Principal's Secretary

Howard County Public School System

5d•Onsite

About The Position

Under the supervision of the Principal, the Principal’s Secretary, High school primary focus is to ensure the operational efficiency of the school’s main office and function as a confidential assistant to the Principal, Assistant Principal and other members of the administrative staff. As the first point of contact for the school, it fosters a professional school environment. Ensure the integrity and security of sensitive student information.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent (must scan and upload to the online application at the time of submission).
Foreign credentials must be evaluated as U.S. High School diploma or above by an MSDE approved organization.
Three years of general administrative support or clerical experience, one year of which must be working with accounting or bookkeeping records.
An Associate Degree or the successful completion of 60 credit hours from an accredited college or university may be substituted for up to two (2) years of the required administrative support or clerical experience.
Knowledge Office Operations & Management: Deep understanding of daily school office workflows, including records management, mail distribution, and administrative support systems.
District Policies & Compliance: Familiarity with school district regulations, privacy laws (like FERPA), and standardized procedures for staff evaluations and reporting.
Personnel Coordination: Knowledge of substitute management systems and staffing requirements to ensure seamless classroom coverage.
Information Security: Understanding protocols for handling sensitive student data and confidential personnel files with 100% integrity.
Executive Support: Expert-level calendar management and scheduling for high-level leadership, ensuring balanced priorities and timely meetings.
Technical Proficiency: Advanced skill in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook) and school-specific databases for generating reports, letters, and data visualizations.
Leadership & Mentoring: Ability to lead office staff through technical guidance, training, and workflow prioritization.
Professional Communication: Skilled in drafting, formatting, and proofreading official correspondence and multi-channel school messaging.
Logistics & Planning: High-level coordination of school-wide activities, events, and complex scheduling puzzles.
Conflict Resolution: The ability to remain calm and professional while resolving inquiries from parents, students, and staff to maintain a positive school climate.
Multitasking & Prioritization: Ability to manage a high-volume environment, switching between immediate needs (like phone calls) and long-term projects (like performance evaluations).
Interpersonal Finesse: Serving as the "face of the school" and acting as a primary, welcoming contact for a diverse community.
Independent Problem-Solving: Ability to draft official messaging and resolve administrative hurdles with minimal supervision.

Nice To Haves

Experience overseeing daily office operations, including the training of administrative staff.
Administrative support/clerical experience in a PreK-12 setting
Experience with word processing, database, and spreadsheet programs.

Responsibilities

Maintains Principals calendars, schedules appointments and meetings.
Plans, organizes and coordinates school activities and communications.
Functions as the primary contact for students, parents, and staff.
Resolves administrative inquiries to maintain a positive school environment.
Answers telephone communications and voicemail messages.
Leads the daily operations of the office staff by providing training and technical guidance.
Ensures total compliance with district procedures, establishes work priorities, and assists school leadership in the preparation of staff performance evaluations.
Performs general secretarial tasks including, but not limited to producing letters, data reports, etc. via the computer; making photocopies, files, distributing mail, etc.
Independently drafts, formats, and distributes official school correspondence and messaging.
Prepares and maintains a wide range of reports, records, and files regarding student data, personnel, and school operations.
Ensures the highest level of integrity and security for all sensitive and confidential information.
Coordinate substitute teacher and staff coverage by managing requests, assigning substitutes, communicating schedules, and ensuring adequate coverage to support daily school operations.