Nina Ledger is the executive secretary at East Hartford Middle School where she has worked for 10 years. Her ability to remain calm, composed and positive in the fast-paced middle school main office allows her to balance many tasks and provide excellent service to the school community.
“I truly mean it when I say our school could not function as well as it does without Nina,” said East Hartford Middle School Principal Joe Pearce. “She does absolutely everything here. She's someone that we all count on. Our staff love her. Our parents love her. She is tremendous. She's a tremendous person.”
She has the critical role of managing all substitute coverage for the middle school to ensure all roles and responsibilities are covered each and every day. She schedules meetings, manages the principal’s calendar, fields phone and email inquiries, and much more.
“Even when things may be not going as well as they should, she always stays calm and polite and positive. And that's just the ultimate professional in terms of customer service, student service, staff service and service to the parents and the community of East Hartford Middle School,” explained Pearce.
Nina has also taken it upon herself to spread some EHMS pride with the community. She runs the school’s Instagram account sharing good news and information, and she added a community bulletin board in front of the school to promote programs and resources.
“That's just something extra that she does because she wants to do it. She wants to make our school a better place, and she's just good at it,” said Pearce. “She really leans into that service leadership where she just wants to go above and beyond, do what’s right, and do the extra bit just because she has so much pride in her work. I think she knows that she makes a difference.”
Learn more about Nina Ledger in the Q&A below.
How did you start your career with East Hartford Public Schools and what brought you to this role?
Ledger: I've been with East Hartford Middle School for about ten years. I started off my career in public schools working as a secretary supporting grade-level assistant principals, and moved into my current role as an executive secretary about two years ago. Prior to that, I was in human resources. I decided to take a leave after I had my daughters and wanted to work in a setting where we had more of a similar schedule. I really, really loved it from the beginning and decided to stay within the field.
What does an average day look like for you? What are some of your roles and responsibilities?
Ledger: So, an average day would be opening up the main office in the morning. One of my main duties is providing sub coverage for the school. That includes all the teachers, behavior managers, everyone. So I start off making sure everybody's covered, managing the building substitutes that come in. And then after that, there are really no two days that are similar. It's fielding calls from parents, helping students, staff with whatever they need. I really enjoy being kind of in the center of the school, supporting the entirety of the school community. It’s a lot of answering phones, doing projects for Mr. Pearce, supporting the staff with whatever they may need. And I also do manage our social media accounts, so I really enjoy doing that as well, spreading out what we're doing in the school community with the public.
At a school this size, with so many students and staff members, the main office can become very busy. How do you stay organized and take care of all of your tasks?
Ledger: It's a very fast-paced environment, and you have to be very adaptable with change. So, you know, being flexible, open minded about what the day's going to look like. I enjoy the fast-paced environment of the position. It’s just time management, making sure you prioritize what needs to get done first. But the busyness is what keeps me going.
I also think it’s having a very calm demeanor. I don't get stressed out very easily because you have to kind of keep your composure under stress. And I have always been in a fast-paced environment having worked in human resources before. So, I think it's just being able to adapt to situations as they arise, whether it's calming and de-escalating someone that's upset, a staff member, student or a family. I think that definitely helps.
Having come from a different workplace setting, what do you enjoy about working in a school?
Ledger: I absolutely love working with the students. I've always had a passion for being within a school environment. And being in the position I am, I am able to work with the graduation committee, work on award ceremonies, so it allows me to kind of get to know a lot of the different students from different grades and different academies.
What do you love most about your job?
Ledger: I love the community feel and the people that I work with. I feel like that makes such a huge difference. I feel like it's a family here. We all work very well together. I love being able to help people out, whether it's the staff or the families, students. I feel like that team effort mentality is what keeps me going, and I really enjoy it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.