Director of Learning Support

Position: Director of Learning Support

Reports to: Head of School

Mission: The IDEAL School of Manhattan is an inclusion school dedicated to creating a diverse community that affirms and accepts the full identities of all people, while inspiring academic excellence, creative leadership, and a desire to build a more just and equitable world.

Position Description:

IDEAL seeking a highly experienced, motivated, collaborative special educator, instructional coach, and administrator with excellent communication and leadership skills to oversee all aspects of inclusion and differentiation at the school, ensuring our diverse range of students have everything they need to learn, grow, and reach their full potential; our faculty and staff are supported in their growth; and our families understand the growth and progress of their child, as well as the support available for their children and family at IDEAL.

Academic Oversight

• Oversee and ensure the continued excellence of inclusion and special education at IDEAL

• Collaborate with Head of School, administrators, faculty, therapists, associate teachers, and families to ensure that IDEAL’s curriculum is inclusive, inspiring, differentiated, and accessible

• Support the work of Next Steps Director in the development of IDEAL’s 18-21 transition program

• Supervise the delivery of differentiated instruction for all students in the Zenith and Dylan Programs

• Meet regularly and observe all Learning Specialists and Associate Teachers in all three divisions

• Work with Head of School, division heads, and other administrators to ensure that the cohesiveness, rigor, and differentiation of the overall K-12+ curriculum

• Supervise Associate Teachers and plan meaningful professional development for Associate Teachers based on years of service

• Plan, promote, and implement community-wide and individual professional development in support of school goals and supervise professional development budget

• Partner with division heads to co-supervise goal-setting and end of year conferences for Zenith and Dylan families and the ILP Process, ensuring appropriate faculty and staff have needed information to plan for students prior to the start of each year, as well as information needed for new Zenith and Dylan students who enter mid-year

• Ensure individual student progress reports contain sufficient information and data to reflect the growth and challenge areas of students in the Zenith and Dylan Programs and support teacher training in composing and gathering data for progress reports

• Attend team and department meetings, as well as all faculty and staff meetings

• Work closely with division heads to ensure that IDEAL provides parents support in the CSE process for Zenith and Dylan students and attend CSE meetings and testify in impartial hearings as needed and agreed upon with HOS and division heads

• Alongside teachers, communicate with parents to support and initiate the process of testing and evaluating students who may need IEPs.

• Collaborate with attorneys to prepare for, testify in, and/or prepare other members of the administrative team to testify in impartial hearings

• Bring information to the Head of School and relevant constituencies on any observations about or changes in CSE and/or impartial hearing process

• Serve on the Admissions Committee and Core Administrative Team

• Work with other members of the administration to develop annual parent education program

• Collaborate with Head of School to promote inclusion at IDEAL etc internally and externally

Requirements

Essential Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in Special Education and/or a related field

• An appreciation for IDEAL’s unique mission, commitment to inclusion, and student body

• At least 7-10 years of experience as a special educator, instructional leader or coach, and/or administrator working directly in the fields of inclusion or special education

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and leadership skills

Essential Qualifications: Master’s Degree in Special Education and/or a related field An appreciation for IDEAL’s unique mission, commitment to inclusion, and student body At least 7-10 years of experience as a special educator, instructional leader or coach, and/or administrator working directly in the fields of inclusion or special education Excellent written and verbal communication skills and leadership skills