There are some key people in your school building that you should build a good relationship with quickly.  I have found the key people to be the school secretary, custodian and lunch supervisor.  Each of these people are instrumental in how the school runs.  Building a good relationship with these people will help you out.

The secretary really runs the school and she’s the gatekeeper to the principal.  If you want your orders to get made and nice things said about you in the office talk, be sure you’re sweet to the secretary.  Have conversations with her and find out about her.  When you pass through the office, ask her how her children are or her dog or about her recent weekend trip.  She’ll think you’re just wonderful and in return, she’ll be willing to speak kindly of you and go the extra mile for you.

If you want things done quickly around your classroom, become friends with the custodian.  Be sure to give a genuine thank you to him when a job gets done.  Seek him out and let him know what a great job the night crew did cleaning up after your messy art day.  Apologize when you do have an extra messy day.  Have your students do an end of day classroom clean-up to make the custodian’s job a bit easier.  I’ve also been known to ask the custodian not to clean up if the children leave it a mess when they leave.  They come to school the next morning to a messy room and realize how important our custodian is and their role in helping to keep things clean.

Finally, be kind to the lunch supervisor.  School lunch may have been touted as something to be avoided at all costs, but it’s my experience that school lunch has improved quite a bit.  Options including salads are available and it can be very convenient.  It can, however be expensive for an adult lunch.  My husband is an expert at making friends with the lunch supervisor and crew.  He receives all kinds of offers from them; everything from full meals to the extra desserts.  They seek him out specifically because he gets to know them and makes jokes with them.  The lunch crew is often ignored as they work behind the glass, and when you show a little special attention, it goes a long way.

In addition to these key people, it’s important to get to know the school staff in general.  Who has that stash of everything that could help you out in a pinch?  Who is the technology guru?  Who knows just how to help you with that one student?

Knowing the people of your school will take you a long way in making life easier so you can concentrate on your job…teaching.

Your freebie for this post in the back to school series are themed thank you notes.  Be sure to use them to let the key people at your school know how much you appreciate them.  I also keep them on hand to give to students when they bring a gift or when a parent helps out in the classroom on a special day. BTW…If you liked the images I used throughout this post, they are available in our store here.

Here are the freebie options.  Click the link to get the PDF file.  They are quarter fold cards.

Thank You Card Nautical     Thank You Card Pirate     Thank You Card Western

Thank You Card Popscicle     Thank You Card Frogs     Thank You Card Robot

Thank You Card Bird

Who are the key people in your school?  In what ways have these relationships helped you?  Be sure to comment, link and hop through other blog posts about the personnel relationships at school.