A Day in the Life of a TJS Dean

 

A Day in the Life of a TJS Dean

BY LAURA SPAULDING Staff Writer/Consultant, with KATE MURPHY, Dean of Students

 

I recently spent a day in the Dean’s office and was amazed and so proud watching The Joy School’s timeless mission in action.

Our three deans share an office with windows on all sides, so even when the glass doors are closed, they see and hear everything going on around campus. Rachel Williams, our Dean of Faculty, focuses on supporting and equipping teachers to show up every day ready to do what is right for the students in their classrooms. Laura Gray, our Lower School Dean of Student and Family Support, and Kate Murphy, our Middle School Dean of Student and Family Support, spend their days making sure students and their families are getting the support and care they need. In the words of Mrs. Williams, to be a TJS dean “is to embrace a service-oriented job.” 

That is not to say the deans don’t have calendars and to-do lists full of administrative tasks that need tending. In fact, when I first arrived at their office in the morning, I peeked at their respective calendars. Each one was jam-packed with meetings and reminders for the day ahead. Then I watched this team of purposefully structured yet brilliantly flexible leaders in action. They calmly rearranged the details of their days multiple times once more pressing needs began appearing around every corner. I learned that it is not uncommon for some administrative tasks to be put off until after four o’clock when the building has been cleared for the day. From the time the first student arrives to the time the last student leaves, the deans are busy carefully balancing wisdom with grace. They come to each situation with both a thoughtful plan and the willingness to adjust those plans depending on the needs of the teacher, parent, or student standing right in front of them.

By lunchtime, I fully understood the difficulty in capturing exactly what a TJS dean does on a day-to-day basis in any sort of well-defined schedule or job description. While no two days ever look quite the same, I am forever thankful for the firsthand glimpse into a day in the life of a TJS dean:

 

Rise and Shine

The deans’ jobs begin when their alarms go off! They’ve each devised boundaries and routines (including how accessible they are outside of their work day) that enable them to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Today, however, Ms. Williams begins her day by securing a substitute for a teacher who woke up with a fever while Ms. Gray works to reschedule the parent meeting this teacher was slotted to attend.

7:00 AM

The hour before students arrive is prime time for processing the dozen or so emails and voicemails that have come in overnight. These inevitably add tasks to today’s to-do lists. Some questions, concerns, or challenges that have arisen have obvious solutions, while others require gathering more information and collaborating as a team. I watched as they thoughtfully considered how to best approach the day's predictable victories and challenges. Calendar events and task lists were confirmed or rearranged, and coffee was consumed.

8:00 AM

Mornings are for connecting! As students arrive and settle into classes, the deans connect with parents, students, and one another. At this time, Ms. Murphy does school announcements. Today, during a particularly emotional parent meeting, Ms. Murphy, mid-tear, spins her chair around, grabs the microphone, and, with her usual enthusiasm, wishes Michael a happy birthday. She then announces this weekend’s Middle School Dance and tells everyone about the slight schedule change due to tomorrow’s assembly. While Ms. Murphy returns to her parent phone call, Ms. Williams intentionally does her morning “laps around campus,” ensuring everyone is settled, and teachers (especially those impacted by schedule changes or substitutes) have what they need for a successful day.

9:00 AM

This is a unique hour as the entire academic admin team was purposefully in the office simultaneously. Once teachers and students were settled in, the team turned their chairs around and caught up on the pending decisions and delicate situations needing attention. The wisdom, care, and compassion they employed while speaking about each situation was profound. I learned a lot just by listening to them collaborate and problem-solve each complex and delicate situation. This is also the hour Ms. Gray does her “lap around campus,” ensuring her lower school friends have all been greeted while keeping an eye out for anything or anyone who seems out of place or out of sorts.

10:00 AM

Ms. Gray’s lower school students need to see their dean’s face and exchange lots of hugs and high fives as early as possible, but Ms. Murphy’s middle school friends are much more interested in peers than their dean. She plans her “lap” during this hour’s middle school passing period to ensure she runs into all her students.

 

 

11:00 AM

By midday, each dean had another dozen emails and voicemails come through. I was delighted to learn a couple of the emails were from students sharing concerns, asking questions, or advocating for themselves. Anytime a dean was in the office, a teacher beaming with pride or bursting with exasperation popped in while passing by. They got their chocolate fix as they shared some good news or a funny story. I also had the pleasure of watching several students throughout the day peek their heads into the office. Sometimes just to say hi, but often with some progress or project to show off to their doting deans. Every single time, they were greeted by name and proud smiles before being sent to the overstuffed prize box. The deans each expressed genuine excitement about student progress over and over, no matter how often or what task they were in the middle of checking off their ever-expanding to-do list. My favorite was the pre-teen boy who stopped by excited to read aloud an original poem he’d just written.

12:00 PM

During both lunch hours, the deans were in and out of the office. I followed Ms. Murphy to the lunch room as she learned all kinds of interesting and relevant middle school drama. Then I followed her to the ball courts, watching as she refereed a 5th-grade basketball game. Soon enough, she was interrupted by Ms. Tracei, hand-delivering her walkie-talkie she’d inadvertently left on her desk. Apparently, she missed a couple of frantic messages about the latest mini-crisis involving the middle school boys’ bathroom. This while she was reminding her 5th-grade boys to breathe and leave their emotions on the basketball court!

1:00 PM

If there is not too much post-lunch drama to tend to, I’m told the deans use this hour to regroup, eat lunch themselves, complete pending administrative tasks, and prepare for afternoon meetings. This day, I only observed one of the three deans sitting down to eat lunch.

 

 

2:00 PM

Administrative meetings, necessary to keep the school functioning, are scheduled during this hour. These include admissions meetings, budget and long-term planning, academic, assembly, professional development, and activity planning, one-on-one teacher check-ins, and mainstreaming and transition meetings with parents. Of course, as anyone who has ever worked in a school knows, this is also the hour when students, the weather, and school facilities tend to do the strangest things, requiring adult intervention or parent communication.

3:00 PM

It was difficult to keep up with where all the deans were during our staggered dismissal times, but I noticed there were more walkie-talkie calls during this hour than all the other hours put together. Ms. Murphy was the easiest to find as she was teaching the “8th-grade Council” elective. I also noticed a handful of students, some by choice and some as a learning accommodation (but never as a punishment), ending their school day by checking out with one of the deans.

4:00 PM

Once the last student leaves campus, the Dean’s Office grows eerily quiet. So begins the processing of the day’s events, the accomplishing of leftover administrative tasks, responding to never-ending emails and phone calls, collaboration and problem-solving, and all sorts of planning for both the following school day and for the long term.

The TJS Dean’s Office is busy and full of life, growth, big ideas, and big emotions. Whether you’re a teacher, parent, or student, the Dean’s Office functions as a safe place to laugh and cry as everyone learns, celebrates, succeeds, struggles, and fails together. It’s where life is processed with dignity and grace, even as we help one another reframe and reinterpret overwhelming and embarrassing situations and conflicts. As our deans collaborate, celebrate, laugh, and catch tears, identities are discovered, and life-changing relationships are cultivated and grown.

 

Visit the Student and Family Support page to learn more about how our Deans of Student and Family Support partner with families to help every child thrive.