Ms. Nicoll joins staff

Ms. Mary Nicoll is the new secretary in the high school office. Ms. Nicoll joined the staff in June in place of the late office secretary Ms. Heather Hetrick.

Ms. Nicoll said she loves working with students of all ages, but enjoys high school students the most. She added she has been working in academic administrative support for approximately 25 years; she has worked in elementary, middle, high school, private colleges and universities.

Ms. Nicoll said her daily duties in the office include tracking student attendance, taking phone calls from parents, running reports and sending attendance letters. She interacts with students by greeting students that arrive late, dismiss early or helping students that have general questions, she added.

According to Ms. Nicoll, the hardest part of her job is learning student and staff names, as well as being new to the community.

“The part of the job that is the most fun is getting to know the students,” she added.

Ms. Nicoll was raised on Long Island, about 40 minutes from New York City. She said she attended a high school with a current enrollment of around 2,000 students.

Ms. Nicoll said that the Milton High School is fairly similar to middle schools where she previously worked, but it is different from New York schools. She added that university work was different because she had been working with more staff.

According to Ms. Nicoll, she has adjusted to handling daily attendance and working remotely when necessary, which was a change from when she was working as an attendance secretary in another school prior to COVID-19.

Outside of work, Ms. Nicoll said that she loves the arts, reading and activism.

“I am currently obsessing on plants, outdoor landscaping, vegetable gardening, permaculture and houseplants,” she added.

Permaculture is ecosystem design and management, said Ms. Nicoll. “We are beginners and just looking to rework our yard…We still have a lot to learn,” she added.

Ms. Nicoll said she has been in Pennsylvania since 2016, but moved to Mifflinburg in 2019.

Ms. Nicoll has a son in tenth grade who attends Mifflinburg High School. She also has two older daughters, who are now living on their own.

“Our daughters are Ethiopian, and I was able to travel over to bring them home in 2007,” she said. Ms. Nicoll added she and her family have hosted numerous exchange students from Spain and think of them as their own.

Co-principal Mr. Andrew Rantz said that Ms. Nicoll has added her own touches to the procedures that are unique to Attendance Secretary, making the position “her own.”

“Ms. Nicoll has taken on the role of Attendance Secretary and done a great job of adjusting to the demands of the job,” which involves all aspects of student attendance, including serving as a liaison between the school and the District Magistrate, he added.