SAN JOSE, CALIF.— Checking attendance for Silver Creek’s large population starts with one-half of the attendance team, Josefina Ortiz.

Ortiz is one of the attendance secretaries at Silver Creek. Everyday she follows a consistent routine in the Attendance Office to account for the attendance or absence of students with last names A-L. 

Despite a background in accounting and working for an electronics company, Ortiz mentions that her experience doesn’t apply to what she does now. It wasn’t until working at Andrew Hill High School, that she started to get familiar with working in the environment of a school. She eventually got the position as Attendance Secretary for Silver Creek, and has held that position since 2013.

Day in and day out, Ortiz checks reports of teachers taking roll for their students in class. For substitute teachers, she sends the roster in since they don’t already start with one. Throughout the day, she receives phone calls and emails from students and parents alike. When not answering from her computer or phone line, she assists students and parents coming into the Attendance Office. 

Ortiz remarks never having a slow day. Almost daily, there is going to be a student or staff that is absent. “Slow days are impossible,” she says. There are especially busy days whenever there is a holiday or a big event is happening. With the demanding schedule she adheres to as an Attendance Secretary, she is almost never absent. Even on exceptional days for family matters, she still attends to her emails and phone calls the best she can.

Even though this job is a big responsibility, she splits the duty with the other Attendance Secretary, Jacqueline Le. If Ortiz happens to be absent or on a break, people report to Le and vice versa. Since they have worked side by side for a long time, they’ve cultivated an efficient work ethic that gets the job done, even on a busy day. 

She wishes every student and parent understood how important it is to attend classes every day. “Attending your classes is like respecting the teachers and students’ time.”

Outside of work, she enjoys reading science fiction novels. One of Ortiz’s favorite novels is Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. Additionally, She also loves to crochet various pieces. She has already made three blankets with the time she has away from work.