Founding Family Coordinator

Math, Engineering, and Science Academy (MESA) Charter High School is a community high school in Bushwick, Brooklyn. We opened our doors in August 2013 and we now have 498 students in grades 9-12. We graduated our first class of seniors in June 2017 and our cumulative graduation rate is 94%. Our students come from more than forty different middle schools, including traditional public, parochial, and public charter schools. Some are advanced students coming from magnet schools; others are beginning English Language Learners. What they all have in common is a desire to succeed; MESA students come to school every day, ready to work.

As an organization, MESA is entering a new phase. Based on its success, MESA is proud to be entrusted with opening a second school in District 20. Serving the diverse families of Borough Park, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Sunset Park, and Dyker Heights, MESA 2 will be the first public 9-12 school built in the area in over 80 years.

We are welcoming 125 9th graders in August of 2025 and will "grow up" with them by adding subsequent grades each year. We need a founding Family Coordinator who will be responsible for conceiving of and executing events that support and celebrate MESA students and parents. He/she will be the main point of contact for MESA parents, and will play a crucial role in student recruitment. The Family Coordinator reports to the Principal.

What makes us different is our staff. This year, 42% of staff will be in at least their fifth year at MESA! MESA teachers believe…

• that the greatest contribution we can make to social justice is to give a young person control of their destiny
• committed people, when given autonomy, will find innovative and creative ways to make change
• that being a great educator takes intellectual preparation and a strong sense of personal accountability to produce high quality work.

What makes us different is our model:

• Intentional Grading—MESA uses a standards-based grading system, which makes data understandable and accessible. This enables teachers to create targeted, focused instruction, and helps students understand and track their own progress. MESA teachers love data or at the very least, aren’t afraid of it!
• Intentional Support—MESA teachers have a minimum of rote administrative duties in order to better focus on planning and instruction. Teachers receive ongoing coaching while dedicated time for co-teaching, department and grade team planning are built into the school schedule.
• Intentional Professional Development—MESA has a comprehensive professional development calendar that includes sessions on instructional practices, school culture as well as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
• Intentional School Culture—MESA’s advisory model connects small groups of entering freshmen with a teacher-advisor for all 4 years of high school. Advisors provide guidance on academic progress and are mentors, facilitators and positive influencers. Students are recognized by their teachers regularly for academic achievement and effort and are incentivized to meet school expectations around attendance, punctuality and preparedness.
• Intentional Relationships—MESA knows that all caregivers want their children to succeed. MESA enlists families as partners in their child’s education through regular communication, workshops, and access to student attendance information and grades. More than 85% of MESA caregivers attend the initial parent-teacher conference of the school year.
• Intentional Scheduling—MESA’s school day starts and ends later than most DOE schools, as research indicates that a late start helps high-school students succeed. The calendar and earlier start allows for “Intersession,” during Spring Break where students receive enrichment, skill remediation, or Regents preparation.

Job Responsibilities

Family Engagement Responsibilities

• Develops relationships with all MESA families, and serves as first point of contact for MESA parents, particularly those “high-touch” parents.
• Coordinates MESA’s parent workshop series
• Serves as key point of contact for outside partners who wish to work with MESA families.
• Adopts at-risk students as assigned by Principal.
• Coordinates parent involvement in student activities.
• Leads MESA Parent Association and all other parent meetings
• Coordinate MESA’s parent advocacy efforts
• Build relationships with key community stakeholders, such as local middle schools,
• the CEC, Community Board, etc.
• Serves as liaison to Chinese-speaking parents
• Ensure parents are taking NYC DOE Family Engagement surveys and engage with
• families to solicit feedback on parent engagement, culture, and communication.
• Plan creative ways for engagement with families during Advisory Conferences, such as parent workshops, circles, activities, etc.

Student Recruitment Responsibilities

• Leads all student recruitment efforts, including attending student recruitment fairs and presentations as well as creating student recruitment materials. Proactively develops relationships with middle school parent coordinators and guidance counselors to create pathways for students to apply.
• Is resourceful and relentless in building MESA’s reputation in the community for family recruitment. This might include flyering in the community, speaking with local merchants, and finding other creative, resourceful ways to find and engage parents.
• Builds relationships with parents proactively. To the extent possible, personally calls each parent who applies to MESA in order to build a preliminary sense of buy-in.
• Builds relationships with local community organizations that can serve as feeders for MESA.
• Leads student open houses for prospective students and parents.
• Works with Director of Operations and Manager of Data and Analytics to collect incoming student data, track applications, and organize lottery.

Qualifications: (1) Bachelor's degree OR a High School Diploma and at least 5 years of experience in schools; (2) Proven track-record of high community engagement and at least four years of experience in community work; (4) Belief in and alignment with MESA’s core values, educational philosophy and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion; (5) Strong written and verbal communication skills; (6) High “EQ,” ability to empathize with wide variety of stakeholders and effectively communicate with families from a wide variety of backgrounds (57) Mandarin and/or Spanish speaker strongly preferred.

Salary: $40,000 - $70,000, based on experience.

To apply: Please email your resume and cover letter to Arthur Samuels, Co-Executive Director, at hiring@mesacharter.org with the subject heading “25-26 Founding Family Coordinator” Cover letter should specifically indicate why you want to work at MESA. APPLY BY EMAIL ONLY. Due to the nature of the position and the volume of applications received, MESA will not be able to reply to all submissions. MESA will contact candidates with next steps.

MESA is committed to attracting, hiring and retaining a diverse and inclusive staff. It is MESA’s policy to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, national origin, marital or domestic/civil partnership status, genetic information, citizenship status, uniformed service member or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.