A Clover Park School District story.
Our Clover Park School District Staff Spotlight this week features itinerant nurse for Oakbrook and Custer elementary schools and Hudtloff Middle School, Tracy Park, RN BSN NCSN.
Tracy was a hospital nurse for ten years before becoming a school nurse six years ago. She wanted a more structured schedule that aligned with the schedule of her young children. “Working for CPSD has allowed me to have more work-life balance with my family and increased my quality of life,” she said.
As an itinerant nurse, Tracy works with students at elementary, middle and sometimes high school to create care plans so they can attend class knowing their health requirements are met. To be in this position, you have to be able to adapt to different circumstances, personalities and needs. “I’m very adaptable and can morph into whatever a school or the department needs me to do,” she said. “It’s exciting to see different aged students throughout the day and it’s fun when I see them from elementary school all the way through high school as years go by.”
Tracy’s job consists mostly of vital paperwork that is required to ensure students with varying health requirements can legally attend school. It can be very intense, but Tracy’s goal of supporting CPSD students has always made her job feel like a piece of cake. “It’s the kids, they crack me up,” she said. “They always have something funny to say, even though they may not mean to, because they are so honest. It’s refreshing and I love working with them.”
Above all, Tracy is proud to contribute to a community she has called home since she was a student walking the halls of her CPSD schools. “I went to school here and now I know the kids of people who were my classmates,” she said. “Since parents know me, they come to me with their questions and it’s nice to feel like a familiar face my community is comfortable with.”
