Every time you walk into the main office whether it be for a kippah, a lunch pass or a late note, there is one person that is always behind the desk: Front Desk Administrator Assistant Kendra Dunbar.

Dunbar came to CESJDS from a staffing agency in August 2014 for what was initially a three-month trial to see if she liked the job. Dunbar was happy with her role, and she has stayed ever since. She is responsible for many things, and is always busy.

“I do like the fact that I am constantly busy, it makes my day go by fast,” Dunbar said. “[At] a lot of jobs people tend to get bored; this is definitely not a position where people get bored.”

As an administrative assistant, Dunbar’s responsibilities include updating attendance records in Powerschool and archiving them for attendance-related issues, making a list of students that get lunch for the administrator running the lunch line and fixing malfunctions with student IDs at the cafeteria turnstile.

She has also been given some more spontaneous responsibilities. One of these was before graduation, when Dean of Students Roz Landy asked her to organize the ticketing.

Dunbar also gets some unscheduled guests: students who have misbehaved in class. Dunbar gives them a form to fill out about their actions and then calls Assistant to Dean of Students Steve Forestieri who comes to talk to the student and takes over the situation. Dunbar knows her customers when it comes to discipline forms.

“You see certain students more frequently than others,” Dunbar said.

Dunbar’s most important role in the school is to be the first face that people see when they walk into the door. She has to be pleasant and welcoming towards visitors and help answer their questions. Having someone sitting at the front desk is so important that when Dunbar is on her lunchbreak, another administrative assistant has to fill in for her.

“She is the welcoming face; she is kind, calm and very level-headed,” Landy said. “She keeps things running smoothly which is so important at the front desk.”