2025-2026 - Upper School - Learning Specialist

Isidore Newman School seeks a talented and dynamic Upper School learning specialist for the 2025-2026 academic year. The Upper School Learning Specialist is a member of Newman's Academic Resource Lab (ARL), a cross-divisional department that includes other learning specialists and works with counselors, a school nurse, and athletic trainers.

The mission of the ARL at Isidore Newman is to identify and reduce barriers to learning, within a framework that emphasizes personalization as a means of supporting students' working to their highest potential. The learning specialists at Newman focus on building intrinsic motivation for learning and the amelioration of learning difficulties.

The goal is to empower all students at Newman to take charge of their own education. The Upper School Learning Specialist reports to the Head of Upper School. The successful candidate will possess excellent speaking, writing, and interpersonal skills; be successful in working with teams; possess significant knowledge of learning disabilities and strategies of support; the ability to interpret test results of IQ, achievement and diagnostic tests, knowledge of legal standards in compliance with state and federal statutes and regulations, and genuinely love to work with students and educators at the Upper School level.

The most important qualifications include:

• A bachelor's degree or higher in special education, counseling, psychology, or a related field. Master's degree preferred
• Training and/or established expertise in the area of learning disabilities and attentional difficulties
• Practical knowledge of how to work with a wide range of different learners in grades 9-12
• Demonstrated patience, perseverance, and kindness in working with students, parents, faculty, and staff as well as a highly collaborative professional style
• Proven record keeping skills and knowledge of legal standards in compliance with state and federal statutes and regulations
• Understand competing responsibilities to uphold confidentiality in relation to private materials and conversations while providing colleagues and families with the information they need to help the student
• Must meet and maintain all federal, state, and local requirements to work in an educational setting

Significant responsibilities include:

• Foster and maintain strong relationships and collaborative communication with students, parents, faculty, and administrators
• Review psycho-educational assessments with an emphasis toward developing and supervising individual academic accommodation plans that increase a student's understanding of and advocacy for his or her learning challenges
• Works with the SSD Coordinator, partnering on the application process for accommodations with the College Board and/or ACT and administering school-based accommodations as necessary throughout the year
• Assist with requiring and maintain documentation that meets College Board requirements and work with families to advocate for accommodations on standardized tests when appropriate
• Work with students with documented learning disabilities both individually and in small groups for them to develop learning strategies for academic success
• Collaborate, develop, and instruct workshops for students on the topics such as executive functioning, study skills and time management
• Working closely with the faculty and administration, serves as an advocate and liaison for students and their families in matters concerning their diagnosis or learning challenges
• Assists teachers in working with students with different learning needs and providing a student-centered environment that supports Newman's rigorous academic program
• Cultivate professional relationships and provide referrals for diagnostic testing resources and community support services for families
• Curate a list of academic (subject matter) tutors, organizational/homework tutors, and other tutoring specialists and provide referrals when needed
• Other division-specific ARL services to students, faculty and parents as needed