School Counselor with Teaching Duties

School Counselor (w/ Teaching Responsibilities)

Overview:

Empower Community School influences change in our community by forging collaboration between a diverse group of scholars, educators, families, and partners to educate the next generation of community leaders and advocates. Our personalized approach to learning supports the academic, social, and emotional development of each scholar and prepares them to excel in every endeavor with the courage and ability to advocate for themselves and the community.

Empower unapologetically believes:

• Every student can learn and grow in rigorous academic settings with the appropriate support.

• Schools are a place for equitable collaboration between educators, scholars, families, and the broader community.

• Empathy, interpersonal skills, and social-emotional development are the foundation of a positive culture.

• Technology can be an educational equalizer when used for personalized learning, content creation, and community connections.

We are seeking motivated, entrepreneurial individuals to join our founding team. Empower Community School Team members must be dedicated to the mission of the school, including our goal to support the academic, social, and emotional development of students. Ideal candidates will be self-motivated, innovative educators with a passion for student, adult, and community development.

Reports To: Principal

Responsibilities:

Classroom Functions:

• Build a classroom culture of excellence and deliver rigorous instruction by building content expertise in humanities and STEM that is captured in units of study and daily plans.

• Engage in cycles of data driven instruction to inform planning and personalize instruction to student needs.

• Collaborate with special education staff so students identified as needing extra support are meaningfully included.

School Counselor:

• Advises and counsels students regarding academic, educational, and short-term social and emotional problems.

• Remains universally accessible and makes an effort to know every student for whom they are responsible.

• Provides individual student planning and responsive services to support students and their families regarding academic matters.

• Teaches guidance classes and provides guidance counseling to students through planned activities in small group or classroom settings to convey educational, social, and important school information, and offers workshops/seminars for parents.

• Consults, facilitates, and maintains communication with parents, teachers, administrators, and pertinent agents on specific student and parent academic and educational matters including academic modifications and/or accommodations.

• Provides feedback and recommends appropriate action and solutions to individual student’s academic and educational needs and abilities.

• Participates on a Student Success Team, identifies students who may need targeted or intensive services, and coordinates with behavioral health specialists.

• Assists students/parents in understanding school policies and procedures.

• Provides brief counseling to address social and emotional concerns and appropriately refers students to behavioral health specialists.

• Communicates, coordinates, and collaborates with behavioral health specialists on developing and implementing student supports.

• Supports and attends appropriate student activities and events.

School Counselor Qualifications/Skills:

• Desire and ability to work with students at the specified age level with diverse backgrounds and levels of ability toward accomplishing their educational goals.

• Ability to organize tasks and manage time to meet many and varied deadlines and communicate effectively with students, parents, school administrators and other staff, including the ability to discuss topics which may be sensitive.

• Working familiarity with student assessment tools, especially in evaluating and interpreting standardized test results.

• Knowledge of educational software.

Professional Culture:

• Commit to doing and being their best, and to growing their skills as professionals and as individuals

• Attend all professional development meetings and opportunities that may exceed the regular school day hours of 7:30a-4:30p

• Urgently and courageously takes actions in the best interest of students, even if they are new or unfamiliar

• • Meet all professional obligations and proactively communicate when changes come up

• Exhibit a high level of honest and humble self-reflection owning good and bad outcomes

• Effectively respond to and implement constructive feedback

• Communicate effectively with colleagues and contribute to positive staff culture

• Collaborate with all staff members to ensure that all students have consistent and well-coordinated support

• Complete other duties as assigned by supervisor

Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in Counseling/Guidance, Education, or Social Work

• A valid teaching credential or enroll in an accredited credentialing program during their first year

• Agreement with the academic goals and philosophy of the Empower Community School

• Commitment to accountability, including a rigorous student testing regime

• Preferred: Prior experience in urban education

Additional Information:

As part of the application process at Empower Community School, we ask all candidates to take several brief assessments after the submission of a resume or completion of an online application. For the first assessment, you will click on this LINK. Please enter your contact information. Upon completion of the first assessment, you will receive a link for the second assessment at the provided email address. The link will come from noreply@predictiveindex.com.

In the first assessment,

• There are no right or wrong answers

• The assessment takes about 5 minutes to complete

• You should take on a laptop or desktop

• Make sure that you are in Google Chrome with a stable internet connection

Once you complete the first assessment, you will immediately receive a link to the 2nd assessment. Unlike the prior assessment, this is a timed test. Please consider the following

• There are 50 questions

• You will have 12 minutes to complete

• Questions will include three types of questions: numerical, verbal, and spatial-reasoning

• Please complete the assessment on a laptop or desktop

• Make sure that you are in Google Chrome with a stable internet connection

• Ensure that you are in a quiet place where you will not be distracted or disturbed

• Be in a competitive state of mind.

Equal Opportunity Employment

Empower Schools of Alabama considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, marital status, veteran or military status, the presence of a medical condition, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Non-Discrimination Statement

In its efforts to promote nondiscrimination and as required by law, Empower Schools of Alabama does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sex, disability, age, or any other basis prohibited by law, in providing education services, activities, and programs.