Dean of Students, Ingenium Barack Obama Charter School, Compton, CA

Dean Of Students

Job Title: Dean of Students Schedule: 40 hrs/week minimum

Job Type: Full-Time FLSA Status: Exempt

Reports to: Principal Pay: DOE Certificated vs Non

Special: This position may require weekend work, nights and early mornings, and as needed

About Ingenium Schools

Ingenium Schools is creating communities where everyone experiences joy and meaning in learning. We prepare our students to be the best learners, leaders, and collaborators by empowering them with the capacity and tools to continually improve themselves and the world around them. Since 2009, Ingenium Schools has helped students build confidence, leadership, and a lifelong love of learning with the Ingenium Learning System, an easily replicable, standards-based educational model that promotes personal mastery. Ingenium Schools currently operates several charter schools, serving students throughout Los Angeles County.

Position Summary:

The dean of students is responsible for developing and maintaining systems, processes, and policies that maintain a positive, safe, and learning-centered culture at the school site. The dean supports staff, parents, and students to implement these systems based on intrinsic motivation and student ownership.

Essential Functions & Job Duties:

Key Contributions

• Establishes and maintains processes and procedures for the overall operational health of the organization including improving attendance, facilities, school nutrition, school office operations, and general school and home office operations.

Network Contributions

• Demonstrates knowledge of and supports Ingenium Schools' mission, noble cause, value statements, standards, policies and procedures, operating instructions, confidentiality standards, and code of conduct
• Strives to implement, by instruction and action, Ingenium Schools' philosophy of education and goals/objectives in connection with Ingenium's Signature Practices
• Continuously maintains and improves professional competence
• Attends mandatory trainings, professional meetings, and educational conferences, as required
• Initiates and exercises good judgment and positive working relationships with the community, students, staff and with public and private agencies

Behavior Management

• Lead the development, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive behavior system that clearly articulates the school-wide systems and supports students will use to build positive relationships and manage their own behavior.
• Train, coach, and support teachers and staff to effectively implement the behavior system, including how to track behavior. Professional development for teachers and staff should emphasize how to proactively handle behaviors in a responsive and just way.
• Train and coach students on the behavior system to maintain a positive school climate and culture of high expectations.
• Effectively respond to student referrals with a restorative and responsive lens as well as appropriate behavior modification strategies.
• Effectively communicate with parents to create partnerships to support students.
• Manage a system to collect, input, and monitor effectiveness of individual student behavior referrals as well as trends in class, grade, and school.
• Utilize the PDSA process to evaluate behavior trends and adjust the behavior system and supports to improve school culture.
• Observe in classrooms and on the yard in order to provide relevant and timely feedback to staff on how to improve behavior management. When necessary, observe target students or student sub-groups in order to develop effective supports and behavior plans.

Student Success Team

• Serve as the primary coordinator of the "Student Success Team" team to develop more intensive plans and supports for students not responding to the school-wide behavior system.
• Collaborate with behavior specialists, special education teachers, counselors, or other administrators to determine behavior plans as part of the SST process.
• Support teachers, staff, and parents to implement SST behavior plans, including tracking student growth during the implementation of the SST behavior plan.

Positive School Culture

• Collaborate with teachers and administrators to design and implement key whole-school activities to build and celebrate school culture, such as community meetings, assemblies, and other activities.
• Support bridging and orientation activities for new students and families to Ingenium Schools during the summer and beginning of the year.
• Develop student leadership pathways, student voice in community meetings, and opportunities for students to use their agency to build culture and community.
• Serve as the point person for field trips. Develop and communicate field trip policy, approve field trip requests, and support teachers and staff to lead successful field trips.
• Serve as the point person for special events such as culmination. Lead a team to plan and execute special events.

Family Communication And Support

• Collaborate with administration to lead proactive, site-based learning experiences for families that connects to building positive student culture.
• Provide targeted support for families of students who are at risk, such as connecting with wraparound services.
• Clearly and consistently communicate with all stakeholders, especially families, about student behavior and interventions.

Policies And Safety

• Develop, implement, and refine clear policies for student incidents, including how to investigate, communicate with parents, and determine just consequences.
• Train, coach, and support teachers and staff to fully implement student incident policies.
• Collaborate with site administration to update and refine the parent-student handbook.
• Manage the suspension process, communicating and collaborating with the principal as incidents escalate and reach expulsion level. Track and report suspensions and expulsions.
• Lead the development and implementation of outdoor supervision systems to ensure student safety.
• Train, coach, support, and evaluation the supervision staff to effectively implement the outdoor supervision systems.

Attendance

• Collaborate with the attendance clerk to maintain clear attendance records that monitor student attendance and tardies on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
• Lead the PDSA process to increase or maintain a high ADA.
• Manage the SARB process.

Job Qualifications:

Education/Experience:

• Application of Quality Learning in own classroom as a teacher before seeking administrative role preferred
• A clear California teaching credential (or out-of-state equivalent) preferred
• Experience building positive culture through intrinsic motivation
• Bilingual (Spanish/English) preferred
• CPR and 1st Aid trained, preferred

Knowledge / Abilities:

Knowledge Of:

• Effective practices for creating intrinsically motivating environments.
• Quality systems and experience in applying them in an educational setting, especially tracking and PDSA tools.
• Various processes and policies: SST, SARB, suspension and expulsion.
• Urban children and their families, especially those represented in the school's student population.

Ability To:

• Communicate clearly, both orally and in writing
• Inspire and coach adults to build staff capacity
• Manage multiple tasks simultaneously while prioritizing projects and assignments
• Learn quickly and advocate for own learning needs
• Build positive culture with parents, students, staff, and other stakeholders
• Work under time pressure while maintaining a positive work environment
• Maintain positive attitude
• Maintain regular attendance

Working Conditions / Physical Environment:

• Primarily working indoors; some outdoor activities required
• Exposure to illness and extreme weather, at times
• Lift 50 pounds
• Work a 10 hour work day
• Climb stairs without the aid of an elevator
• Stand for long periods of time
• Speak to a large group
• Ability to use a computer and keyboard for extended periods of time
• Ability to squat, bend, kneel
• Ability to run 100 yards