Job Description

Student Support Coach

Epiphany Prep Charter School

Epiphany Prep Charter School (“Epiphany Prep”) seeks to hire an exceptional Student Support Coach by May of 2015, for a start date in July of 2015, to support the students and provide guidance on counseling issues for faculty at a high performing values-based charter school in southeast San Diego and its sister school opening the following school year.

The Student Support Coach shall help establish and sustain a safe, highly effective, and well-organized, comfortable and professional demeanor in an educational environment that welcomes a close working relationship with all school-wide constituencies (eg. parents and guardians, families, students, faculty, administrators, advisors, trustees and strategic partners). In alignment with Epiphany Prep’s mission, goals, and standards, the Student Support Coach’s general responsibilities include providing students in Kindergarten through the Eighth grade age levels with access to a high quality, developmentally appropriate and comprehensive guidance counseling program on academic success, personal and social development, support for families and career and college guidance. The counselor shall be well versed in crisis counseling and emergency psychological support resources and plans, as needed. The counselor suited for this position must understand the needs, interests, and issues of students and families residing in areas marginalized by poverty and demonstrate a high level of competency in bringing solutions to support students and their families.

ORGANIZATION: Epiphany Prep opened in 2013 as an urban K-8 college prep public charter school. The core design principles of this charter school include an 8-hour school day school day, a 190 day school year , a low teacher-to-student ratio, a blended digital and face-to-face learning model, A dual-language immersion program for students in grades K-2 expanding one additional grade each year , expanded literacy and mathematics instructional periods, an integrated system of core values, and resiliency and restorative justice interventions for students and their families.

TIMELINE: The position shall open starting in April of 2015 and will remain open until filled.

OUTCOMES: The following are major outcomes of this position:

• Team: Becomes an influential member of the curriculum design and instructional team that promotes student learning in an urban college-prep school;
• Vision: Displays a passion for advocacy, integrity and clear articulation of the founding principles of Epiphany Prep Charter’s educational program for students;
• Design: Creates developmental, preventative, and social-emotional guidance and counseling prevention and response services, which support academic growth, college and career preparations, and personal/social development of students.

WORKS WITH: The Student Support Coach shall report to Epiphany Prep’s Lead Student Support Coach, but s/he will work closely with the faculty, administration, students, parents and guardians, school partners and volunteers.

REQUIREMENTS: Below are the main requirements for this position:

• Results: Presents impressive experiences working as a Counselor with students in a K-12 instructional setting and shows a history of providing guidance services that build the capacity of students to strengthen high student achievement;
• Experience: Minimum 2 years experience in a chronically poor and marginalized environment;
• Leadership: Displays leadership attributes in being an integral member of the Student and Staff Resiliency Committee process that supports building effective teams, encouraging collegial collaboration and managing conflict well;
• Entrepreneurial: Exhibits dynamic “out-of-the-box” thinking traits coupled with a passion for excellence;
• Professional: Demonstrates skills in working in a professional and courteous manner;
• Active Listener: Devotes full attention to the needs of clients, seeks to understand all concerns addressed and asks clarifying questions when needed, and can provide practical guidance for both instructional and administrative faculty, students and their families to build confidence and academic self-esteem;
• Social Perceptiveness: Relates exceptionally well, communicates with ease to students and adults and demonstrates understanding about the way others often react in a variety of social contexts;
• Solutions Driven: Seeks alternative solutions to problems and considers the strengths/weaknesses of viable options;
• Writing: Shows that s/he has admirable communication skills, both written and verbal, and can demonstrate the variance of voice in writing to a variety of audiences; (Bi-literate skills are preferred);
• Innovative: Presents a strong desire to help shape an innovative, non-traditional school model and develop a whole-child approach to learning;
• Resourceful: Is knowledgeable of national standards for counseling and restorative justice strategies, demonstrates understanding and can build student and family resiliency;
• Network Driven: Can be an ardent, persuasive networker to build community referral resources for the school, students and their families;
• Servant: Is enthusiastic about the possibilities in building community partnerships and shares feedback on being an integral part of these endeavors;
• Life-long Learner: Regularly seeks opportunities to learn and improve skills, talents, learning and abilities;
• Education: Undergraduate degree and California State Pupil and Personnel Services (PPS) Credential required (Master of Arts in Counseling, preferred).
• Full Time: Ability to work effectively and efficiently in a full-time capacity;
• Diverse: Ability to work with ethnically diverse and limited English proficient pupils;
• Language: Spanish speaking preferred.

