special education para

para educator

assistant

elementary school teacher

administrative assistant

Blue Valley School District

I enjoy working with people and making customers smile.  This job provides me with that opportunity on a daily basis.  A typical day consist of me changing trash, vacuuming floors, cleaning restrooms, and wiping down tables.  A slightly non typical day would include doing some form of event setup ex. (graduations or sporting events), which for me are part of what make this job fun.  It's not the actual physical labor portion of it, but the people interactions that I enjoy the most.
 
The management staff here is not the best I've experienced but they aren't that bad overall.  They encourage open communication but lack a bit in the discipline consistency area from what I've seen.

The only time this job gets to be difficult is if we are short staffed, or is the school has multiple events being hosted at once.  It can be a bit straining trying to meet everyone's needs while still trying to get daily cleaning done.  

I have learned to use a lot of the latest cleaning equipment and tools that aren't available to many districts, as well as some different cleaning techniques which is really cool.

Overall it's not a bad job or place to work for, I just wish the pay was a bit more competitive and the health insurance a lot less expensive for carrying family.

A  typical  day  is  I come in turn off alarm and open the building and  put flags up and put out cross walk sign. We  have YMCA in our building so I make sue tables are clean and the floor also. I sweep the gym and clean the staff restrooms and the music room and clean the lunchroom restrooms after school has started. I then make sure all outer doors are secured and clean front entrance and office windows if needed. I then set up my lunchroom  which  consists of setting out tables and getting  stuff for  cleaning  the  tables  for lunch ready. I  then  take  a  lunch  break  right  before lunch starts. I check restrooms during lunch and sweep in between lunches and clean tables and then take trash out. We have three lunch shifts at my school which take about 2 hours. When lunch is over I clean all tables and put them away and sweep the floor and run automatic scrubber over the floor and mop the areas a can't reach with scrubber. I take out all trash including the kitchen trash and all boxes and  I also do this during lunch also. I then mop the kitchen  and  I  also  check the perimeter doors again after lunch is over to make sure building is secure. I  take  care  of  anything  the  office  needs  me  to  through out the day also  like vomit  and blood on anything or restroom clean ups.

I met some of the best people I've ever worked with during my stay here. My job entailed being assigned a team where each member was individually assigned to 3 - 4 schools. supporting the tickets at those schools. I learned almost everything about the job and tech we supported from my coworkers, as direct team members generally train/coach newbies. Even until my last day, my coworkers remained incredibly supportive and helpful.

Management was not what I originally thought it to be when I started. Micro management, arguing, and fear-based tactics were not uncommon. Occasionally, there would be a change of tune, but it generally falls back into the same place after a matter of days/weeks. Decisions made on classroom equipment seemed to be done at the drop of a hat and techs were generally left to pick up the pieces and deal with the outrage/confusion.

Higher up management was a bit more supportive. The vast majority of the school staff members were great. 

I helped chart the technology changes with the School administration.  Did break-fix troubleshooting, ordered and replaced parts as needed on both desktop and laptops.  Troubleshooting on network connections and repaired anywhere from the switch in the closet to the computer.  Maintained the network closet and the A/V connection from the projection system to the computer.  Also handled the repair and/or replacement of networked printers and the digital document projectors as well.

What I learned is you can never ask enough questions or the same one several different ways to find out what the problem was and when it happens or started.I enjoyed my job so much, I found few things difficult except for when management changed their minds in the middle of a project which happened frequently.  What I learned was to be a good listener and to be flexible.

I worked as a para in the Blue Valley school district.  My students were wonderful, as were many of my coworkers.  Some of the regular ed students were a little disrespectful of the adults in the school but were, for the most part, good kids.  I ran into some difficulty with a small minority of the staff.  I was asked to do some things by superiors that went against my training by the school district (and that frankly made me uncomfortable).  When I tried to voice my concerns for my students' well being and the potential conflicts between what I was taught by the district and what I was asked to do, I received zero support from the administration.  I chose to leave the school district because of the conflict in values.  However, the vast majority of my time at Blue Valley was wonderful and I would still recommend the school district for most potential employees.

Custodians have fully paid medical, dental and vision benefits (as long as you go to the doctor once a year to do a wellness appointment) plus retirement. 
All this is great, BUT the pay rate is one of, if not the lowest in the KC area. Every other school district offers the same benefits but with a pay rate of a dollar or more higher per hour. Most BVSD custodians are working two jobs because they cannot live on the salary the district pays.
Also, the quality of cleanliness is horrible. The vast majority of custodians have very poor quality in their cleaning.

The one good thing about working as a custodian at BVSD is that the supervisors are helpful and, in general, the teaching and office staffs are friendly and make you feel like an important team member rather than a lowly toilet scrubber.

The choice to make is, do I want a good work environment or do I want to be paid what my work is worth?

A typical workday at Blue Valley West H.S. was always a pleasant experience. I taught in the Social Studies field with some of the best educators I have ever met (one of whom was the Kansas Teacher of the Year). I learned so much about technology from the younger members of the staff, how to work with special education kids thanks to extremely well-educated paraprofessionals, and thanks to my Social Studies staff I learned so many new teaching strategies and skills. The three principals I worked with, as well as all of the assistant principals I worked with over a 14-year period, were excellent motivators and leaders with high educational expectations for the students. I really had no "hard part" to my job while I taught at Blue Valley West - it was an exciting and fulfilling experience.

Getting familiar with office.  Locating meds, med safe, important phone numbers, names of key staff member, emergency protocols .  I learned that children love the attention from the school nurse.  I typically do not see management during the day, unless they want their blood pressure taken or have a headache.  The work environment is VERY positive.  The schools are well taken care of and building issues are addressed immediately.   The hardest part of the job is getting 5-10 students at a time and they all want you and flu season. The most enjoyable part of the job is just talking to students, fixing their issues.  Most of the time it is just a bandaid they need.

Blue Valley School District has a great team working environment.  Supporting staff and Teaching staff are great to work with and to work for. The benefits package has everything you could want or need as far as benefits.  Lots of chances to work overtime and extra permits.  You get a state retirement that's guarantied , no wondering if you lost money in your retirement account. Earn two weeks of vacation a year and with longevity have a chance to up to 4 weeks.  Advancement opportunities available. Job security is great, I always know I am getting 40hrs a week. All the above is great to have in a job, but the most rewarding aspect is watching the kids learn and grow.

There are a lot of good schools, and people to work with. Unfortunately, if you get stuck at a bad school it is not pleasant. Some teachers treat you as second class citizens, but most are nice and caring. There is some mismanagement, and not a lot of room for advancement. Also Custodial Lead positions are only in the evening, so if you want to work during the day and advance it will not happen. Overall, Blue Valley is nice with there benefits, not so nice with there pay, and it depends on what school your at if your work environment will be pleasant and enjoyable.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Special education para 252 salaries reported	$17.19 per hour
Para educator 30 salaries reported	$15.10 per hour
Assistant 36 salaries reported	$11.56 per hour
Elementary school teacher 43 salaries reported	$13.22 per hour
Administrative assistant 15 salaries reported	$14.70 per hour

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