Self-Study: Administration

The self-study’s Administration section asked us to examine the work and structure of our administrative staff. After many years of operating with a truly skeleton crew, the school’s administrative team has grown over the last few years. Newer positions include the school’s first human resources, technology, and development positions; two additional facilities specialists; a K-2 Principal; and two multi-focus operations positions (one for Summer Camp/Capstone/Transportation and one for Operations/Compliance).

Effective administrative staff communication is critical for school operations. The primary mode of communication between administrative functions is email, bolstered by many different configurations of regular and ad hoc meetings. All employees receive and may contribute to a weekly staff bulletin, “The Loop”, and an extensive staff web site is maintained with resources, links and updates for all employees. Staff members are all encouraged to communicate face-to-face as much as possible, which facilitates understanding especially with the diversity of employee languages and cultures.

Our administration-to-student ratio is still very low compared to NWAIS school averages, and that can make things stressful particularly during certain times of the year. The administrative team works collaboratively to help one another and prioritize the work. The biggest impediments for the administrative team are lack of office and meeting space, lack of certainly functionality in our school database, and some office equipment failures. Individual staff member service and contributions are recognized on an ad hoc basis; the staff aims to establish processes to ensure that employee recognition is part of our workplace culture.

Compliance with various state and local regulations and financial requirements is a big responsibility for the administrative team. In collaboration with other staff members, the Human Resources Generalist and Business Manager oversee compliance issues associated with their respective departments. The school’s financials are independently audited on an annual basis. The Operations and Compliance Manager manages compliance with the Oregon Childcare Division (CCD), fire prevention and safety procedures, and immunization law.