The first full week of March is designated as Classified Employee Appreciation Week. At Clackamas ESD alone, we have more than 60 types of classified jobs. These are people who touch every corner of our agency’s work and the districts we support, from providing hands-on help to teachers, children and families, to filling endless behind-the-scenes roles to keep buildings and teams safe, cared for and high-functioning.
This Classified Employee Appreciation Week, we’re highlighting five of our more than 260 classified staff members and contractors, to provide a peek into the diverse ways this large group of employees lives our mission of service. We appreciate our entire classified team and the meaningful work they do.
Stephanie Reyes-Chavez is the administrative assistant at Clackamas Education Service District’s Clackamas Early Learning Center, which provides accessible, inclusive and culturally responsive instruction and evaluation services to children ages birth to five. For Stephanie, being the administrative assistant isn’t just about answering phones and managing paperwork — it’s about ensuring every child, family and staff member feels supported, valued and cared for.
While Stephanie handles key administrative tasks like greeting visitors, managing enrollments for the Preschool Promise program, and coordinating parent communications, she does everything she can to support CELC’s young students. She helps children get to class in the morning and steps in as a classroom aide when needed. She’s quick to offer comfort, like handing out Bandaids and dinosaur stickers to kids after a little boo-boo.
“At the start of the year, the kids were nervous about coming to school. Now they literally run in here and say, ‘Teacher Stephanie, let’s go to class!’” Stephanie says. “The energy they project recharges me.”
While Stephanie is the first face families see when they drop off their children for preschool, much of her impact happens behind the scenes, where she quietly supports the entire CELC team. She is a critical member of CELC’s safety team, responsible for checking IDs of new family members and guests, tracking safety concerns, submitting work orders for repairs and assisting with monthly emergency drills. Her contributions also include a variety of operational tasks, such as data entry for behavior tracking, managing nutrition paperwork, compiling data for grant reports, scheduling conference rooms, and submitting purchase orders for classroom supplies. Stephanie has even become a kind of “nurse’s assistant,” helping with medications and attending trainings to better support the health needs of the children.
Building relationships is at the heart of Stephanie’s work. Whether she’s helping families navigate preschool enrollment or connecting them to community resources, Stephanie is committed to ensuring every family feels supported.
“I want to make sure that if there is something that they’re really needing, we’re meeting those needs,” Stephanie says. “I love seeing kids’ progress and hearing parents share their stories. Families will come in and say, ‘My kid said their first sentence over the weekend!’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah!’”
Stephanie’s education in social work, experience working at child care centers, and her personal journey as a mom have all shaped her deep passion for supporting young children. She first learned about Clackamas ESD after her son received early intervention services for a speech delay. After making significant strides in his speech development, he began preschool in our Head Start to Success program. Stephanie volunteered in his classroom and was an active member of the Head Start parent policy council, and his teacher encouraged her to apply for positions at the new Clackamas Early Learning Center. Though she has worked at CELC for just a few months, she’s already thriving and making a significant impact. She’s even considering pursuing teaching.
“I’m discovering that teaching is a real passion for me now,” she shares. “I’m learning so many new things. It’s food for my brain. And I love it because it makes me feel like I’m discovering myself, too.”
