As you enter the Student Services wing and pass the attendance clerks, a cozy hallway greets you. Inside lies a hidden gem: the Deans’ Office. The deans work with Student Support Teams (SSTs), made up of a dean, counselor, social worker, and psychologist, Ron Bean, Assistant Principal and Dean of Students, said. They help students on a daily basis, and keep the South community safe and running smoothly, he said. Every freshman student is assigned a SST that they stick with for all four years of high school, Bean added.
The day-to-day role of the deans is fluid, Bean said. From meetings with SSTs and helping students find their classes, to meeting with parents, South’s four deans– Bean, Associate Dean Ashly Song, Associate Dean Mark Knoeppel, and Associate Dean Damien Braude– create a safe place physically and emotionally for students, Bean explained.
“What I want [everyone] at South to know is that no matter the issue, if you come to the Deans’ Office and you talk to any of [us], you will be listened to, respected, and supported,” Bean said. “We don’t have all the answers, but we will help you figure out where that answer is. We want to be a resource for everybody.”
The SST teams meet weekly, and each member of the team has expertise in their respective field, Principal Dr. Barbara Georges said. Counselors know students’ grades and courses, social workers know how to provide social and emotional support for students, school psychologists understand the adolescent mind, and the deans know students’ behavior and attendance, Georges explained.
“The reason these teams are so powerful is [because] they catch any students who might be falling through the cracks, which is [not] easy to do in a school this big,” Georges said. “These teams do amazing work to look for any red flags to catch someone before they fall.”
The deans are also responsible for creating and enforcing the student code of conduct, Bean explained. Since they cannot be everywhere, the deans rely on the students to let them know if something is going on, Song explained.
“The deans want to work with students and families,” Song said. “Sometimes that might include giving consequences, [and] seeing if there’s something that needs to be addressed.”
While having to regulate student behavior and dole out punishments on a regular basis may be tiring, it is worth it to see how students work through the trials and tribulations of high school life, Bean said.
“The best part of my job are the young people that I get to work with because I get to see [them] come in here as freshmen and watch them grow for four years,” Bean said. “I get to be a part of their journey, watch them grow, watch them struggle, [and] be a resource so they leave here a little bit better than they came.”
