If just 20 of SMCHS’s 220 employees were to walk off campus for more than a few hours, the rest of the school would cease to function as we know it.

A couple of these staff members get to school at 5 a.m. every morning. Others stay at school out of necessity until 1 a.m. on some nights. They are skilled laborers who clean, repair, build, set up on-campus events, landscape, provide transportation and deal with other miscellaneous situations and projects.

These 20 men make up the Facilities Maintenance Department, and nothing at school is possible without their supervision and assistance.

“A lot of times people think, ‘Oh, they’re custodians, they clean up the campus,’” said Lu Dominguez, Vice President of Administration, who supervises the Facilities Maintenance Department. “I’m afraid this department does much more than clean the facility.”

The maintenance crew is instrumental in setting up for school dances, plays, fundraiser events, banquets, school Masses and much more.

For example, it takes every person on the second shift (eight or nine workers) to set up for a school dance. They are pulled off of their regular shift to complete a special setup like this, but they are still responsible for completing their other usual and necessary tasks in addition.

If a faculty or staff member wants an event to be set up, they can send an email to facilities reservation.  Sometimes the crew might have two or three setups a day, given all the activities and events that take place on campus on a weekly — even daily — basis.

When the party’s over and the fun has been had, it is the same department who cleans it all up and is responsible for returning everything to its original state.  When you walk in the next day, it’s as if nothing had ever taken place.  Talk about some major behind-the-scenes action.

“No matter what special events are going on at school, they still have their regular work to do,” said Diana Harris, Facilities Department administrative assistant. “They don’t cut their work because of extra tasks. They just make sure everything gets done. Sometimes they are here until 12 or 1 a.m. for Mass setup, even though they are only supposed to work until 11 p.m. They do what it takes.”

Both the first and second maintenance shifts consist of a wide variety of necessary jobs and tasks that keep the school running.  You have probably never even considered how the maintenance staff thoroughly cleans each one of your classrooms every single night. Or that somebody goes around campus and unlocks every door to all the buildings on campus two and a half hours before school starts.

However, this only scratches the surface of what the job entails.

The first regular shift starts at 6 a.m. and lasts until 2:30 p.m. Given that this first shift takes place during school hours, the morning staff takes care of any emergencies or situations that need an immediate response. Repairs can take place during the day if they are outside of the classroom, along with landscaping, trash pickup, lunch shelter cleanup, pool maintenance and other miscellaneous everyday jobs.

The second shift runs from 2:30 to 11 p.m. Most of the major deep cleaning takes place during the second shift and, consequently, more people work this shift.  During the week, they go into each classroom and vacuum, take out the trash, wipe down the desks, make sure the blinds and lights are working properly and refill hand sanitizer and tissues so that students will come into a clean and stocked classroom every morning.

“They do it because they love this place,” Dominguez said. “They care about our students. They have the same loyalty and dedication as any other employee at the school.”

Facilities Management Director Frank Ortega oversees the entire department and campus. He has worked in facilities business and education, both public and Catholic, for 30 years.

“I’ve never been around a group of guys who are so passionate about what they do,” Ortega said. “They take pride in their work and they never say no. They’re always willing to do whatever it takes for anyone.”

Students’ minds are not preoccupied with the intricate procedures of maintaining the school’s functionality, but the maintenance crew’s hard work demands respect from those who reap the benefits of a clean and smoothly running campus.

“I don’t know if the students think about it,” Harris said. “I think they probably expect the school to be clean but don’t really think about how it gets done.”

Not only do we expect it to be clean, but we have grown so used to the spectacular setup of every on-campus school event that the bar for “normal” at SMCHS has been set extremely high.  The hard work of the maintenance staff is incomparable and the quality of the outcome is unparalleled.

“It’s a group that deserves a little bit of recognition and I don’t think people understand and appreciate how things are done around here,” Dominguez said. “I think it would be nice to recognize how they are always there to make our lives so much easier. If they weren’t here, who would be doing all those things?”

So next time you find yourself wondering how our campus looks so picture-perfect on a daily basis, take a few moments to appreciate the constant dedication our hard-working maintenance staff puts in to ensure that us Eagles have a special nest to call home.