Academic Services CoordinatorMahasaraswati University, BABerkeley City (Vista) Collegeemail: irma.spars [at] sonomaacademy.org
phone: (707) 636-2018
Irma Spars is known for many things. She is a reliably smiling, happy face in the administration building, cheerfully greeting students and staff alike. Others know her in relation to her husband Brandon Spars, one of our Humanities teachers, or as the mother of Clara Spars ‘16 and Byron Spars ‘19. She is an accomplished drummer, dancer, and motorcycle rider. No matter how we know her, we all know this: without Irma, the school wouldn’t be the same!
Irma joined the Sonoma Academy staffulty in 2004 and she has been an essential member of the community ever since. In her current role, Irma is responsible for many Registrar and Academic Services tasks: ensuring database accuracy, maintaining current report cards and transcripts, creating and maintaining mySA pages and rosters, managing Magnus Health forms and users, issuing work permits, creating diplomas and graduation-related documents, taking on tasks related to the course registration and scheduling process, and much more.
Irma grew up in Bali, Indonesia and received her BA in Education from Universitas Mahasaraswati in Bali. She has also taken some courses in computer information system and database management at Vista Community College (Now Berkeley City College) in Berkeley. Before coming to Sonoma Academy, she worked in retail for many years, and also held a job at Charles Schwab where she administered databases.
Beyond her administrative work, Irma is one of those staff members who shares her interests and hobbies with the student community. “I like to get up at community meetings and share my passion for Taiko drumming, Japanese folk dance, and Balinese dance,” she says. Irma taught a group of students Taiko drumming for our production of Elektra in Spring of 2019, and she loved working with the cast and crew. “It was great to be in the thick of it with them,” she says. “We were nervous together, frustrated together, and ultimately very satisfied with the end result. I felt like I really bonded with them.”