School Secretary - 211 days

Hamilton County Schools•Chattanooga, TN

4h•Onsite

About The Position

Hamilton County Schools, located in Chattanooga, TN, is dedicated to ensuring all students thrive and experience a future without limits, committing to excellence for every student. They seek outstanding leaders, teachers, support staff, and district employees to make a difference. With nearly 75 schools, they offer various opportunities. Opportunity High, a part of Hamilton County Schools, aims to transform the lives of over-age, under-credit students through a personalized and nurturing educational environment. Its mission is to provide a dynamic, nurturing, and innovative educational setting tailored for these students, equipping them with academic, workforce-ready, and emotional tools for thriving futures. The vision is to be a national beacon for innovative, equitable, and high-quality education, empowering students to become resilient, responsible, and resourceful contributors to society. Core values include Resilience, Equity, Inclusivity, Accountability, Innovation, Empowerment, and Community. The learning systems and structures encompass Personalized Learning Plans, Credit Recovery Programs, Real-World Application, Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment Options, Flexible Pacing, Digital Learning Platforms, Cross-Disciplinary Learning, Blended Learning, Scaffolding, and Coaching. The purpose of the School Secretary job is to perform secretarial/clerical work associated with processing various information and documentation relating to an assigned department.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED required
Demonstrates excellent verbal and written communication skills to deal effectively with all stakeholders.
Demonstrates the ability to effectively prioritize and manage multiple tasks.
Demonstrates the ability to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; the ability to calculate decimals and percentages; the ability to utilize fractions and interpret financial data.

Nice To Haves

college-level course work or vocational training in office administration, basic bookkeeping, and personal computer operations preferred
three (3) years previous experience and/or training that includes secretarial work, office administration (preferably in a school environment), basic bookkeeping, customer service, and personal computer operations preferred
May require possession and maintenance of valid Tennessee Appointment of Notary Public certification.
May require possession and maintenance of valid Tennessee driver’s license.

Responsibilities

Acts in a professional, respectful, and welcoming manner at all times.
Creates a customer-focused climate and provides quality services and support to school and other stakeholders.
Complies with applicable district, state, and federal codes, laws, rules, regulations, standards, policies and procedures.
Directs the work occurring within the school’s main office.
Assists with activities pertaining to startup of the school year; conducts registration day for new students; prepares student packets for first day of school; prepares pre-registration forms/paperwork and assists with pre-registration/registration activities; distributes new books to teachers/students; provides other assistance as needed.
Assists with activities pertaining to the closing of the school year.
Processes a variety of documentation associated with departmental operations within designated timeframes and per established procedures.
Provides secretarial support for school administrator(s) and staff members at assigned school; schedules meetings/appointments and maintains daily schedule for administrator(s); designs forms for departmental use; composes, types, edits, and proofreads correspondence; supervises work of office aides as assigned.
Processes documentation pertaining to payroll/personnel activities; reviews and reconciles electronic and paper timesheets for accuracy, researches and alerts administrator(s) to discrepancies, and forwards to payroll for payment; maintains records of absences and available sick/vacation/personal days.
Ensures accurate substitute sign-in and verifies that each substitute has a job number. Monitors status of substitute teachers and/or assists in securing substitute teachers as needed.
Coordinates communications between administrator(s) and school staff, Central Office staff, parents, and outside individuals/organizations; assists staff with questions or problems; mediates with upset/irate parents; assists with problem resolution.
Answers telephone calls and greets visitors in a timely fashion; ascertains nature of business, directs callers/visitors to appropriate personnel, and records/relays messages; retrieves messages from voice mail; initiates and returns calls as necessary.
Performs customer service functions; provides information/assistance regarding school programs, services, activities, procedures, forms, fees, or other issues; distributes forms/documentation; responds to routine questions/complaints and initiates problem resolution.
Maintains and updates school calendar; schedules school meetings/activities; prepares and distributes calendars/schedules of school activities, events, and timeframes.
Coordinates travel arrangements, accommodations, conference/seminar registrations, or other travel-related plans for school staff.
Contacts police for assistance during a disturbance as directed by school administration or School Resource Officer; maintains open communications until resolution of incident.
Receives and communicates school transportation changes with appropriate students and staff. Manages student bus passes as appropriate.
Assists in planning or coordinating various meetings; transcribes meeting minutes as needed; assembles packets and prepares packets for mailing; distributes meeting agendas, minutes, packets or other meeting materials; coordinates room/facility reservations, meeting room setup, food/beverages, or other details for various meetings/activities.
Assists in organizing and/or conducting special projects, special activities, fundraisers, field trips, drills, or other events; organizes volunteer workers to assist with various school events; assists in coordinating various activities involving parents, students, teachers, and/or administrators.
Processes documentation pertaining to purchasing activities; prepares and distributes purchase orders.
Assists with graduation activities; prepares graduation lists; orders diplomas, caps, gowns, and diploma covers.
Assists with bookkeeping functions; reconciles monies received with teacher collection logs; receipts money received for various fees/services; prepares bank deposits and forwards revenues as appropriate; writes checks as needed; maintains purchase order log; issues purchase orders.
Generates work orders via computer; enters data pertaining to requested repair/maintenance work into computer; forwards work order requests electronically to appropriate personnel.
Copies and distributes monthly calendars, newsletters; copies, assembles, and distributes teacher handbooks and student handbooks.
Produces various reports for distribution to various individuals or submission to state/federal agencies.
Monitors inventory of department equipment, forms, and supplies; maintains fixed asset inventory; ensures availability of adequate materials to conduct work activities; initiates requests/orders for new/replacement supplies.
Processes incoming/outgoing mail; sorts, organizes, opens, and/or distributes incoming mail; prepares outgoing mail for pickup; processes or assists in processing mass mailing projects.
Maintains file system of various files/records; prepares and sets up files; sorts/organizes documents to be filed; files documents in designated order; retrieves/replaces files; shreds/destroys confidential or obsolete documents; prepares old files for storage.
Communicates through the proper channels to keep supervisor and other appropriate personnel informed of impending problems or events of unusual nature.
Follows established procedures to ensure assigned areas are safe.
Works collaboratively with administrators, faculty, staff, and stakeholders.
Attends work and arrives to work on time.
Maintains confidentiality.
Adheres to the Teacher Code of Ethics as defined by Tennessee Law.
Complies with accounting and financial policies and procedures involving the handling of money and property, as well as other Board policies.
Performs basic maintenance of computer system and office equipment, such as backing up data or replacing paper, ink, or toner; coordinates service/repair activities as needed; provides technical assistance/support for use of department computers, copy machines, facsimile machine, or other equipment; provides monthly counts of copy volume to vendor.
Maintains student attendance records; enters attendance data into computer; generates computer reports of attendance; assists with other attendance-related activities as needed.
Uses computers and other technology to enter and access information related to essential job functions.
Coordinates operation of school bookstores as assigned.
May assist with clinic activities; takes temperatures of sick/injured children; oversees completion of accident reports; provides minor first aid, such as applying ice or bandages; contacts parents/guardians to pick up sick/injured children; maintains medication records and dispenses medication to students according to policy.
May operate a motor vehicle to conduct various work activities.
Performs other duties as assigned.