Barb Hallgren - Attendance Secretary and Fine Arts Secretary

Location: Mercer Island High School

Job description: The attendance office near the front entrance of the high school has a barista-like window facing onto the hallway. The person standing behind the window is often called upon to answer questions from passersby. Consequently, Barb sits at the other end of her office where she’s not easily seen. She does have a mirror above her desk should one of her TAs be unavailable. “If I sat at the window,” she laughs, “I’d never get anything done!” Officially, the attendance office is where students submit their absence-excuse notes. Barb ensures attendance accuracy and that all notes are filed. “If I didn’t have TAs,” she says, “it would be tough. They stand at the hallway window so I can do my work. I expect a lot from them.”

The Fine Arts portion of Barb’s job involves managing budgets for high school music, art, drama, and middle school music. She prepares open PO’s, processes bills and reconciles them against their respective budgets. “I move money around,” says Barb. “It’s a big job.” She also gathers the information for high school concerts, designs the layout of programs and produces them on the copy machine. She maintains the Fine Arts calendar for the district, coordinating with all elementary, IMS and HS music teachers.

Typical day: Barb begins her day at 7:30 a.m. For the first 45 minutes she is very busy with kids dropping off their absence notes. “It’s nonstop with a lot of ups-and-downs out of my chair,” says Barb. “It’s necessary to mesh both my jobs together and jump from one to the other as needed.”

Best part of the job: The students. “My first ten years in this district were spent as a paraprofessional at West Mercer,” says Barb. “I loved working with little kids. When I transferred to the high school I was afraid the students were going to eat me alive!” Happily, Barbs fears were unfounded. “It’s been wonderful,” she says. It’s also enabled her to track the progress of some students. “A young man came to my window and said ‘Mrs. Hallgren! You taught me how to read!’ I love seeing the kids grow up.”

Something people may not know: Barb graduated from MIHS. She married her almost-high school sweetheart, Dave – (“I met him just after I graduated”). She and Dave have been married for 37 years and still live on the Island.

Years in district: Barb has worked for the district for 21 years, starting as a paraprofessional at West Mercer when her children attended the school.

Outside interests: Barb loves spending time with family and friends. For 30 years, she and Dave have owned a little red cabin in Long Beach, WA. Says Barb, “We consider it glorified camping!” It’s 100 years old, 500 square feet, lacks insulation and a bathroom, but it does have an outhouse, a pitcher-pump kitchen sink, and a kerosene-stove heater. “It’s our home-away-from-home,” says Barb. Their other favorite getaway is a time-share in Hawaii, where they try to visit once a year. Barb and Dave have three grown children – Jason, Craig, and Lindsey, as well as a grandson, Landon. Barb loves to go for walks and to read.