Every year, freshmen arrive at Bolles intimidated by their new schedule. Some decide to just wing it and see what happens, but most decide to make a trip and stop by the Academic Office for help on how to approach their new schedule.
Bolles’ Academic Office is very important in the Bolles community in helping both students and the staff function. One person that stands out and is commonly associated with the Academic Office is Ms. Linda Nettles.
Ms. Nettles has been working at Bolles for 20 years. Before she joined the Bolles family she worked across the street at San Jose Episcopal for 15 years. In her 20 years at The Bolles School, Ms. Nettles says that her favorite part about working at Bolles is “the students and the faculty, but I put the students first. They’re just special., all of them.”
Ms. Nettles has many different jobs during the working day which include answering various phone calls along with helping the Registrar and also the Associate Head of School. She said, “If there’s something I need to do, then I’ll do it. I like it. It keeps me busy.” She also enjoys helping parents who call into the school no matter how curious their requests are. “I mean, some of them are unusual and if I can work out a problem for them, that’s my favorite part,” she said.
Like many other people at Bolles, Ms. Nettles is a huge football fan: she enjoys watching the Bulldogs every Friday night which is where she has learned more and more about the game of football. “Here at school I’ve learned so much about football,” she said. “I’m surprised about the [people] that don’t know they don’t get it… it’s easy once you watch.”
Outside of Bolles, she is a very big Georgia Bulldog fan. “For college, it’s Georgia Bulldogs, of course,” she said. This fandom stems from the fact that she “lived in Georgia for a few years when my dad retired from the navy and I just loved it.”
There is a lot of change that can happen over 20 years, especially at The Bolles School. Ms. Nettles says that over her tenure at Bolles, she is still getting used to seeing the new buildings that have appeared on campus and that it takes some time to adjust to the new view.
Every year brings new faces to Bolles. Mrs. Nettles says that meeting new students is what she looks forward to most every year: “meeting all the new students and seeing the looks on their faces when you first see them in August and then when you see them in May. It’s totally different… seeing their faces and knowing, some of them are going to one college or another. The best thing about that is they come back. They always come back to see us.”
There are many things that come to mind when someone has to experience their first day of freshman year or even their first year at Bolles. Ms. Nettles’ advice to new students is to “Just relax. Take it easy. Enjoy what you see. Get into asking questions… It only takes about a week, and all of a sudden, everything calms down.”
On the other hand, for students who are experiencing their last year of high school, her advice is to remember what you learned from your time at Bolles. “Take what you’ve learned from here because you’re going to need it. I’ve heard that from alum that comes back… they just boast about how they know how to do the essays… they’re helping people in their dorm.”