The Lower School Administrative Assistant serves as a warm, welcoming, and supportive presence for students, families, faculty, and visitors and plays an essential role in the daily operations of the Lower School. As one of the first points of contact for Lower School families, this individual should be approachable, organized, responsive, and genuinely committed to serving children and families while demonstrating the care, grace, and hospitality of Christ.

Key Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Lower School Principal to provide administrative and organizational support.

• Assist with communication, scheduling, documentation, correspondence, special projects, and other daily administrative needs.

• Help the Principal manage competing priorities and ensure important tasks and deadlines are completed.

• Maintain a high level of confidentiality and discretion when handling student, family, faculty, and school information.

• Serve as a warm, welcoming, and helpful first point of contact for Lower School families, students, and visitors.

• Answer parent phone calls and emails in a timely, professional, and compassionate manner.

• Respond to questions and concerns or direct families to the appropriate faculty or staff member.

• Assist families and students with day-to-day needs and provide a welcoming presence in the Lower School office.

• Issue carpool numbers and provide carpool tags to families as needed.

• Collect and maintain student absence notes, physician notes, and other required documentation.

• Maintain and organize student cumulative folders and assist with accurate student records.

• Coordinate the distribution of student report cards and state testing results to families.

• Coordinate substitute teachers when classroom teachers are absent.

• Support teachers with administrative needs and requests as appropriate.

• Order, organize, and distribute classroom, Lower School, and beginning-of-year student supplies.

• Assist with planning, organizing, and executing Lower School events, celebrations, programs, and family activities.

• Coordinate event details including communication, registration, supplies, volunteers, schedules, vendors, and other logistical needs.

• Organize and coordinate Lower School field trips, including communication with teachers, families, and vendors.

• Ensure required field trip permissions and documentation are collected and verify that chaperones have current background checks on file.

• Assist faculty and administration in communicating and reinforcing Lower School policies.

• Help maintain a safe, orderly, organized, and welcoming office and school environment.

• Perform other duties and special projects as assigned by the Lower School Principal.

Required Personal Qualities

• Have received Jesus Christ as his/her personal Savior and Lord.

• Believe that the Bible is God’s Word and standard for faith and daily life.

• Be in whole-hearted agreement with the PCS Statement of Faith and Statement on Marriage and Sexuality.

• Serve as a Christian role model in attitude, speech, and actions toward others.

• Be a member in good standing at a local evangelical church whose doctrine agrees with the school’s Statement of Faith.

• Demonstrate the importance of Scripture study, prayer, witnessing, and unity in the Body of Christ.

• Recognize the role of parents as primarily responsible before God for their children’s education.

• Demonstrate courtesy, flexibility, integrity, kindness, self-control, perseverance, and punctuality.

• Meet everyday stress with emotional stability, objectivity, and optimism.

• Maintain a personal appearance consistent with Christian values and school policy.

• Use clear and appropriate English in written and oral communication.

• Maintain strict confidentiality regarding student, family, faculty, and school matters.

Required Skills / Abilities

• Loves the Lord and desires to serve Him in this capacity.

• Possesses a discipleship heart and mindset.

• Energetic, self-starting, and people-oriented.

• Strong organizational skills with excellent attention to detail.

• Able to work well under pressure and with a sense of urgency.

• Flexible and able to manage changing priorities and unexpected situations.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

• Able to establish positive relationships with students, families, faculty, and staff.

• Demonstrates initiative, dependability, and a commitment to completing tasks.

• Comfortable using technology and able to learn new systems and tools.

• Able to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion.

• Demonstrates strong teamwork, time management, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or higher preferred.

• Experience in an administrative, educational, or school-office setting is beneficial.

• Familiarity with technology and the ability to learn new systems and processes.

• Experience working with students, families, faculty, or other members of a school community is preferred.

Portland Christian School's Statement of Faith

1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, and only infallible, authoritative, inerrant Word of God (II Timothy 3:15; II Peter 1:21).

2. We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:1; Matthew 28:19; John 10:30).

3. We believe in the deity of Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His personal return in power and glory.

4. We believe that all people sin and can be saved only by God’s grace through faith in Christ crucified and raised from the dead.

5. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost.

6. We believe God created the sacrament of marriage to be the union of one man and one woman and is a reflection of Christ's relationship to His church.

7. We believe that God wonderfully created each person as distinctly male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God.

8. We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image and is therefore to be defended, protected, and valued.

9. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

10. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.

11. We believe that Christians' top priorities are the Great Commandment and the Great Commission: that we should seek for ourselves and our students that we love the Lord with all our being and love our neighbor as ourselves and seek to make disciples of the Lord Jesus in all the world.

Final Authority for Matters of Belief and Conduct

This Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. For purposes of Portland Christian School’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy and discipline, our Board of Directors is the final interpretive authority on the Bible’s application.

Thrive is an equal opportunity employer