School Counselor Anticipated Opening Charter Middle School

MISSIONThe mission of the Christa McAuliffe Charter School is to cultivate within each member of a diverse student body an intense commitment to self and community the courage and insight to set high standards for academic and personal success and the knowledge skills and attitudes to achieve those THE SCHOOLThe Christa McAuliffe Charter School () is an EL Education () school for 340 scholars in grades 6-8 with a hands-on curriculum that inspires achievement through active learning character growth and teamwork. The school is committed to ensuring that all students grow as learners and as ethical people through meaningful work and a strong OVERVIEWA McAuliffe School Counselor serves as a character coach for students in a particular grade or grades in the school. School counselors work very closely with the teachers in that grade or grades to ensure students are making academic progress as well as progress on their development of character (e.g. social-emotional progress): building relationships making good choices taking ownership when they make mistakes (integrity) treating members of the community with kindness and respect and being responsible learners. Counselors work closely with one another and are evaluated by the schools Director of Culture. The job of a school counselor is dynamic and requires a readiness to be both planful and flexible as well as compassionate and firm. The work is a combination of proactive and responsive activities; we aim for it to be as proactive as possible but we require skilled professionals to work together when a student is making poor choices and exhibiting escalating behaviors. We seek a school counselor who is experienced in employing a continuum of behavior interventions and With teachers and school leaders create a safe learning environment where students feel they belong can be successful and can change their abilities through effort. Contribute to the setting and instruction of school-wide expectations for arrival dismissal lunch recess and transitions. Participate in the planning and facilitation of grade-level community and culture-building activities: crew grade-level meetings off-site adventure activities and parent-guardian events (e.g. Back to School Night). Participate in the implementation of the schools Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan including planning the annual training(s) for faculty students and families and responding when there are reports of bullying. Provide proactive push-in support for students having a difficult time in class as well as other accommodations such as a planned walk or mid-class check-in. Provide social skill-building support by monitoring patterns of students social interactions during lunch and recess; As needed facilitate lunch-bunches or affinity groups for a group of students. Provide responsive support when a teacher indicates that a student may be escalating in class and needing extra support; work with other adults in the room to employ de-escalation techniques as needed. Build relationships with parents/guardians and communicate with them proactively and following events that take place at school; facilitate meetings at school with parents/guardians as well as teachers and/or students as needed to talk about a students progress set goals and develop an action plan. Use restorative questions to respond to challenging behavior and in your work with those harmed by others. Engage students and teachers in problem-solving in order to work through conflicts. With teachers and school leaders assign consequences for poor choices that are relevant respectful and realistic; support students in the implementation of their consequences (e.g. meeting with the student and parents setting up the student to clean the cafe after making a mess at lunch giving feedback to apology letters giving feedback to fix-it plans which are developed for more unsafe or extreme behaviors if they arise). Participate in Team Plus and any other support team meetings to discuss struggling students and identify interventions and action plans per the schools District Curriculum Accommodation Plan; employ interventions as defined by action plans (e.g. planned break weekly check-in with counselor time-out etc). Establish annual goals individually and as a coaching team; use data to track progress toward goals and to identify next steps/areas for improvement Participate in efforts to integrate more restorative practices into the schools program including the use of circles and peer mediation. Facilitate a Social Thinking Group Intervention Lab or any other Goals Block each trimester that helps address the needs of students. School counselors are typically assigned specific areas of the program to drive more independently. These include but are not limited to attendance high school transition student culture team family engagement social thinking curriculum and crew. Based on interest experience and skill these parts of the program are assigned to counselors on an annual basis.-- Oversee as case manager for all students with 504s on caseload (schedule meetings and oversee accommodations). Possible case management of a student on an IEP with social/emotional goals as needed.-- Attend training within school or outside of school to grow professionally (including but not limited to Safety Care training). -- Monitor attendance of caseload weekly and implement attendance policiesQUALIFICATIONS Agreement with the philosophy of the schools mission vision and goals. Masters degree in counseling social work or related fields is preferred. Experience working with middle school-age students in a counseling or comparable professional capacity. Demonstrated ability to engage teach and have fun with middle school-age students. Experience working with students who have identified learning disabilities including but not limited to autism emotional behavioral cognitive and neurological. Skilled at facilitating groups of students in experiential team-building activities including a meaningful debrief. Skilled at working with students engaging in challenging behaviors and responding to challenging behaviors while managing emotions. Trained and experienced in applying crisis prevention and de-escalation techniques. Experience building collaborative relationships with parents/guardians. Experience working in a collaborative professional environment and having difficult conversations to work through conflict. Reflective professional with high levels of emotional intelligence. Strong verbal and written communication skills. Skilled at managing multiple and competing priorities e.g. juggling many balls at the same time. High level of executive functioning is needed. Enjoys working in a high-energy and creative environment!PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS & WORK ENVIRONMENTMust be able to remain in a stationary position for extended be able to move about the classroom and school building to assist be able to lift/move instructional materials up to 25 lbs to communicate effectively with students staff and parents in person and & BENEFITSSalary Range: In the spirit of pay transparency the base salary range for this position is $41952 (step 0 Bachelors) $84016 (step 20 Masters). If you are hired at Christa McAuliffe your final base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as skills education and/or applicable experience. Please keep in mind that the range mentioned is the full base salary range for the role. Hiring at the maximum of the range would not be typical in order to allow for future and continued salary growth. Please see our salary scale available upon request that clearly outlines where an applicant will fall within the salary range based on years of applicable experience. Benefits: Health dental vision 403b employee contributed MTRS life insurance. Benefit details available upon requestEQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYERThe Christa McAuliffe Charter School is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race color religion sex national origin age disability veteran status sexual orientation gender identity or expression genetic information or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local laws. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive community and strongly encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds.