school social worker,
Victory Education Partners // CICS
ORGANIZATION:
Victory Education Partners (Victory) advises and serves
independent public charter schools and urban school districts.
Its mission is to help charter school leaders and communities
create great schools. The organization is unique in its
collaborative approach to assisting charter schools and public
school districts, and in its strong emphasis on partnerships with
all public education stakeholders. Victory was founded in 1999
and has been favorably cited by the U.S. Department of Education,
Time magazine, Harvard's Kennedy School, and others. To date, the
organization has helped create, advise or support over two dozen
charter schools, traditional public schools and school districts,
impacting thousands of school children each day.
In partnership with the Chicago International Charter Schools
(CICS), Victory leads four K-8 schools:
Avalon
Campus
(South Side),
Basil
Campus
(South Side),
Irving Park
(Northwest Side), and
Washington Park
(South Side). In total, these schools serve over 2,100+
students throughout Chicago.
Victory has made great gains at these schools and is poised to
build upon its recent success. For instance, in 2010 Irving
Park students achieved their highest composite scores on the
Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) since opening in 2007.
On the ISAT math exam, 83.8% of Irving Park's third through fifth
grade students met or exceeded the state's benchmark.
Although we made great gains, we know our work is not
complete. We are committed to ensuring all students are
prepared to attend and succeed in high school and beyond.
Led by a dynamic and ambitious leadership team that has
experience in school and district leadership at nationally
recognized organizations, Victory continues to strive for
excellence as we work toward our goals.
POSITION
: The School Social Worker
provides a full range of school social work services to children
grades K-4, including screening and assessment, individual and
group counseling, and work with outside agencies as appropriate.
Functions as a member of the Individualized Education Plan
team to determine student's eligibility for special services,
appropriate programming, and on-going progress.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Demonstrate a
relentless drive to improve the minds and lives of their students
in and out of school;
• Implement and
enhance the school's systems and culture;
• Provide
consistent rewards and/or consequences for student behavior to
ensure that students observe the school's core values, high
expectations, and strict code of conduct;
• Implement
activities to help students meet academic and social
standards;
• Implement
assessments that measure progress towards academic and social
standards;
• Be accountable
for students' mastery of academic and community standards;
• Communicate
effectively with students, families, and colleagues;
• Engage families
in their children's education;
• Respond to
family concerns promptly and effectively;
• Commit to
professional growth;
• Participate in
an annual three-week staff orientation and training;
• Share
responsibility for grade-level and school-wide activities;
• Help complete
necessary school wide duties for the successful and orderly
functioning of the school (e.g., hallway supervision,
arrival/departure transitions, field trips, etc.) and other such
duties as the Principal may request from time to time;
• Provide
appropriate supervision of students during class, breaks, meals,
specials, and transitions to maintain an optimal work environment
and to ensure students' safety and well-being;
• Attend and
participate in events outside of normal school hours (e.g.,
family nights, student performances, field trips, report card
nights, Teacher - Parent Conferences, June and August Family
Saturday Orientations, etc.);
• Collaborate
with teachers in planning grade level meetings, department
meetings, staff meetings, and other professional development
activities;
• Adhere to the
policies, standards, and school-wide responsibilities described
in the School's Faculty & Staff Handbook or as may be
instituted or in effect from time to time;
• Consistently
demonstrate belief in and alignment with Victory Education
Partners' core values and educational philosophy;
• Provide direct
services to the school community including:
o Provide crisis
intervention and behavior management to expedite students' return
to classrooms for learning and to build students' ability to
meet the school's high expectations;
o Provide one-on-one
counseling or group counseling as needed to students and
families.
o Coordinate school
meetings with families;
o Identify and train
others to identify students and family members who may benefit
from regular one- on-one counseling or group
counseling;
o Develop and implement
curriculum for social and emotional development/intervention with
students.
• Manage
administrative and appropriate direct-service elements of the
referral process for social services and special education
services including:
o Conducting regular
needs-assessments of current and emerging student and family
needs;
o Using
needs-assessments to identify and cultivate internal and external
resources and services;
o Referring individuals
and families to external resources and services;
o Monitoring and
facilitating the delivery of external resources and services;
o Evaluating impact and
quality of external resources and services;
o Administering
records, documentation, and other compliance activities.
• Partner with
the Dean of Students to design and coordinate family-engagement
and family-education activities including:
o Monthly Family
meetings
o Home visits and
records procurement for newly enrolled students;
o Workshops to educate
families, staff, and/or students on specific issues; and
o Pot Lucks, Family
Nights, and other community-building events.
REQUIREMENTS AND
COMPETENCIES:
• Drive to
improve the minds and lives of students in and out of the
classroom;
• Proven
track-record of high achievement;
• Evidence of
self-motivation and willingness to be a team player;
• Bachelor's
degree is required; Master's degree is preferred; and
• Experience
working with and in urban schools is highly preferred.
• Valid State
Certification is required.
• Belief in and
alignment with Victory Education Partner's core beliefs and
educational philosophy is non-negotiable.
• The school
psychologist should have substantial, successful experience in an
urban elementary school and display proficiency in the response
to intervention and early identification programs. 2-3
years experience in an urban elementary school or related
setting.
• Strong general
knowledge of the population of students and experience with
successful intervention strategies for these students; knowledge
of student social and emotional development is also
required.
LOCATION:
Chicago, Illinois.
COMPENSATION:
Salary and benefits will be competitive, commensurate with
experience.
QUALIFIED
INDIVIDUALS,
PLEASE APPLY:
Apply online to http://www.victoryep.com/chicago/careers.
Victory is an equal opportunity employer and will not
discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment
because of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or
national origin.