Celebrating Excellence: Nancy Bergsten Wins 2024 Staff Recognition Award

Nancy Bergsten, admission coordinator and administrative assistant, is the recipient of the 2024 Staff Recognition Award for her distinguished service to the school community.

“Nancy is the consummate professional,” says Aaron Kellenberger, director of enrollment management. “Not only is she dedicated to her enrollment duties within the Admission Office, but she is dedicated to the greater good of Country Day through her outreach among and across our various offices, departments, and the entire institution.”

The Staff Recognition Award honors full- or part-time staff members for outstanding workplace achievements that contribute to the school’s excellence. The head of school and the cabinet team review submissions to select one award recipient each year. An individual may win the award only once during his or her CCDS tenure.

The 2024-25 school year marks Nancy’s eighth year at Country Day, where she has worked with the Admission Office since the beginning. Nancy has a lot of responsibilities – she reviews new student applications and communicates with those families by providing them informational packets about Country Day, sends out contracts for new and re-enrolling students, and keeps the applicant database updated and organized. That last responsibility is no easy task, especially with the recent transition to Veracross, the school’s new data management platform.

“I find my job very challenging, in a good way,” says Nancy. “As we have moved our data over to Veracross, I have had to learn how the system works and share that information with our team. And with my background in information technology, I have enjoyed the challenge of overhauling and learning a new system. I am never bored.”

Aaron knows how valuable Nancy’s previous experience has been to the Admissions Office and Country Day.

“Nancy has modernized our admission process with her technology background and is an even greater asset to the larger community,” says Aaron. “She has been the point person for everything Veracross at Country Day and has either assisted in developing or has fully developed processes, procedures, and best practices for admission, re-enrollment/financial aid, summer programs, student accounts, portals, calendar, and general database operations.”

And while Nancy never feels bored with the challenges she gets to tackle in her role, she also enjoys working with in the Admissions Office each day.

“We very much are all part of the same team,” says Nancy. “Everybody has autonomy to get their job done, but it still feels very collaborative – we are very flexible and supportive of one another when it comes to working together and helping each other out.”

Nancy continues, “It feels like I am working with people who know and understand the school because many of them have been here for many years and either are or have been parents or teachers at Country Day. Everyone is very invested in the success of the school.”

Her team members share the same enthusiasm for working with her as she has for working with them.

“Nancy epitomizes the qualities of a natural leader and a dedicated team player,” says Alyssa Witte, all-school receptionist and administrative assistant. “Each day, she empowers those around her, encouraging us to learn and grow in our respective roles. I have personally benefited from her guidance, and I know that many others have experienced the same. She personifies CCDS values.”

When Nancy first found out she won the Staff Recognition Award, she was a little shy about it because she is “not someone who looks for attention.” But after soaking in the news, she was proud to receive the award.

“I like to help people understand things, so I feel this award is a reflection of me being able to accomplish that,” says Nancy. “It is nice to know that the people I work with feel that I contribute so much to the overall good of the school. This job has been very enjoyable. When I look back on my career, I have no doubt that working at Country Day will go down as my favorite place to have worked.”