A Day in the Life Series: The centre of the school, Sarah Keane
Nov. 23, 2023
Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington (PVNC) Catholic District School Board is excited to announce the newest installment of our A Day in the Life feature. This feature opens a window into the lives of our employees, by offering a behind-the-scenes look at various staff roles throughout the school year.
Meet St. Joseph CES Bowmanville secretary Sarah Keane
“St. Joseph Bowmanville, Sarah speaking”. Many would agree, you can run an office without a boss for a day, but you can’t run an office without a secretary for an hour.
Sarah Keane, a familiar face at St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School in Bowmanville, arrives early to welcome students, parents, staff, and visitors into the main office each day. Speaking of arrivals, the school “doorbell” is rung countless times throughout the day, with friends arriving to the main building from the portables, as well as any visitors.
First item on the to-do list includes checking messages and emails quickly before assisting with the student-led morning announcements for the day. Following that, Sarah helps students that were running a little bit late that morning, including a small friend in kindergarten that needed a buddy to walk to class.
As the morning arrivals and announcements die down, Sarah turns to answering phones and checking in with parents with a “hi it’s Sarah calling from St. Joseph.”
With morning administrative tasks checked off the list, first recess brings in the first few students with bumps that need icing, or a quick hug and phone call home.
With the day progressing, students and staff come through the office for multiple needs, but are always greeted with a smile from Sarah. The morning comes and goes, and lunch recess has arrived with another set of bumps and bruises at recess that need ice, as well as a few extra friends that need a quieter spot to enjoy their break.
On top of triaging the flow of students, Sarah takes care of School Cash Online purchases, lets classroom teachers know if there are any students that have an end-of-day change, prepares any school communications to parents through School Messenger, and sends and receives OSR requests for incoming and outgoing students.
Attendance is always an important highlight of the day – with students bringing down their classroom record for Sarah to process.
No day is complete without a quick wrap-up of tasks and greetings with students and well-wishes on their journey home. Making sure to set herself up for success the following day, Sarah heads home and is ready for another day that will definitely be different from the last.