NEW SCHOOL INCUBATION Counseling, Department Chair

Position: Counseling, Department Chair - INCUBATION
Reports to: Assistant Principal of Student Development & Intervention
  
Purpose of the Position:    The Counseling Director position exists for two main purposes.  The first is to create and maintain a college-going culture among students and staff, and to advance the school’s on-track rates and post-secondary goals. The second is to ensure a safe and stable school climate and culture where students are ready to learn because their social-emotional needs are being met.  The Counseling Director fulfills these purposes by supervising all members of the Counseling Department and each person’s execution of a project area that contributes to these goals.  The dual purposes of this position operate within the school’s Response to Intervention (RTI) framework where tiered supports are provided to students based on need.  Counseling Centers in OSI schools are non-traditional in nature; traditional tasks of a Counseling Center such as test coordination, transcript management, and other clerical tasks are completed elsewhere so that Counselors can focus on direct service to students.  The Counseling Director’s work is done in a cross-departmental manner, helping to integrate special education, progressive discipline, clinical services, and other functions to wrap holistic services around the students most in need.  Counseling Directors should be versed in the ASCA model and comfortable with directing a department that operates in accordance with its principles.
 
Principal Accountabilities & General Responsibilities:

• Champion the school’s efforts to advance the on-track rates of students across all grade levels, increase graduation rates, and ensure viable post-secondary plans exist for all graduates
• Champion the school’s efforts to deliver tiered behavioral and social-emotional supports to students through the Response to Intervention (RTI) framework; actively support the implementation of the Boys’ Town Education Model (BTEM) Well Managed Classroom (WMC) program as the Tier I intervention and Care Team services as the Tier II, III interventions
• Participate as an active member of the Student Development & Intervention Leadership Team; represent the Counseling Department in leadership team initiatives
• Lead and supervise the efforts of the department by monitoring and supporting the work of others assigned to the department
• Assign Counselors to grade-level caseloads and monitor their service to such caseloads
• Support Counselors in the execution of their respective project area; project areas include, but are not limited to, Freshman On Track, Restorative Justice, Credit Recovery, and Post-Secondary
• Depending on the staffing pattern of the Counseling Department, the Counseling Director may be required to take on a project area and/or maintain a caseload
• Collaborate with others in the department to create and maintain a year-long master calendar of activities, key milestones, and events to ensure that the department always acts pro-actively and eliminates the need for “emergency mode” with department initiatives
• Manage and support the department to effectively execute on the work that accompanies peak student enrollment periods (beginning of school year, onset of second semester) and registration for credit recovery options
• Create and maintain a data-driven culture in the department where team members actively use relevant data in an integrated and systematic manner to perform their duties, inform their practice and improve services to students; participate in Performance Management (PM) meetings as requested
• Serve as a member of the school’s Care Team; ensure that Counselors balance and maintain Care Team services while also executing on project areas
• As a member of the school’s Care Team, actively participate in the delivery of Tier II behavioral or social-emotional interventions for students
• Serve as a member of the school’s Advisory Team (A-Team) with the goal of infusing counseling and post-secondary activities and functions into the school’s Advisory calendar; leverage the Advisory structure to accomplish project area work and goals
• Serve on an assigned grade level pod and represent the Counseling and Care Team services during pod meetings; take an active role in training pod members on various interventions and initiatives that apply to their work
• Manage the department’s participation in the annual course selection process; ensure that all milestones are met in this time-sensitive process
• Lead efforts to actively recruit elementary school students for future enrollment in the school; collaborate with administration and other key personnel responsible for this
• Manage and oversee the internal business processes of the department
• Provide quality-control checks on individualized graduation plans, transcript reviews, graduation lists, and lists of students identified for credit recovery options (Night School, Saturday School, Aventa programming)

Qualifications/Skills:

• Advanced Degree in Education, Counseling, Psychology, Social Work or other related field is required
• Illinois Type 73 Certification (or equivalent that will transfer from another state) as School Counselor, Social Worker, or Psychologist is required; Illinois Type 75 Administrative Certification is highly desirable
• A minimum of 3-5 years of highly successful related experience
• Strong working knowledge of CPS Policies & Procedures related to graduation and promotion requirements, student enrollment and withdrawals, and other district procedures that interface with the Counseling Department
• Strong working knowledge of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) model
• Demonstrated ability to lead the work of others to produce successful and effective outcomes;  proven experience with mobilizing and developing adults charged with implementing culture & climate practices towards common goals
• Proficient with teamwork and collaborating with colleagues and administration
• Demonstrated mastery with one or more of the department’s project areas
• Exhibit passion and the ability to thrive amidst change and challenging conditions while maintaining a positive outlook and forward looking perspective
• Attention to detail, highly organized
• Possess an attuned appreciation for cultural awareness and competency and a staunch commitment to continuously develop insight and proficiencies related to such matters
• Takes personal responsibility for mistakes and learns from them, while consistently following up with analysis and corrective action
• Demonstrated ability to keep up with fast paced environments and to successfully multi-task
• Sound judgment and ethical practice
• Commitment to getting the job done and the extra work hours that may be required to ensure effective operations of the department
• Commitment to social justice and restorative justice practices
• Effective oral and written communication skills

   
More Information:
OSI has 7 Non-Negotiables that all personnel working in OSI schools are expected to authentically support.  Candidates should visit jobs.cpsturnaround.org to learn more before deciding to move forward.  All candidates must assess whether or not they are a good fit based on these non-negotiables:

• A commitment to OSI values and a belief that our students can BEAT THE ODDS
  
  
• A comfort level with TRANSPARENT & PUBLIC SHARING OF DATA
  Understanding and must illustrate through actions that our number 1 focus is increasing student skills as measured by EPAS test scores
  
  
• A belief that strong connections with students are important and that social skills can be learned by committing to full implementation of the WELL MANAGED SCHOOLS MODEL and active participation as an ADVISOR
  
  
• Willingness to support the BLOCK SCHEDULE
  
  
• Authentic commitment to pre-planned and strategic PROFESSIONAL LEARNING both individually and in groups
  
  
• A commitment to personally doing your part to ensure HEALTHY & HONEST COLLABORATION AMONG ADULTS”