Know your students and their friendship groups. The dean's primary role is to know her students to be comfortable regularly interacting with them.
Develop a strong relationship with parents. They make up the best support network for any dean, and deans gain understanding of students by knowing their parents. Create opportunities to interact and understand the needs of parents by attending PTA and other parent organizations.
Build credibility with your faculty colleagues. The teachers at the school make or break the academic reputation and tradition of the institution. You learn a great deal by attending faculty meetings and by getting to know the school curriculum.
Understand what it means to develop the whole student. Every pupil brings a unique perspective to school, and the dean's role is to understand how students mix with others. That perspective is a combination of intellectual, interpersonal, cultural, social and psychological aspects. As an effective dean, understand how these different qualities intersect.
Demonstrate a strong understanding of student developmental theory. Junior high school students are progressing through specific stages of development, and you need to understand the associated challenges. Social awkwardness and rapid physical change are examples of the complicated challenges faced.