When a teacher needed a grade change but Blackboard was down, when a broken Scantron machine had to be fixed, or when a counselor needed to get a transcript out to 10 colleges within the next hour, Ken Wood, a computer-information system major, could do it all with no hesitation.
However, with short notice, he has decided to depart Staples High School and leave the administration.
ETexas Management Software in South Norwalk, Connecticut has taken Wood under its wing. This company is a “Software as a Service” firm.
Principal John Dodig and a few others are working quickly to find a replacement for Wood and to conclude the first semester on a good note, despite Wood’s new job acceptance.
“The staff was overwhelmingly happy [for me]; because of this economy, many were surprised,” said Wood regarding his new job acceptance.
As a farewell tip, Wood said he has confidence in the other staff members to get the job done. He has created a document to make this a much smoother transition. In addition to Wood’s input, Principal John Dodig and the Guidance department transcript secretary Missy Ketley, have also implemented strategies in order to adapt to Wood’s departure.
Dodig, with the help of Natalie Carrigan, the Director of Technology for Westport, has posted a list for this job opening. According to Dodig, many people have applied and soon a choice will be made.
“We have a plan in action to get us through this second marking period easily,” Dodig said.
These next two weeks are expected to be under control as a large portion of the staff is trained and ready for an issue that would typically be handled by Wood.
Angela Galbo has been introduced to the student registration process while Patrick Micinilio has previous knowledge on preparing IPRs and report cards on Home Access Center. Luckily, James Farnen does all of the scheduling and knows how to create transcripts and rank the GPAs so the valedictorian and salutatorian can be set.
“And if anything falls out of place, we always have the support of the central office, the tech specials as a safety net,” said Dodig.
Under this level of disorder, Ketley is sure that everything will fall into place as well and it is all going to happen.
“We know how to do it so its not like were flying by the seat of our pants. We definitely know how to change grades,” said Ketley.
As a team of staff members, Ketley believes that they are able to pull together and make this as stress-free as possible for the shocked staff and the frantic seniors. Ketley emphasizes that seniors should be worry-free, as Staples can always pull together in a time like this.
Wood started working at Staples roughly three years ago, driven by his passion for education and computer programming.
“The people here were the best part of my job, but I am looking forward to many new opportunities that will be presented to me in the next year or two,” Wood said.
Despite Dodig’s worries, he knows that this replacement will work itself out in the long run.
“There are always worries and concerns for any issue. Someone who is in place and knows exactly what to do is leaving Wednesday. So Wednesday, after the meeting everyone knows his/her role and plans to do what it takes to get through this semester,” said Dodig.
In any situation, it’s not wise for one person to hold all of the knowledge. Luckily, Staples is well aware of this and, according to Dodig, doesn’t rely solely on one person to do anything.
“We’ve begun to having secondary people trained. The system in school is now stronger than it was in years past when we relied solely on that one person who sat in the chair for 25 or 30 years and was really the only one that knew how to do anything,” said Dodig.
