When students get dropped off at Pascack Valley each day, the first person they see is custodian Diego Giraldo standing at the entrance of the school’s parking lot.

“I like to talk to the students,” Giraldo said. “Everybody here pretty much [comes] in with a positive attitude every morning. I feel comfortable with all [of the] students and faculty.”

The custodians typically work from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. After directing traffic in the morning, Giraldo comes into the building and fills teacher supply requests. Throughout the day, he stays busy moving furniture around or supervising the cafeteria, and he ends the day directing traffic again.

“We have three custodians during the day time,” Giraldo said. “We have the head of maintenance then a night crew. I believe it’s 10 custodians [on the] night crew, so we [have about] 15 custodians here every day between the two shifts.”

The day custodians, Giraldo, Javier Diaz, and Keith Mitchell, are on a three-week rotation for coming in at 6 a.m. to open the school. 

They check the boilers for safety, unlock the doors, and turn on the lights. Outside the school, they take out the garbage. The custodians come in as early as two in the morning to plow the snow in the winter and salt the roads so that the school is safe for students and faculty when they arrive. 

“[When there is a sporting event], I [clean] the fields for all the sports,” Diaz said. “In the spring, there is softball, baseball, and lacrosse, and in the fall I work on the fields for football and soccer.” 

Both Giraldo and Diaz are from Colombia. Giraldo came to the U.S. when he was 18, and when he was 20 years old, he started working as a custodian at Rockefeller Center, where he worked for 18 years. He has worked at PV for 14 years.

Diaz came to the US about 34 years ago with his wife’s family, and they have two kids. When he first came to America, he worked as a landscaper for a private company and then got a job as a landscaper for PV. He eventually filled a vacant spot on the night crew as a custodian and then became part of the day shift. 

Both Diaz and Giraldo enjoy spending time with their families and kids. Giraldo likes to travel and do carpentry projects, and Diaz likes playing soccer and has fun dancing.

“[My wife and I] started traveling many many years ago with our kids,” Giraldo said. “Now my youngest one is 26. So pretty much it’s just [us] and we have two chihuahuas.”

Giraldo says that the teachers, students, and custodians all have a good relationship at PV, and the custodian crew has a strong camaraderie. The day crew and night crew work cohesively to ensure that the building is in top shape for everyone.

“We look out for the night crew,” Giraldo said. “Sometimes [they have people who] call in sick,  so [the three-day time custodians] stay to help them. They’re always there for us, [and] we are always there for the night custodians.”

The custodians know that their work greatly impacts the people of PV.

“I know that [with] everything I do, I have to do it the right way because it can impact a lot of people,” Giraldo said. “If I go outside and I don’t [direct traffic correctly], there would be a jam in front of the building. [And] I try to make sure before I leave the cafeteria, everything is straight there for the next [group of people].”

Diaz and Giraldo both said that they enjoy working at PV and that they have a good relationship with the student body and the faculty.

“Everyone works together [at PV],” Diaz said. “It’s a good place to be, and everybody’s friendly. It is a really nice place to work. I feel so happy to be [here].”