How do classified employees help build and promote school culture?
From my earliest days in education, one of the first pieces of advice I was given was to make friends with the head custodian and the office manager. I didn’t understand why I was told this but I quickly learned why, and anyone who has worked in schools knows why. Now 20 years later, as a lead and mentor teacher, I give this same advice to new teachers. If I need a quick clean up because a student was sick, the custodian is over within minutes. When I need support setting up a meeting with parents, I send an email to the office manager to take care of it. Most classified positions are often overlooked when shaping school culture and all too often we hear stories or see classified employees being mistreated because students and even teachers don’t realize the value of their work.
School leaders need to include classified staff in the decision making process so teachers begin to appreciate their value. School support staff typically are from the school community and know the students outside of school so they are often a bridge to building relationships with the greater school community. California School Employees Association represents more than 250,000 school support staff throughout California, and one-third of our nation’s education workforce, so it is likely that they are family members or neighbors of students sitting in our classrooms. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Classified employees are important adults in students’ lives who give them emotional support and help increase school connectedness.
How do classified employees help students succeed?
School culture and connectedness is extremely important for students to succeed. School connectedness is especially important for at-risk students. School support staff play critical roles in supporting these students. From media specialists who give students a place to get lost in stories, to paraprofessionals who give extra academic support, or a typist clerk who translates a message of concern to parents, they all work with students' success at heart. Margaret Warder, who was one of the 12 classified school employees who was honored as a Champion of Change by President Barack Obama in 2016, says that when she works with students she has the “keen ability to relate to students on their level while also challenging them to reach new heights in their education”. No one teacher is able to connect to every student, which makes support staff so important.
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