Have you ever walked into a meeting expecting the conversation to go one way, but then it takes a turn? Well that happened to me recently and led me down a very unexpected path.
To help set the stage, I started working as the School Operations Manager of the High School I work at the week before Thanksgiving Break. The Friday before my first day, our school’s Assistant Principal of Operations (APO) resigned due to mental health reasons. So I hit the ground running with our School OPS team with no fearless leader in charge. I was the closest thing to one and a newbie. My other two incredible OPS team members, the Attendance/PEIMS Specialist and School Operations Associate, were hired a few weeks and a month before I was, respectively.
Since we are new to the job, we have a lot to catch up on. Adding fuel to our fires is that our predecessors did not leave us any organized records or documented standard operating procedures. Over the past four months, we’ve spent hard time cleaning things up and developing new systems to make it all make sense so that we can keep the engine running smoothly for our school admin and teachers. I love our team and all the things we are accomplishing together!
While we have been making lemonade out of lemons, we have still limped through some areas due to the need for an APO and a Family Engagement Specialist (FES) to help round out our team to function our best on all levels. Then, just three weeks ago, we lost our School Leader, as she decided to step away from the job, and now we have an Interim School Leader guiding us through the remainder of our school year. While I feel like I’ve lost a steady colleague, I also deeply appreciate all the things our Interim School Leader brings to the table. Although we are pausing on hiring an APO for this current school year, our Head of Schools is currently in the process of hiring a new School Leader for the 2023-2024 school year.
Now, let’s fast forward to the meeting I mentioned at the beginning! I was invited to attend a meeting called “OPS Planning” with our Regional Director of School Operations and our Regional School Operations Onboarding Consultant, and I genuinely thought it was going to be a heart-to-heart about how our team had fallen behind on our re-enrollment calls for the previous week (it was IA testing week and we are short-staffed so our attention had been elsewhere). Instead, they sat me down and complimented how I have helped bring the team forward and into a better operational standpoint. Then, they asked if I would be willing to take on some APO responsibilities to help drive us toward success for the rest of this school year! This would mean more responsibilities, but also a raise. Thankfully, the responsibilities are right up my alley, and I’ll be able to attend to them and my regular SOM duties. To top it all off, they have asked me to apply for the APO position next school year. They said I would soar in that role and bring more oversight and success to our Ops team while helping our campus partners, admin, and teachers feel fully supported. That certainly differed from what I thought the meeting was about, and I had no idea it would head in that direction. Still, I’m honored and excited—and I already sent in my application!
There is no guarantee that I will be the APO next year because it’s a role that the School Leader hires, and we may not have one of those for a while. Additionally, they may be an outside hire unfamiliar with me, my team, or our work up to this point. In the interim, it is nice knowing that my efforts are being noticed and that my team feels stronger. As I continue giving my best in my SOM + 1/2 APO role, I hope to get the job next year, but I’m also delighted knowing I’m making a difference in this current role. So even if I don’t get the job next year, I can still thrive in the SOM role and wholeheartedly support whomever our next APO is.
But also, WISH ME LUCK. SEND GOOD VIBES. LIFT UP SOME PRAYERS. Or whatever it is you do. I am so excited for this opportunity to flourish in this dual role and hope to do even more to make next school year so much better for all!
and followed it up with FroYo at Menchie’s!
amo.says 