Position Title:             Administrative Assistant (Bilingual) - Elementary and ELL Department

Bargaining Unit:         Grand Rapids Association of Education Office (GRAEOP)

Pay Rate:                    Determined by the collective bargaining agreement

Earning Days:             Determined by the negotiated calendar

GRPS MISSION: Our mission is to ensure that all students are educated, self-directed and productive members of society.

SUMMARY OF POSITION:  

The administrative assistant is responsible to and provides administrative support services to the Executive Directors of K-8 Schools and ELL. The successful candidate will work closely with the Executive Director and the School Improvement Facilitators providing a link with the principals, other district staff, parents, students and the community. Applicant must possess excellent English and Spanish, verbal and written skills.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS - Essential functions under the Americans with Disabilities Act may include any of the following duties, knowledge and skills. This list is illustrative only and is not a comprehensive listing of all functions and duties performed by employees in this position. Regular on time and in person attendance is an essential function of this job. Other essential functions may include, but are not limited to the following:

JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Assist in the administration and operation of district, state, and federal programs including Title III, Migrant, and Bilingual education.
• Assist with duties requested daily. Take dictation, compile office information, research data, prepare reports, and provide timely report completion.
• Understand the administrators’ responsibilities in order to effectively assist with completion of job tasks and major projects.
• Assist with preparation and coordination of formal presentations and parent meetings.
• Interpret requests for information; determine appropriate information to be generated in order to respond to citizens, board members, news media, and other staff on a variety of topics. Research, identify, or prepare appropriate information for responses to such requests.
• Responsible for tracking program material inventories.
• Responsible for updating and distributing program manuals.
• Responsible for interpreting and translation in both Spanish and English.
• Assist with program planning, including summer school.
• Responsible for accessing Total Recall, as well as other student information databases, and inputting and updating appropriate student information in MEDS (Migrant Education Data System).
• Responsible for entering student information or authorized information into MEGS (Michigan Electronic Grants System).    
• Answer main office telephone, summarize and prioritize the phone and other messages, respond for administrators as appropriate, and directing calls to the appropriate person within the district.
• Assist cabinet members, principals, parents, district staff, and community, providing administrative assistant support and backup for others in the Central Academic Office, as necessary.
• Schedule meetings, maintain GroupWise calendar, maintain daily schedule for administrator(s), organize and prioritize all communication within the division. 
• Assist in preparation and organization of all meetings and special in-services. Prepare/type materials, assemble packets; arrange scheduling of speakers, and coordinate details. Prepare evaluations, organize, and report the data back to the executive director.
• Attend meetings, records, and transcribe minutes. Assist with the organization of District level meetings as necessary. 
• Process staff payroll and maintain records that include extra compensation for training, in-service, and curriculum development. Additionally, process numerous supplemental time sheets from schools, including confirmation of the account numbers and rates of pay.
• Assist in the preparation and administration of department budgets, working directly with business office staff to maintain and monitor budgets for assigned areas. 
• Distribute mail, compose, and type correspondences, process purchase orders and supply requisitions, budget transfers, fund transfers, mileage reimbursement forms, and payment request forms.
• Conduct regular meetings with the Executive Director to provide updates on department expenses.
• Responsible for developing and maintaining work systems that provide effective organization and quality work for the department administrator.
• Organize and maintain the filing system for correspondence, information, data, records, etc.
• Interact with co-workers, administration, students, parents, and the community in a positive, supportive, and cooperative way.
• Coordinate district wide functions, as required by the administrator.
• In-person and on-time attendance is mandatory.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

This description describes the type and level of work performed by a person assigned to this position.  It is not an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities required in the position.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: 

• High School diploma or equivalent required.

• One year of successful previous secretarial experience.

• Knowledge of the District and its operations and procedures required.
• Demonstrated experience working with computers required. 
• Demonstrated excellent organizational skills, required.
• Demonstrated high level of technical skills. Must be able to transfer data from one system to another and create and manage reports, documents, etc. in a timely manner.

• Successful completion of secretarial testing required.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Associate degree in Secretarial Science or Computer Science, preferred.
• Excellent bilingual English/Spanish, written and verbal skills, preferred.
• Three years of successful cabinet level administrative assistance experience, preferred.
• Experience in a school building, preferred.
• Excellent knowledge of Windows based programs (Word, Excel, Access, Publisher, PowerPoint), required.  Proficiency in the District’s GroupWise email program, payroll, student and financial systems strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated shorthand skills, preferred.

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Experience with a variety of office equipment.
• Demonstrated ability to work well with school District employees, parents, students, and community members.
• Demonstrated ability to work well as a team member.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a diverse environment.
• Desire to continuously improve skills and knowledge.
• Demonstrated accurate typing skills.
• Demonstrated evidence of leadership ability.
• Demonstrated respect for confidentiality of information.
• Demonstrated excellent attendance and punctuality.
• Ability to handle diverse projects in a limited amount of time and under pressure.
• Demonstrated flexibility and initiative.
• Demonstrated ability to work well in high stress situations.
• Experience and knowledge in dealing with the public, media, and diverse groups of people as well as the ability to communicate and comprehend independently.            
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively under pressure and in an environment of constantly changing priorities and work assignments.
• Demonstrated effective writing, spelling, and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently.
• Willingness and ability to work overtime without prior notice, as necessary.

ADA REQUIREMENTS:        

The physical demands, work environment factors, and mental functions described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to stand, walk, sit, use hands to finger, handle, or feel, reach with hands and arms, climb or balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl, talk, hear (in a quiet or noisy environment). The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision and ability to adjust/focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The noise level in the work environment is usually loud to moderate. 

MENTAL FUNCTIONS:
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to compare, analyze, communicate both orally and in writing, copy, coordinate, instruct, compute, synthesize, evaluate, use interpersonal skills, compile and negotiate.

METHOD OF APPLICATION:

Grand Rapids Public Schools manages employment applications online.  Applications must be completed online at https://grps.tedk12.com/hire.

No hardcopy applications/resumes will be accepted for this position.  Computer terminals are available in the GRPS Franklin Campus lobby from 8:00am – 4:00pm, Monday-Friday, for applicant use (Monday – Thursday during the summer).

Non-Discrimination

The Grand Rapids Public Schools will not discriminate against any person based on race, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression, height, weight, color, religion, national origin, age, marital status, pregnancy, disability, veteran or military status.

Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations: Assistance with the application process may be requested through the Human Resources Department at 616 819-2022 or humanresources@grps.org