About CSS

Center for Supportive Schools is an anti-racist, fast-paced, collegial, and team-oriented organization wholly committed to helping schools become places where students want to be. Our work directly addresses student disengagement, a root cause of diminished academic performance, students dropping out of school, and other high-risk student behaviors. We partner with schools in three areas: developing all students into leaders; empowering teachers to collaborate with each other and with students; and engaging entire school communities to improve how learning happens.

CSS is driven by the vision that one day, all students will thrive in schools that graduate them prepared for the rigors of college and lives filled with meaningful work, active citizenship, and personal fulfillment.

We are committed to antiracism. Our vision for students will not be realized absent the dismantling of systemic racism that permeates schools and society. Schools are not safe, supportive, engaging, and inspiring unless they address all areas of marginalization and eradicate all the many interconnected forms of oppression. CSS's focus on antiracism results from the outsized role that racism has played in shaping the United States and its institutions, from the fact that racism intersects with all other forms of oppression and given that which we learn and develop - tools, frameworks, resources - in dismantling racism can be leveraged to abolish all other forms of oppression.

Founded in 1979, we are a national organization currently impacting 65,000 students annually and committed to supporting every K-12 school in the country. Most of our partners are economically disadvantaged communities where the consequences of student disengagement can be most devastating.

For more information, please visit www.supportiveschools.org. For more information about CSS's commitment to antiracism, please visit www.supportiveschools.org/antiracism-resources.

About Community Schools

Community Schools offer a holistic approach toward improving academic performance driven by strong, collaborative partnerships among principals, parents, teachers, and CBOs. In Community Schools, parents are real and active partners in their children's education. Each student is connected to a mentor, club, or social service. The school climate is joyful and positive. Community members spend time at the school, participating in activities ranging from athletics and yoga to financial and parenting workshops. Extended afterschool or weekend classes are commonplace. An integral part of this approach is the blending of school- and community-based services into the school day, such as health, mental health, counseling, and academic enrichment.

Jersey City Public Schools seeks to implement a Community School Model in high school, in an effort to serve the needs of all students and to implement specific prevention and intervention solutions. This evidence-based approach will integrate a focus on academics; health and mental health services; social services; afterschool and summer enrichment activities; expanded learning opportunities; positive youth development; and family and community supports that are critical to improving outcomes for all students. This will be the first community high school in Jersey City. This innovative approach will allow Jersey City Public Schools to fulfill its vision to foster the, "School as Community, the School in the Community, and the Community in the School for the children and families."

The Role

As the full-time Community School Coordinator, you will be responsible for the day-to-day management of a community school strategy. You will also be responsible for building and maintaining relationships with administration, faculty, staff, and students as the "community organizer" of the school and community. In this position, you will create, strengthen, and maintain the bridge between the school and community; facilitate and provide leadership for the collaborative process and development of a continuum of services for children, families and community members within the school neighborhood; and assist the school in developing implementation action plans, troubleshooting implementation obstacles, and planning for sustainability. You will track the school's progress against performance goals, collect school data, and support program evaluation activities. In addition, you will manage community partnerships and facilitate at School Leadership Team (SLT) and Community School Advisory Board meetings. Initially, you will support implementing a community school strategy. Over time, you may support any or all of CSS's leadership solutions that may be implemented at the school. You will ensure that the community school strategy is implemented at exceptional levels of quality with full support, buy-in, and regular communication with stakeholders across the school community.

Key Job Responsibilities

Community Leadership and Needs & Asset Assessment

• Build and maintain relationships with administration, faculty, staff, students, parents, and community partners in the school community
• Organize and expand upon the membership of the School Leadership Team (SLT) and Community School Advisory Board to include diverse school community stakeholders
• Facilitate regular meetings of the School Leadership Team (SLT) and Community School Advisory Board, ensuring the participation of diverse stakeholders and voices and regular, positive communication within the team. Work with the SLT and Community School Advisory Board may also include establishing and facilitating working groups to address specific community school strategy components, such as communication, evaluation, and/or after-school programming as well as hosting monthly forums for ongoing collaboration with members of the community, including parent leaders, school-based organizations and partnering organizations.
• Conduct a needs assessment process, including reviewing school and student-level data; conducting focus groups with parents, students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community partners; and reviewing and/or conducting school climate and culture survey
• Conduct a community asset assessment to identify viable partnerships that can meet the needs of students and families of the school's community, including developing metrics for partnership evaluation
• Develop, maintain, and publicize a schedule of programs and activities offered at the school
• Develop and implement ongoing mechanisms to obtain input from teachers, school staff, SLT and the Community School Advisory Board members, parents, and students to determine ongoing needs of students and families
• Coordinate, plan, and facilitate on-site technical assistance meetings with administrators, faculty, and staff to plan for specific program implementations, problem-solve implementation obstacles, and ensure program sustainability

