Kristine Lin
Vallen Queen, secretary at Palo Alto High School, manages the behind-the-scenes of substitute teacher logistics from the front desk at the Tower Building. According to Queen, her post-retirement plans will involve catching up on sleep and setting out for the next chapter of her life. “I'm not going to do too much except sleep for the first six months because I get here at 6:30 in the morning,” Queen said. “Then, I am going to look for a house, probably up near Sacramento, buy a house, and, for the first time in my life, have a house all to myself and decorate it the way I want to and do whatever I want to.”
Known for her generous bowls of candy, insightful advice and close student connections, Palo Alto High School secretary Vallen Queen has sat at the front desk of the Tower Building for the better part of two decades. There, she greets visitors, schedules substitute teachers and organizes calendars for the assistant principals, all to ensure the school runs smoothly. After 26 years at Paly, Queen will retire at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
According to Queen, she made the decision after her mom passed away and she was looking to move out of the area.
“I decided to retire for lots of different reasons, mostly because my mom, who I’ve been living with and taking care of for the last 25 years, passed away in November,” Queen said.
Queen arrived at Paly in 1999 as a librarian after being an aide at Juana Briones Elementary School. As secretary, Queen said her favorite part of the job was getting to know all the students while providing candy.
“At brunch, I have kids that come in almost every day to say hi and talk to me, eat my food, and I love that,” Queen said. “That’s my favorite part of the day.”
Queen said her work often involves multiple jobs, but it’s something she enjoys.
“I do a lot of different things, so I’m kind of on-call,” Queen said. “If a work request comes in, then I have to send it out to get it taken care of. If there’s no soap in the bathroom, I have to get the custodians to take soap in the bathroom. It’s not super stressful, but it can be really busy. I love it. I don’t think I would have worked here that long if I didn’t.”
According to special education teacher Liz Mueller, Queen went out of her way to make sure students had access to food.
“She worked a lot to help get free snacks and food and breakfast items for students who didn’t have them,” Mueller said. “For a long time, she collected from parents and community members and had food available for kids when they needed it. That was just something that she saw a need for and she wanted to help kids and that’s what she did.”
Mueller said Queen’s relationship with the students is something that makes her a memorable figure on campus.
“She loves the students and always wants them to come see her,” Mueller said. “She loves having visitors, and she loves staying in touch with a lot of the kids.”
Junior Zeke Maples said he appreciates Queen’s kindness and positive outlook in connecting with the students.
“Ms. Queen and I have gotten super close over the past couple of years,” Maples said. “My three best friends and I go into the office every brunch to talk to her and snack on candy that she leaves in her basket. She is such a happy, joyful person and always has the nicest things to say, as well as the greatest advice to us.”
Senior Parker Anderson shared the sentiment, saying that visiting Queen has always been a highlight in his time at Paly.
“Ms. Queen has always been the type of person to make me laugh and cheer me up whenever I’m feeling down, as well as giving me loads of candy to take home,” Anderson said. “Most of all, I’m going to miss Ms. Queen’s positive energy she would bring to each student she’d interact with, whether she knew them or not.”
Maples said he will greatly miss Queen and her personal bond with his friend group.
“All of us look up to Ms. Queen, and we tell her almost everything that goes on in our lives,” Maples said. “Next year, it won’t feel the same without her. What I will miss most when she retires is her happiness. She brings a sort of encouragement to any room she walks in, no matter how hard the time.”
Aside from Queen’s popularity with several students, Mueller said the secretary’s abilities to organize and engage deeply with the school is what makes her the backbone of Paly.
“She is incredibly smart — she knows everything about what’s going on in the school and she knows all the people at the district office,” Mueller said. “She is an incredible resource to people because being the person who’s at the front … she knows everybody. She knows their faces, she knows who came to see who about what. She is somebody who, if I have any question about anything, I know that she has the answer to because she’s just worked at the heart of the school and administration.”
Looking back across the years, Mueller said one of her favorite memories with Queen was dressing up together during Spirit Week.
“One of the Spirit Weeks they had for staff, they had us dress like students,” Mueller said. “So Queen and I both borrowed different things from students and came to school dressed like students, and it was very different from the way we normally dress. Having the students be very surprised and slightly confused was fun.”
After Queen retires, Mueller said the school will not be the same.
“She works at the heart of the school, and has for so long that she’s going to be a huge loss to our school not to have her here,” Mueller said. “She’s so knowledgeable and such a capable, welcoming person to all of our students.”
According to junior Abers Boyarsky, Queen provided a welcoming environment for students to share conversations with her about anything.
“I have found that Ms. Queen’s office is always a safe space to talk about anything from weekend plans to life advice,” Boyarsky said. “Ms. Queen is always there to listen to any problems going on in our lives, and she always has a constructive solution. She is always a positive influence and puts a smile on everyone’s face.”