**2018-2019 Positions Available in Lawrence, Chelsea, and Springfield**

Philosophy

Phoenix Charter Academy's mission is to challenge teenagers in our area with an academically rigorous and individually tailored curriculum. Talented students who have not succeeded in other schools will have the support, resources and training needed at PCA to succeed academically in high school and college, and become economically secure in their future. Phoenix Charter Academy is named after a mythological figure of strength, healing and renewal.

Phoenix schools challenge resilient, disconnected students with rigorous academics and relentless supports, so they take ownership of their futures and succeed in high school, college, and as self-sufficient adults.

Role Summary

The Director of School Culture is a multi-faceted role, responsible for serving as the frontline manager of efforts to proactively build and maintain relationships with students, teachers, student support staff, administrative staff, and other community organizations.  The Director of School Culture manages the school’s student-centered behavior and discipline policies (in conjunction with staff and other administrators), and serves as the lead consultant for such policies to teachers, staff, students, and the wider Phoenix community.

In addition, the Director of School culture is responsible for launching and coordinating school-based and community-based programming initiatives (including the Student Support Team and outside partnerships), promoting opportunities for continuous positive youth development, facilitating the creation and support of student groups and organizations, and fostering the communication and collaboration necessary for the success of these efforts.

Leadership Commitments

Administrative leaders at PCA are expected to go above and beyond “school hours” to ensure student achievement and carry out a belief that all students can achieve. All leaders model the core values and mission of PCA in every piece of their work and at all times. In order to be successful, all leaders must be innovative, relentless, humble and communicative with all members of the PCA community. Further, leaders should have a strong desire to take ownership of various projects and should possess an entrepreneurial spirit.

Qualities of a Phoenix staff member:

• Scholars First - Staff members find opportunity, even in conflict, to increase understanding and build relationships with scholars, while further investing them in an academic scholar mindset.

• Learn Under Pressure - Eagerness to learn as you go, as practice is consistently evolving to meet the needs of our scholars. This, at times, requires trust in the iterative process as aligned to the school’s vision.

• Invest and Engage - Strong desire to invest and engage students that may not yet be innately engaged in school and working to foster a desire to attend and be successful in school.

• Unwavering Belief  - Belief in our scholars’ ability, which is demonstrated by relentlessly pursuing goals in and out of the classroom.

• Feedback-Oriented - Desire to receive direct feedback and the ability to both not personalize and implement the feedback into practice quickly.

• Humility - Approaches problem solving with curiosity and desire to understand the perspectives of others.

• Ability to Demonstrate Joy - Knowing the work is both challenging and rewarding, and that our scholars’ path to success is circuitous.  Scholars fuel your joy.

• Experience -  Experience serving low-income communities and/or academically-disconnected adolescents.

School Culture and Leadership

• Oversee, train, manage all student support team (SST) staff including school social worker and 2 to 3 retention specialists
• Facilitate professional development on scholar-teacher relationships, classroom management, adolescent development and parent partnership and school culture
• Oversee the training of staff on all school wide safety procedures
• Ensure school wide consistency regarding building practices as outlined in the student handbook.
• Manage building wide coverage planning and day-to-day accountability, ensuring the adults are engaged and helping students meet Phoenix’s high expectations.
• Lead structured school entry, arrival, lunch, dismissal, and transitions to ensure they are well staff and welcoming.
• Conduct regular school culture walkthroughs including classroom observations to help staff maintain a culture of high expectations and support.
• Manage, train and support staff across roles to key Phoenix practices such as circle backs, class re-entry, de-escalation, and coverage.
• Participate in formal discipline hearings with the Head of School.
• Lead the school in recognizing student success and a culture of celebrations.
• Co-lead school wide diversity, equity and inclusion work
• Participate in leadership team meeting and activities, including leading meetings dedicated to school wide culture and student support practices

Student Attendance and Retention

• Partner with school leadership to establish annual school enrollment, attendance and retention goals.
• Oversee strategic school wide interventions focused on attendance and retention with relentless focus on reducing truancy and increasing in class time.
• Manage the SST to develop and leverage individual student attendance support plans and interventions, including the use of school wide frameworks and models
• Collaborate with leadership team to conduct school wide outreach (phone calls, texts, home visits)
• Lead data informed meetings and planning processes to improve school wide practices to support individual and collective attendance and retention
• Coordinate with adult supporters and community partners to increase student attendance and retention.

Student Supports

• Accurately monitor and analyze daily scholar attendance, homework and discipline records; oversee the creation of new systems and structures to anticipate school needs
• Work in partnership with the Director of Curriculum and Instruction to create a balance between relentless student support and rigorous academics, the essence of Phoenix
• Coordinate and implement Phoenix’s model of meaningful incentives and consequences
• Ensure the student support center is providing effective processing of student behaviors so they can maximize class time
• Manage SST in the development of individual behavior plans for scholars who are experiencing behavioral challenges.
• Coordinate with external partners including DYS, DCF, Juvenile Court, health centers, and sending districts to maximize coordination and resources to support students
• Develop and oversee advisory arc, including the creation of weekly lessons focused on building student culture.
• Coordinate staff oversight of enrichment programming including athletics, clubs, celebrations.
• Develop external partners to bring in student support groups and programming

Qualifications

• Deep belief in the mission of Phoenix Charter Academy Network
• Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s degree preferred
• 5+ years of experience working with hard to reach youth in alternative education settings
• Minimum of 2 years managing adult accountability
• A commitment to providing equity and access for all students in an educational setting
• Continuous development of one’s cultural proficiency and to being a lead learner who integrates this learning into daily practice with school staff and fellows
• Model strong judgement and decision making
• Effective delegation skills
• Detail-oriented with superb follow through
• Proven record of successfully taking initiative
• Growth-oriented mindset; a desire for learning and growing as a professional
• Experience teaching preferred

**It is understood that this Job Description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the position. It is not intended to be a complete and total description of each and every duty and responsibility. As such, this job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by this employee. He or she will be required to follow any other instructions and to perform any other duties requested by his or her supervisor.

It is also understood that the Network retains the right to modify this Job Description at any time, for any reason, at the Network’s sole discretion**

We seek a diverse workforce. Phoenix Charter Academy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Phoenix Charter Academy is committed to providing equal opportunity to staff and applicants in all areas of employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status, or any other area protected by federal, state or local law. Phoenix Charter Academy is committed to making any reasonable accommodation necessary to support an individual's employment.