After 30 years, a familiar face at the front desk at Boulder High School will be retiring.
Juletta Frank, the school’s receptionist and school support assistant, knows the school inside and out – in part because of her long tenure, but also because she was once a student there.
In fact, the 1968 graduate was actually present for the very first paper drop. That is when graduating seniors toss their school papers in the air in the courtyard, marking the end of their time at Boulder High.
“Yeah, it started the year my brother graduated. They're the ones that started that,” Frank recalled. “They told me to hold on to all of my papers. I didn't know why, until then.”
After going off to college and traveling with her husband, as he served abroad in Italy, she eventually came back to Colorado and Boulder and took a job at her alma mater.
“I started here not as a secretary, but as a para in the building,” Frank said.
She’s worn a lot of hats of the years, from working in the library to taking care of the copy machines to helping students in the health room. Two decades ago, she took on her current role.
“It fits me well because I like to multitask and I like to be busy,” Frank said.
The day we visited, we caught her in the middle of tracking substitute teachers for the day and answering a lot of questions from students, staff and visiting parents.
She is often one of the first staffers in the building and has to run around and unlock some of the doors in the building. If you’ve ever been to Boulder High School, you know that navigating the building built in 1933, takes some know-how.
“There are at least two classrooms that I can't get you to from here,” Frank said with a laugh. “You know, one is the weight room. I can get you pretty close, but I can't get there. Another difficult one is the art room because if you go too far, you're outside.”
She is even responsible for programming the school’s bell schedule and making changes on the fly, when needed.
While the work can be hectic, she has loved her role of being a connector for so many at Boulder High.
“I consider myself the ‘point person.’ I point that way, and I point that way,” she said with a laugh. “I give answers when I know the answers, but a lot of times it's just knowing the person to send them to with the answer.”
While they’re big shoes to fill, she’s confident in her successor.
“It’s a new era. I took over from a different era, so we all have our times,” Frank said. “Guy [Knauer] is going to take the position and he's organized and I think he'll do a great job. I don't think that'll be a problem. Yeah, it won’t be the same, but it doesn’t need to be.”
She says she feels so lucky to be part of the legacy of such a storied school, originally founded in 1875.
“I feel very proud to be part of this. I'm very proud of Boulder High,” Frank said. “I think it's a great school, and I think it will go on to be a great school. I don't think this is going to end just because I walk out the door. There's wonderful people here and while I work my tail off, there are people that work a whole lot harder to keep this whole thing running.”
“It's going to be really hard to walk out that door for the last time, because I really, truly love it here. I love the kids” Frank added.
Frank and all of the other 2024 BVSD retirees were honored during a special event at the Boulder Broker Inn on May 16.