Answer the Phone

Some days, the day will seem

uncharacteristically smooth and

uneventful. You are packing your bags

and ready to set the building alarm

for the evening. To your surprise,

the phone begins to ring. It’s true,

often at this time of the evening, it’s

bill collectors because staff give the

school number as their main number. But

it doesn’t matter, answer the phone.

Confession- 13

On the other end of that call is

often one of the 4 C’s, Complaint,

Concern, Conflict, or Compliment.

Students have been home for an hour

or two, but parents are just arriving

from work to assess how their student’s

day transpired. That’s when the phone

begins to ring off the hook.

A story just doesn’t sit well with

the parent, and they want someone to

explain it better immediately. If you

are there to receive the desperate call,

perfect. If you are not, depending on

the severity, you end up on the other

side of the phone call from the county

office. The parent is irate, they called

the school 30 times, nobody answered or

addressed their concerns, so next phone

call,county/district office.

When parents make this call, the

small situation gets a little more energy

from either end and becomes an attention

grabber. If the county doesn’t answer or

resolve, you end up watching or hearing

the story on the evening news from the

investigative reporter who, answered

the phone.

This unfortunate scenario can be

avoided, by answering the phone. You

have the ability to quail the situation

by just being present. Listening to

the parents concerns and offering your

assistance in rectifying the issue on

the following day.

This small habit will cause days to

end smooth and mornings to begin without

the line of parents out the door with

previous days 4 C’s, Complaint, Concern,

Conflict, or Compliment.

Even though the last C does not

happen much, one evening, I answered

the phone late to my surprise. On the

other end was a fifth grade mother. She

first thanked me for answering the phone.

She stated, “ I just knew you were gone

for the day or nobody would answer the

phone.” The mother then went on to

thank me for creating the single gender

classes. She shared that her twin

daughters were going through anxiety

about leaving elementary school soon,

not being cool enough for boys, and

beginning to develop as young ladies.

The simple change to having the single

gender setting for their fifth grade

year, allowed them time to go through

these anxieties with other girls. This

she attributed to me, Taking the risk.

I received one of the C’s that day,

because I answered the phone.