Instructional Support Middle School Social Worker and Middle School Coordinator of Adolescent Programming
Job Description
Community Roots is hiring: A Middle School Social Worker and Coordinator of Middle School Adolescent Programming who will be both innovative and inspiring in the pursuit of meeting the needs of all students, families and faculty in grades 6-8. This position will report to the Middle School Co-Directors.
About Community Roots: Community Roots Charter School (CRCS) is a K-8 school in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. As a diverse by design school, we are committed to being inclusive and centering anti-bias/anti-racist education. We provide all students with an educational environment where learner variability is acknowledged, valued and supported. We view this variability as an inherent strength of our community and use it to inform classroom practices and lesson design. We also establish a strong sense of community where students reflect on their identities, learn from each other, develop critical reading and thinking skills, and are equipped with strategies to take action on issues they care about.
Teaching and learning at CRCS is embedded in a meaningful real world context, where we teach children to see the connections between school and the world. Through a rich social studies focus and a social-emotional curriculum, we aim to equip all of our students with the skills and perspectives that will support them in developing into fully engaged members of their communities.
Please visit our website for more information about our school: www.communityroots.org
Benefits and Compensation:
- Competitive salary scale based on years of experience with a 403b employer match of retirement contributions
- Single and family dental, vision, and health care
- Pre-tax commuter benefits
- Available funding for professional development opportunities
- Community of teachers and staff who are driven, compassionate and supportive
Community Roots seeks individuals who:
- Believe that all children have the right to an exceptional education, understand that children learn in different ways, and work hard to provide/create the support each student needs
- Believe that working and educating children in a diverse and inclusive environment is essential
- Are committed to anti-bias/anti-racist education, professionally and personally
- Are capable of building a safe, nurturing, supportive and high achieving school culture
- Believe that communicating and building relationships with children’s families is essential
- Believe that a combination of creativity and research generates engaging curriculum
- Believe in and are capable of high levels of collaboration and communication
- See themselves as active learners committed to ongoing professional development
- Are reflective and embrace feedback
Required Qualifications:
- Belief in CRCS mission and philosophy
- Strong belief in collaboration and ability to collaborate with multiple stakeholders
- Strong organizational skills
- Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing
- Ability to prioritize and problem solve independently
- Ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment
- Extensive knowledge of adolescent development
- Experience in therapeutic modalities related to children and families from the communities CRCS serves, including assessment and treatment of trauma
- Experience working within a school environment or extensive work with teenagers and young adults
- MSW or Master’s degree in counseling-related discipline
- Preference for Seminar in Field Instruction completion
The Middle School Social Worker and Community Programming Coordinator will be responsible for:
- Work with Children:
- Provide direct services to the school community, which includes:
- coordinating referrals for counseling
- co-creating caseloads for Middle School social work department
- carrying a caseload of up to 15 students for counseling
- providing regular one-on-one counseling or group counseling to students and families, including mandated counseling for those students who are to receive services as stated on their IEPs
- crisis intervention as needed for students and families
- managing, tracking, and documenting student interactions and counseling schedule
- setting goals with students and tracking progress towards those goals
- Support new students in their transition to the middle school, as needed
- Insure that new students adjust to the community through activities like “new student” lunch
- Co-teach 8th grade sexual health class
- Support high school placement for students on caseload as needed
- Support work with alumni as needed
- Provide direct services to the school community, which includes:
- Work with Families:
- Reach out to organizations to provide families with outside therapy in place of or in addition to school services
- Work as a middle school social work department to co-organize and facilitate mental health related sessions for families with middle school
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- Work with Faculty:
- Collaborate and communicate regularly with supervisors, colleagues, and teachers to meet students’ needs
- Participate in any relevant meetings- kid talk, student support team, family meetings, attendance
- Provide recommendations to the staff and leadership team around approaches to working with struggling students
- Organize and facilitate mental health related professional development sessions for faculty
- Work with Faculty:
- Collaborate with the ES Social Worker to ensure that staff community building activities include a cross section of the community and communication is clear for all activities
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- Work as middle school social work department to organize and provide check in support for new staff and new teaching teams as needed
- Serve as a part of the MS Restorative Practice Team, which includes:
- Resolving student conflicts using a restorative approach
- Support students struggling to meet classroom expectations using a restorative approach
- Communicate with families around restorative approach to conflict resolution
- Participating in restorative circles and suspension conferences as needed
- Facilitating restorative circles and conferences as needed
- Collaborating with the RP Team to plan and facilitate professional development for faculty around restorative practices (6-8 and k-8)
Adolescent Programming:
- Student Community Building and Leadership Opportunities:
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- Maintain and supervise existing community programming for students (ie. Ambassadors, Morning Reads, PRISM, Girls Club etc.)
- Outreach to staff for participation in existing and new programs (eg PRISM needs two faculty facilitators)
- Develop programs that connect students to each other and to school outside of the classroom and create opportunities for student leadership.
- Support faculty facilitators of adolescent programs as needed
Community Roots Middle School staff serve as co-Crew Leaders. Responsibilities of a Crew Leader include:
- Collaborating with co-Crew leader to develop and implement Crew curricula that support students’ learning and is aligned with the school’s mission, core values, priorities and structures, including facilitating a daily Crew of 12-15 students
- Serving as the academic advisor to a small group of students, supporting their academic and leadership development through the Crew curriculum, and acting as a liaison between the school and their families
