Students are very familiar with what happens in classrooms, on the fields and in Center Court. However, something that the student body is less in tune to is what happens inside the office.
“[An] administrator runs … the parts of school that you don’t think about as a student, because when you’re a student, you’re thinking about your learning and being in the classroom,” said Assistant Principal Nicole Elenz-Martin. “I want the teachers to be able to be teaching their students and not having to worry about all of the other external stuff.”
Currently, one of Elenz-Martin’s biggest responsibilities is course scheduling for the 2022-23 school year.
“[I’m] making sure all students are getting in their schedule requests,” Elenz-Martin said. “I’m the main person to help students with the guest passes or with scholarships or with our big carnival that we’re going to have in a few weeks, making sure that that’s going to run through the facility.”
Many other staff members are involved in managing aspects of the school day that students may not consider at first glance. Carolina Patino is Aragon’s attendance clerk. Patino coordinates student attendance, absences and early dismissal, as well as student lockers. She also works with Staff Secretary Dounia Kardosh and Health Aid Lesley Franco in the Student Services office.
“[An] administrator runs … the parts of school that you don’t think about as a student”
“The nice thing about being in this office is that we will work as a team,” Patino said. “We always tell each other, ‘We’re all a team.’ So if Ms. Franco has to run to get an emergency, I cover for her. If I have to go out for my lunch or whatever, she covers for me. With Ms. Kardosh, [it’s the] same thing. She’s constantly helping us out.”
A normal day for Patino consists of writing late and early dismissal passes, as well as managing excusals for athletic events. Patino also helps manage general and COVID-19-related absences.
“The big thing now is that I am constantly checking in with Ms. Franco to make sure [I’m telling her about] positive cases,” Patino said. “It’s also kind of impacted how [absences] get handled. It just takes a little longer because we have to be able to track everything.”
Kardosh, who also works in the student services office, coordinates with counselors to provide schedule changes, replaces ID cards, helps with field trips and club activities, organizes shadowing for prospective students and, at the end of the year, helps plan the graduation ceremony.
“In June, you kind of clean up, get a breather, get your energy back and then start tackling what’s coming [up for] implementation for next year,” Kardosh said. “That’s usually the cycle, and that’s what I like about my job. It’s a little bit of everything.”
Elenz-Martin believes one of the highlights of her job is the ability to interact with students. However, busy schedules and unexpected issues limit this interaction time.
“What I would like to start the day doing is by being out and welcoming students as they’re coming to school, … but mostly the day always starts with some sort of unexpected issue that I have to help solve,” Elenz-Martin said.
Although work in the office can be unpredictable, passion is what keeps the staff going.
“People are here because they want to be here,” Kardosh said. “There’s passion, there’s care and we truly go beyond what’s required.”
Administrators and staff work to keep Aragon running smoothly throughout the school year.
