23/24 Sy Associate Dean Of Culture (Lazear)

REPORTS TO: Principal/Head of Community and Culture

Position Summary

The Associate Dean of Culture works closely with administration to maintain a positive and supportive school experience for students, families, and staff. They manage behavioral issues and proactively work to instill a culture of success.

About Education for Change Public Schools

Founded in 2005, Education for Change (EFC) is a charter management organization that was created as a partnership between Oakland Unified School District and the education reform community in order to leverage the flexibilities in charter law to facilitate greater innovation and to address the underperformance of our most vulnerable student populations. EFC is Oakland’s largest charter operator, serving over 3,000 students in the Fruitvale and Elmhurst neighborhoods of East Oakland. Five of seven of our schools were formerly OUSD schools that converted to EFC to leverage the flexibility and agility provided by charter law for greater outcomes for our students.

Responsibilities

• Build trusting, supportive relationships with students in order to support them to thrive and realize their potential as learners and humans.
• Act as ‘first responder’ for students in immediate need of behavior support.
• Collaborate with and assist staff in implementing successful behavior intervention supports for all students.
• Work with site administrators to provide supervision and behavior support for students
• Build relationships with and communicate with families on a consistent basis.
• Communicate with families and students regarding behavior successes, challenges, and consequences.
• Help maintain school/home communication systems, including home visits.
• Maintain student referral documentation.
• Assist with the development, implementation and monitoring of student behavior plans.
• Support with implementation of Positive Behavior Interventions Systems (PBIS) and restorative justice.
• Facilitate restorative justice circles as needed.
• Participate in and/or lead student social development groups.
• Attend trainings as deemed appropriate.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Experience working with children in an educational or youth development setting
• Training and/or experience with conflict management
• Excellent organizational, project management and time management skills
• Bilingual preferred
• Outstanding problem solving skills
• Effective oral and written communication skills with an ability to communicate with various constituencies and to work comfortably with a variety of staff at all levels within the organization
• Proactive, independent thinker, goal oriented
• Excellent team player with a high degree of willingness to be hands-on and do whatever it takes to support the success of Education for Change

Skills Required

• Ability to build meaningful relationships with all stakeholders in service of Ascend’s school vision (students, families, colleagues)
• Knowledge of strategies to guide and motivate students
• Knowledge of appropriate strategies to handle a variety of challenging student behavioral situations
• Ability to communicate consistently and effectively with families and staff regarding student successes and challenges
• Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, parents, teachers, students, and the general public
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form
• Ability to type 50 words per minute and proficient in use of computer software (word processing, Excel, data management, Powerpoint)
• Formulate, interpret and explain rules, policies and procedures; work with minimal supervision
• Deal courteously, tactfully and discreetly with a wide variety of personalities and challenges
• Exercise sound and independent judgment; demonstrate team building skills; establish and maintain effective working relationships
• Willingness to participate in continuous educational and professional development
• Ability to communicate effectively orally and in written form with students, parents and staff. Spanish speaking candidate highly desirable
• Professional dress required