Upper School Counselor
BDS Founding Faculty: Social and Emotional Learning Specialist
Bennett Day School is a progressive independent day school looking for passionate educators with innovative spirit and rich background in adolescent learning and school experience. We are a new type of independent school; unabashed believers in the values of progressive education, we put students at the center of the process of learning.
The Bennett Day Upper School is hiring our founding faculty, including a social and emotional learning specialist. In this role, you’ll be part of the founding team and be responsible for helping to design and implement the core characteristics of our progressive, project- and competency-based high school.
Reporting to our Lead Designer and Director of our new Upper School, you’ll bring your experience to the team to build a counseling program that is true to our progressive mission, then lead our first cohort of students as our Dean of Social and Emotional Learning beginning in the fall of 2019-2020. Most importantly, you’ll act as advisor to the students in that first cohort, leading a group of ten as a mentor through all elements of the school experience. As dean, you’ll act as the primary counselor for the students in our first cohort and act as the primary voice in our restorative justice program. You’ll design and create interventions that work at the classroom level and be available to all faculty to assist in the SEL component of instructional practice. You’ll act as a mentor to new colleagues as our school grows in future years.
THE OPPORTUNITY
As one of our founding faculty, you’ll be intimately involved in every aspect of the design of our school, and have input into the design of every major counseling, remediation and SEL system that the school will implement starting in 2019-2020. You’ll simultaneously have the opportunity to design the lead processes related to social and emotional needs for families and students for our project-based and grade-free (no A’s, B’s or C’s) school. You’ll have the opportunity to develop meaningful educational relationships with students in your work as an advisor, while being the primary voice in addressing student conflict through restorative practices.
PART-TIME to FULL-TIME
In 2018-2019, we will work around your current work or teaching schedule as you assist in building the program (approximately 10 hours/week) and pay you a stipend for that work. We do not expect nor ask our founding teachers to leave their current positions until the full-time position begins in July of 2019.
THE SKILL SET
- Belief that your primary role at the school is that of an advisor and that the health and well being of our students must be the school’s primary focus at all times
- An understanding of restorative justice practices and an excitement to design a true restorative justice program
- Excitement to create SEL programs that work in an innovative and progressive school environment
- An understanding of high school classroom dynamics, the role of SEL in a classroom, and a desire to teach
- Prior experience in interdisciplinary and/or team teaching
- Experience with school-based and therapeutic interventions
- Knowledge of trauma-informed practices
- A desire to build all elements of a counseling program for our school, including:
- Direct service; Consultations with teachers/parents/outside service providers; Assessments of needs; Crisis intervention; Collaboration with teachers; Tiered interventions; Assessment practices to address how social emotional functioning is impacting student learning
WITHIN ONE MONTH YOU’LL
- Learn about all the major elements of the upper school (currently in draft form) to become acquainted with the school’s vision
- Teach us about how our major elements support the social and emotional health of our future students, and help us change the elements that don’t
- Begin working with our team to design the school’s advisory program, using materials from Project Wayfinder
- Using your content and field of expertise, teach us what should be in the Upper School competency map (a list of all the major skills required of students for graduation) in your field
- Meet with the Upper School design team 1-2 times per week (working around your schedule and availability) to coordinate on mission and tasks
- Meet once with our student advisory board to get acquainted and understand the role of student input in our process
WITHIN THREE MONTHS YOU’LL
- Learn about our competency-based education model
- Teach us about potential restorative justice models and lead conversations about the pros and cons of different elements of these models
- Learn about our competency-based software so you can better keep track of student progress
- Finalize the advisory program, complete with Social/Emotional curriculum and developmentally responsive checkpoints
- Attend 1-2 admissions and marketing events as needed to share the school’s story to potential Bennett Day families
- Contribute to the interview and vetting process when/if additional faculty is hired
WITHIN SIX MONTHS YOU’LL
- Begin to design our intervention and crisis management procedures
- Teach us about what our RTI program should include given our school model and mission
- Design your first student seminar course in your area of expertise
- Be a part of the planning for info sessions for prospective families
- Be a part of admissions events for the purpose of vetting of student applications for admissions
- Attend at least one professional development experience to learn more about at least one area of our pedagogical model with which you feel you need assistance or guidance
- Be the content-area expert and most important voice in development of the Humanities or STEM trajectory
BY THE END OF 2019, YOU’LL
- Help make enrollment decisions to finalize our first cohort of students for admission in the fall of 2019
- Provide input on the full, final curriculum for the 2019-2020 school year
- Meet your first group of advisees and their families in a series of home visits
- In concert with the Director of Upper School, develop your own Personal Learning Plan for the 19-20 school year
- Provide individual and/or group counseling to students with identified concerns and needs
- Take the lead in addressing student conflict through restorative practices
- Teach your first seminar (in your choice of subject)
- Participate in our professional development program on a weekly basis
- Write narrative assessments of your students and help them develop their own learning portfolios
