School Psychologist (SY24-25)

School Psychologist

Grade Level: PreK-6
Start Date: January 2025
Locations: Boston, MA

About UP Education Network

UP Education Network manages and operates 2 schools in Boston, MA. We serve 1,300 elementary and middle school students. UP is invited by local school districts to restart chronically underperforming district schools as UP Academies. Each UP Academy shares the same mission: to ensure that students acquire the knowledge, skills, and strength of character necessary to succeed on the path to college and to achieve their full potential.

Working at UP Education Network

We know that great staff members directly lead to the success of our students.  At UP, your career is shaped by:

• Opportunities for immediate impact: UP offers a chance to bring best practices found in high-performing schools to students previously enrolled in struggling schools, and to rapidly unlock the potential of these students.
• Talented, mission-driven colleagues: Our staff is enthusiastic, dedicated, and willing to do “whatever it takes” to put every student on the path to college.
• Collaboration and teamwork: Staff members collaborate and work closely together on grade-level or content area teams, using data to track student performance as well as guide instructional practice.
• Consistent professional growth and development: Members of our staff typically have bi-weekly check-in meetings with their managers where they receive targeted coaching and support. Additionally, the entire staff participates in weekly professional development sessions during the school year, kick-started by extensive training in August.  

Role:

The School Psychologist at UP Academy will provide consultation, assessment and intervention services related to school psychology. 

Specific Responsibilities:

• Evaluate and screen students to assess cognitive abilities and social-emotional and behavioral needs;
• Write evaluation reports including all cognitive, social-emotional, and behavior assessments and goals;
• Create a climate conducive to counseling and implements a variety of effective guidance and therapeutic strategies;
• Provide consultation to classroom teachers pertaining to student progress, behavior management techniques and establishing individualized behavior management plans;
• Meet federal and state mandates as well as local policies in performance of duties;
• Determine and maintain programs based on goals set by IEP;
• Determine needs of individual students and provides services one to one or in small groups as deemed appropriate;
• Determine needs of individual students within the classroom setting and provides services within the classroom as deemed appropriate;
• Work in conjunction with the IEP Team to create IEPs for annual reviews and provides input for students who are involved with the three-year re-evaluation;
• Maintain logs and ongoing assessments to evaluate student progress and completes progress reports;
• Attend family conferences;
• Participate in special education meetings;
• Participate in dispute resolution meetings, hearings and mediation settlement meetings as needed;            
• Coordinate outreach activities that support our students and families including pediatricians, outside counseling agencies and agencies such as DCF, DMH, etc.;
• Conduct home visits and works with families to help students make positive behavioral changes;
• Complete Medicaid reimbursement activities; and
• Perform other duties related to this job description as required by the school Principals or other immediate supervisor.

Qualifications:

• Completion of Master’s degree or higher in school psychology approved by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), including an advanced practicum of 1,200 hours, 600 of which must be in a school setting;
• Possession of MA DESE School Psychologist License;
• Experience with Special Education processes (IEP meetings, documentation, initial referrals);
• A passionate belief in UP Academy’s mission, values, and educational model;
• An eagerness to set ambitious, challenging, and tangible goals, and a relentless drive to achieve them;
• An ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment and a capacity to remain calm and focused when faced with unexpected challenges;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including strong public speaking skills;
• A sense of humility in the face of success; and
• Current authorization to work in the United States – A candidate must have such authorization by his or her first day of employment.

Compensation:

We offer a competitive compensation package and comprehensive health benefits. 

We encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply for any open position in which they feel qualified. We believe that we have a responsibility to recruit, retain, develop, and reward a diverse and talented staff. Our students must be exposed on a daily basis to a diverse group of powerful role models - in their teachers, their school leaders, and their supporters in the network office. With this in mind, we are committed to recruiting the most talented individuals from the widest possible range of backgrounds to join our creative, mission-driven team.