CONTACT: Please e-mail the following to Sarah Raskin at sraskin@epiphanyprep.org.

• a cover letter;
• a resume (Include reasons for leaving former employers/schools, a description of time unaccounted for, and details of how you enhanced the school climate at your previous school setting and official transcript(s) including grades in the last three colleges/universities attended.);
• official copies of credentials
• three references that can provide information about the applicant counselor’s expertise as related to the job description (include names, titles, companies/schools, contact phone, length you have known the reference, and how you know the reference (former employer, college professor, etc.);
• a brief writing sample (2-3 pages) sharing your educational philosophy, your desire to work with students from diverse backgrounds, and goals for student learners.
• a description (1-2 pages) explaining why you desire to become a Student Support Coach in an urban setting. Share the expertise you acquired in the field of counseling (either through work or internship experiences) and how your training is relevant to supporting the following goals for student learners at Epiphany Prep:

ü  Developing the Whole-Child (Mind, Body, Soul) and fostering student resiliency

ü  Preparing students with the personal attributes necessary for being successful in the 21^st century and for college, career and life

ü  Instilling a belief that all children can and will be successful

RESPONSIBILITIES: Below are the main duties for the Counselor at Epiphany Prep:

General: Epiphany Prep holds high expectations for its students, but these expectations are even more critical for the faculty and administrative staff. We expect the Student Support Coach to come to Epiphany Prep with:

• A solid commitment to accelerating the academic achievement and social-emotional development of students who are marginalized by poverty;
• A very strong desire to orient his/herself in the Epiphany Prep model, the mission of the school and the philosophy of “Transformation, Innovation, Entrepreneurial, and Whole-Child Education,”
• A behavioral management system that is organized and demonstrates an understanding of restorative justice; The importance of instilling a values- based education, recognizing student strengths, learning styles and the need for student responsibility and accountability;
• Collaborates with the Epiphany Prep faculty in building a school-wide character education program consistent with the core values of the school

Specific:

• Works under the guidance of the Lead Student Support Coach (Counselor) to develop and provide students with a comprehensive counseling program that aligns with the mission and core values of Epiphany Prep and is based on National Standards for School Counseling;
• Consistently reviews and modifies the Epiphany Prep counseling program to best fit the needs of the school and the students. Implements school and district policy and federal and state law in emergency situations which occur or are discovered in the school setting;
• Actively utilizes a variety of data to evaluate the needs of the school and of the individual students, such as through the formation of a strategic plan for comprehensive counseling and guidance program activities or when assisting students and parents in interpreting and utilizing assessment data as a guide for individual goal setting and planning;
• Plans and conducts structured in-service activities for faculty/staff and parents/guardians;
• Together with the Student Support Team which shall include administrators, the school psychologist, special education representatives, classroom teachers, community resources and parents, provides structured, goal-oriented prevention, intervention and resiliency response services to meet the needs of individuals or groups of students facing academic, career, familial, and personal/social issues;
• Provides a Tier I Response To Intervention (RTI) support services program for all K-8 students in the form of a minimum of once per week classroom lessons.
• Schedules students requiring Tier II and Tier III RTI support with appropriate services including small group and individual counseling, as determined by IEP documents or the determination of the Administrative Team.
• Conducting in-service programs, workshops, and group meetings for faculty/families; provides opportunities for parent education programs;
• Meets with department teams at least twice per month to support the academic Coaches with the creation of individualized learning curriculum and goals that emphasize whole-child development and behavior management strategies for the classroom.
• Refers students and their families to specialists, programs, or outside agencies for services and/or education programs and opportunities;
• Promotes positive attendance practices for all students; collaborates with parents, school, district staff, and legal authorities to resolve severe attendance problems; initiates legally required truancy actions and other corrective procedures, when appropriate;
• Attends professional development and in-service trainings to keep abreast of new developments in counseling and guidance;
• Maintains accurate, complete and correct records as required by law, school and district policy, and administrative regulations;
• Plans and supervises assignments for volunteers and interns and provides feedback to school staff and administration;
• Takes all necessary precautions to protect the confidentiality, integrity and safety of students, equipment, materials, resources and facilities;
• Actively attends regular staff and school-wide meetings and events to promote community, communication, and mutual decision making among constituencies;