interesting parts of her job.

“I loved working with teachers and other staff to figure out what their needs were and how we could meet them with the resources we had. It forced me to think through our short- and long-term needs, and to think creatively about how to balance them” she says.

Nazrul, who received an HCPSS “Work Hard, Be Kind” staff award for her hard work and dedication in 2019, also helped answer phones and doors, found substitute coverage for classes, worked lunch duty if the need arose, and provided back-up to the health room and other front office staff when they were busy helping students or parents.

“Oakland Mills Middle School is one big team,” she says. “Even though [people have] different jobs, [the staff] jump in and help wherever [they] can.”

In addition to her administrative duties, Nazrul was part of OMMS’ Restorative Justice team, providing additional support to students in need, as well as the school’s Positive Climate Committee, which arranges activities to promote staff well-being.

Like Nichols, Nazrul finds working with students to be the most rewarding part of her job.

“I see my students as members of my family. I love helping them and seeing them grow, and having them come back to visit me years later to tell me about the wonderful things they have done.”

Nazrul recently accepted a position in HCPSS’ Human Resources. However, she says that “OMMS will always be my home” and that she will continue to be involved in the school’s extracurricular activities and community events.

Lynn DeVore – Teachers’ Secretary, Long Reach High School

Lynn DeVore has been managing attendance at Long Reach High School for the past seven years. She coordinates with parents and teachers on absences, late arrivals, and early dismissals and enters them into Synergy—a process that requires careful coding and attention to detail. DeVore prepares attendance reports for weekly attendance meetings and attendance letters.

“All day long, I’m communicating with people in and outside the building to ensure that students are where they need to be,” she says.

In addition, DeVore works with parents, teachers, and other school staff to identify and troubleshoot attendance issues. She spends time with the LRHS Core Values group each year to analyze attendance procedures and develop ways to improve them.

This year, DeVore and the LRHS Core Values group implemented a new system for students who arrive late. Instead of waiting in line to check in which delays their arrival to class, students can now scan a QR code to check in and get to class in half the time. Although the new process requires additional steps on her end, DeVore says it has significantly reduced the amount of class time tardy students miss. And to her, that’s what matters most.

“My goal is to help students get to class as quickly as possible, so they don’t miss out on learning – that’s why they are here,” she says.

In addition to her other duties, DeVore works with the LRHS front office staff to help students with lockers, address parent calls and questions, manage building access, and facilitate emergency communication in the building.

For her, the best part of her job is making connections with students.

“I love learning who they are and what excites them, and doing my part to help them succeed. I want every student to know that I am glad that they are here.”

Aisha Holland – Teachers’ Secretary, Fulton Elementary School

Aisha Holland began working for HCPSS as a teachers’ secretary in 2019, splitting her time between Hammond Middle School and Fulton Elementary School. At the start of the current school year, she had the opportunity to work full-time at FES, serving as the school’s primary point of contact on enrollment and registration.

“I always love to learn new things, and I knew the position at FES would allow me to do that,” she recalls.

In her current role, Holland manages all facets of the enrollment and registration process, helping to ensure that students and families who move in and out of FES have everything they need.

“Whether families are coming to or leaving Fulton, they have lots of questions,” she explains. “They want to understand what our [registration] process is, what paperwork they need to fill out, and what to do if they run into a problem. I do the best I can to provide them with that information and guide them through the process. If they are new to the FES community, I aim to make them feel welcome and eager to come to our school. And if they are moving elsewhere, I aim to make their final experiences at FES positive.”

In addition to supporting families with the registration process, Holland helps manage attendance, provides administrative support to teachers, answers doors, covers lunch and recess duty whenever there is a need, and answers calls from parents.

Sometimes, she says, she helps parents work through a specific problem or connect them with the appropriate staff person who can help them. Other times, she provides “a supportive ear.”

“As a parent of two elementary-aged students, I know how it feels to need to [express] my frustrations and to be told that things are going to be ok. I enjoy being able to support other parents and reassure them that whatever they are going through, I will do whatever I can to help,” Holland says.

In addition to supporting staff, students and families, Holland says being around young students is what she loves most about her job.

“They are so energetic and filled with joy,” she says. “Just seeing them and being around their positive energy gets me excited and motivates me to do my best.”

For Administrative Professionals’ Week and every day, HCPSS thanks all its school and office secretaries and administrative assistants for all they do to support staff and students.