Horizons for Youth Program Manager, Elementary

Description:

Horizons for Youth relies on Program Managers to provide high-touch support for families. The Program Manager, Elementary is responsible for managing a portfolio of 35-45 K-8th grade students and their families. As the primary relationship manager, the Program Manager, Elementary is responsible for all aspects of the organization’s relationship with the students, their parents, schools and teachers. The Program Manager will be the primary relationship manager for portfolio of other stakeholders and partners as needed and relevant, such as partnership school contacts or partner organizations.

Requirements:

This position reports to the Director of Academic Support Services. This is a full-time position (40 hours a week) with HYBRID work requirement under a Be Present work policy. Some evening and weekend hours are required (one later evening a week and on average one Saturday a month). The position includes paid vacation and health, dental, and life insurance benefits, with 100% of employee premiums paid by Horizons for Youth. For the health insurance, HMO is 100% paid; PPO may require employee deductions.

Primary Objectives:

1) Family Relations (40%): Foster strong, trusting relationships with parents or guardians and work alongside families regarding successes and challenges, at home or in school.

2) Academic Monitoring and Social Support (50%): Support student academic progress and social-emotional well-being.

3) Partnerships (10%): Facilitate and leverage partnerships to support the academic and social growth of students.

Responsibilities for Primary Objectives:

1) Family Relations: Foster strong, trusting relationships with parents or guardians and work alongside families regarding successes and challenges, at home or in school.

o Act as the primary case manager contact for Horizons for Youth parents in communicating programming events/requirements, resources and ensuring their fulfillment of the parent contract.

o Manage contract fulfillment/compliance process:

o Refer families to our Horizons for Youth Family Support Program opportunities for customized support and referrals.

o Track family needs and demographic information in our customized Salesforce database.

o Assist in creation of budget and manage budgets for programs or events you lead and track ongoing expenditures.

o Act as integral partner for annual Family Selection Process – acting as primary contact for interested families, lead information sessions, distribute applications, and participate in other Family Selection tasks.

o Contribute to program team communications (i.e., newsletters, weekly updates, etc.)

2) Academic Monitoring and Social Support: Support student academic progress, monitoring and social-emotional well-being.

o Communicate with each parent minimally bi-monthly via phone, zoom, email, or in person for academic monitoring check-ins.

o Track the progress of students in the Academic Monitoring Tracker.

o Collect report cards, test scores and other academic records.

o Collaborate with the Director of Academic Support Services to:

- Identify students who would benefit from academic tutoring and/or counseling.

- Assist the student/parent in signing-up and monitor progress.

- Communicate with teachers of students who need academic interventions.

- Support diverse learners throughout evaluation and service planning processes.

o Communicate with teachers of students who need academic interventions.

o Participate in design and execution of academic support programs as needed.

3) Partnerships: Facilitate and leverage partnerships to support the academic and social growth of students.

o Mentoring Relationships

- Monitor mentoring relationships via parent/student communication and observations. Participate in related meetings.

o Enrichment Outings

- Attend and support in task completion for applicable Horizons for Youth community events, according to job duties.

- Lead planning for Ice Skating Outing

- Provide elementary age specific content/ideas for mini outings and activity kits during annual planning.

o School Relations:

- For any of your partnership school contacts, have them sign annual MOU by end of September; meet bi-monthly with the partnership school primary contact to go through a school quality review process and to partner on student support.

o Develop and maintain a portfolio of partners aligned with assigned programs

o Contribute to the professional and resource development of teammates

Additional Responsibilities

• Assist with relevant tasks related to financial management for the organization: track budgets and expenditures, responsible use of credit cards/direct payment methods

• Prioritize attending mandatory events (Back to School Picnic, On Cloud Nine, No Ordinary Evening, End of Year Celebration, etc.), and other events as required.

• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (one shot of J&J or two shots of Moderna or Pfizer).

• Bachelor’s degree required; area of study in psychology, education or social work preferred.

• 3-5 years of work experience in teaching, counseling, social services, or nonprofit organizations with K-5th grade students and their parents.

• Strategic understanding of K-5th childhood development needs and relationship with their parents.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Understanding of and commitment to the empowerment of families from low-resource areas and diverse communities (preferably in Chicago).

• Quality listening skills, empathy, and commitment to the Horizons for Youth mission.

• Considerable organizational skills, time management and interpersonal skills, cultural sensitivity and personal initiative required.

• Experience with Salesforce (preferred, but not required).