What are the responsibilities and job description for the Summer Reading Specialist position at Horizons St. Louis in Kirkwood?
About the Organization
Horizons St. Louis in Kirkwood is a community-centered education program supporting students from the Kirkwood area. Horizons builds long-term partnerships with students, families, communities, and schools to create experiences outside of school that inspire the joy of learning. Horizons St. Louis in Kirkwood operates a proven model and is part of an affiliated network with over 70 Horizons sites serving students across the country.
The main component of Horizons is a six-week summer program located on the campus of Keysor Elementary School in Kirkwood, where students participate in academic activities focusing on literacy, math and STEAM project-based learning. Students also participate in swimming instruction, recreational activities and enrichment experiences. The goal of Horizons is to offer kids learning opportunities that stop the “summer slide” and help close the achievement gap. Horizons’ students gain an average of 5-12 weeks of grade level equivalence in reading and math skills each summer. New skills learned at Horizons translate into school-year confidence, positive attitudes and student success.
Our Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Horizons St. Louis in Kirkwood strives to create an inclusive, affirming, and welcoming environment that allows all team members to thrive. As an organization whose central purpose is to mitigate inequities in education, Horizons is strongly committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in all forms, and we strongly denounce racism, sexism, and discrimination of any kind. Focus on DEI is central to Horizons National and our National Network, which actively engages in diverse and inclusive partnerships; representative councils and working groups; provides robust professional development opportunities; evaluates internal and external communications with an asset-based lens; and facilitates conversations across different communities to ensure that all Horizons voices are heard and represented.
About the Position
As Reading Specialist, this position is responsible for identifying students who would most benefit from reading intervention, and developing and delivering reading intervention to address student needs. The Reading Specialist will also be involved in student testing, data analysis and teacher support.
This position requires a self-starter with an action-oriented approach and ability to communicate well with students, parents, staff, business partners and other members of the community. Certification as a Reading Specialist is required. Experience with project-based learning, STEAM curricula and social and emotional curricula is a plus.
This position is part-time and reports directly to the Horizons Program Director. The majority of time will be spent between May, June, and July, although other duties may require time outside those months. This position is required to be on-site at all times when the 6-week summer program is in session. Details about the hours are described below.
Qualifications/Skills
- Bachelor’s Degree
- Reading Specialist Certification
- Relationship and Team-Building skills
- Competent in MS Office, Google Workspace or similar applications
- Ability to effectively multi-task and problem solve
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as the Reading Specialist for all students attending Horizons’ 2025 summer program which will include, but not be limited to, assessing all students, identifying student literacy needs, developing curriculum, tools and materials needed to assist students with reading and literacy, meet with individual students and/or groups to develop literacy skills and work with teachers to support literacy instruction.
- Assist Program Director with administering and reporting all student assessments and obtaining data from the Kirkwood School District related to student literacy skills
- Analyze and utilize assessment data to design appropriate curriculum, strategies and student groupings for reading intervention
- Participate in training and/or professional development provided by Horizons National for Reading Specialists and/or related to reading intervention
Hours
- Reading Specialist is expected to work on-site, Tuesday through Thursday from 8:30am-4:00pm during the Horizons 6-week program which runs from June 9, 2025 to July 18, 2025, with days off on June 19 and July 4.
- Reading Specialist is expected to assist Program Director with student pre-testing during May at dates and times to be determined
- Reading Specialist is also expected to attend the following:
- Virtual Training June 4 ,2025 4:45pm-7:15pm
- Site Set Up Training/Team Building June 5, 2025 9:00am-3:30pm
- Training/Team Building June 6, 2025 9:00am-3:00pm
- Family Night July 17, 2025 6:00pm-7:30pm
- Program Debrief July 18, 2025 Time slots will vary
- Site Clean Up July 18, 2025 3:00pm-5:00pm
- Attend 1 Year-Round Event (e.g., SPROG Week, October 2025; Kickoff, January 29, 2025; Parent Meeting, TBD)
Job Type: Temporary
Pay: $4,625.00 per year
Physical Setting:
- School
Schedule:
- Day shift
Ability to Relocate:
- Kirkwood, MO 63122: Relocate before starting work (Required)
Work Location: In person
Salary : $4,625