Partnership Recruitment and Management

• Recruit and develop partnership agreements with people and community organizations willing to offer programs and services for students and families at the school in accordance with identified needs
• Serve as a point person for agencies and programs interested in partnering with the school, and help to broker new partnerships that are aligned with school goals and needs
• Identify evidence and research-based practices and/or partnerships that address priority areas for the school community strategy, which may include but are not limited to: Parent/Family Engagement; Community Engagement; Youth Development; Academic Rigor and Instructional Practices; Health, Mental Health, Tutoring, Afterschool Programming, Mentoring, Early Childhood
• Implement and maintain a process that encourages referrals to programs and services offered at the school; provides timely feedback to those who make referrals; and alert the SLT and Community School Advisory Board to the need for programs not already offered
• Identify needs of chronically absent students, apply interventions, and track and monitor impact of interventions on weekly basis, as part of weekly Student Success Team meetings
• Facilitate cross-referral of students and families between service providers
• Collect and monitor program implementation data and student data for each partnership and initiative implemented, including developing "dashboard" views that allow easy data analysis and interaction by the SLT, Community School Advisory Board and other school stakeholders

Other

• Facilitate at training conferences, as needed
• Other responsibilities, as needed

Qualifications and Experience

Education: You've earned a bachelor's degree and have experience working in urban public education.

Professional Experiences and Personal Qualities/Skills: You likely have demonstrated extensive knowledge of and experience working in urban public schools; exceptional abilities to problem solve, plan, and prioritize; a "roll-up-your-sleeves" entrepreneurial, startup attitude; knowledge of and experience working in education reform and student support services; proven ability to work in a fast-paced environment managing multiple projects; and demonstrated high level interpersonal and cross-cultural skills, including the ability to build relationships internally and externally and to manage effective teams.

In addition, you have likely had the following experiences and have demonstrated the following attributes:

• Excellent listening, writing, and speaking skills
• Highly effective time-management, goal-setting, problem-solving, and decision-making skills
• Ability to gather, analyze, synthesize, and communicate information from various sources
• Strong public speaking and group facilitation skills
• Knowledgeable in issues related to K-12 schools and education reform
• Knowledgeable in student support services
• Ability to obtain and utilize student and school data to drive decisions
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively
• Flexibility, resourcefulness, and willingness to work evenings and weekends when required for successful and timely completion of projects
• Ability to use discretion and judgment in handling confidential and sensitive information
• Knowledge of and an enthusiastic commitment to the organization's mission, solutions, and offerings
• Experience with school-based program evaluation
• Connections with community-based organizations and experience facilitating partnerships with these organizations
• Ability to work effectively with school aged youth, educators, families and communities from a wide range of cultural, social and economic backgrounds
• Experience working in school-based settings, with knowledge about tenets of community organizing, student support services, and youth development theories
• Ability to work collaboratively, with strong relationship building skills
• Program implementation experience preferred
• Knowledgeable in technology
• Remarkable references

Location

The Community School Coordinator will be based at a partner school in Jersey City, New Jersey. Occasional travel to CSS's main office, located in Princeton, New Jersey, will be necessary.

Work Environment/Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working at a computer, including participating in virtual videoconference meetings
• Communicating with others in writing and verbally to exchange information
• Ability to lift and move boxes weighing as much as 15 pounds

Compensation and Benefits

The anticipated starting date for this position is early 2025. The salary range for this position is $74,600 - $93,200 per year. CSS offers the following benefits:

• Comprehensive and competitive benefits plan, including health, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement accounts, commuter and transit accounts for employees who meet the eligibility requirements
• 403(b) plan with employer match
• Generous paid time off
• Paid holidays and winter break
• Flexible work option based on job role eligibility
• Employee Assistance Program
• Reduced schedule on Fridays during summer months
• Phone stipend

To Apply

Interested applicants are requested to apply by emailing a cover letter and CV/résumé to resumes@supportiveschools.org. Please include (1) the title of the position in the subject line of your email, (2) where you found the position posting in your cover letter, and (3) your salary requirement (this is required; if you provide a range, only the lowest end of that range will be considered). If possible, please email all documents in PDF format. Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) are strongly encouraged to apply. Jersey City Board of Education fingerprinting and background clearances will be required.

Center for Supportive Schools is an equal opportunity employer committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity, inclusion, and equity in its work and staff. CSS's Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action related policies are available upon request.

Salary : $74,600 - $93,200