Dean of Culture (2026-2027)

BRICK Education Network

BRICK is on a mission to support families from pre-cradle-to-career through holistic support, excellent schools, and clear pathways to college and career. By creating a comprehensive network of services, we are righting the wrongs of racial and economic inequality and paving the way for families to forge futures abundant with opportunity, wellness, and joy.

BRICK envisions a world of racial and economic justice, where every child and family has the support they need to learn, achieve, and work towards a fulfilling life of personal and collective prosperity.

BRICK currently has schools in three regions: Newark, New Jersey, Rochester, New York and Buffalo, New York.

As a full K-12 continuum, we start our college-focused academic programming in kindergarten and yield better results for Newark students for generations to come. We are more than a school; we are a full ecosystem of supports from cradle to career. We provide our families with free wraparound services like prenatal care, career services, and housing support. Our high school alumni receive up to six years of post-graduate assistance.

Role: Dean of Culture

The BRICK Education Network separates the core responsibilities of running a school day-to-day into three primary functions: Instruction, Operations, and Social Emotional Learning. The Dean of Culture collaborates with school leaders and other members of the Ubuntu Culture Team to create a positive and restorative school culture and assists with leading the school's work on student identity development and trauma informed practices infused in all levels of instructional and social emotional programming. The Dean leverages relationships, mentorship, evidence-based strategies and data to help students make choices that are supportive of their academic and social-emotional success. The Dean is chiefly responsible for implementing the schoolwide plan for creating a culture built on positive, academic, kind, and forward-thinking behavior among all students, and for administering disciplinary actions.

The ideal candidate is comfortable organizing and analyzing data, and has experience creating and/or implementing restorative practices that focus on child development instead of power and control. This role will be both proactive in case managing students and interventions; as well as reactive to student misbehavior and crisis. Experience working in mental or behavioral health settings is preferred.

Essential Functions

• Build trusting relationships with and among all students
• Provide on the spot feedback to teachers on classroom management best practices through the use of relationship and evidence-based techniques
• Organize and conduct community meetings and convocations to strengthen relationships and ground student and staff in the school values
• Conduct climate and culture walkthroughs
• Collaborate with School Operations team to maintain systems and procedures conducive to a safe and supportive learning environment
• Identify, monitor, and analyze individual and school-wide student behavior trends to make strategic shifts and respond to student needs
• Manage and respond to progressive discipline referrals
• Document interventions and programming for SSDS report submission
• Constructively address problematic behavior
• Facilitate accurate student discipline log entry
• Create weekly quantitative data reports and create short and mid-term action plans
• Create and maintain a positive school culture that aligns to the BRICK core values
• Provide Tier II and Tier III classroom supports
• Facilitate Restorative Conferences and/or Circles as needed or when requested by school administration
• Create and implement Check-in/Check-out Interventions and other behavior plans
• Mentor and support a caseload of students to help them proactively set and meet their goals
• Provide a safe space for students to mitigate issues and respond to conflict
• Activate small group sessions that address specific SEL (e.g. attendance, anger control)
• Ensure that biweekly Restorative Justice subcommittee meetings occur with fidelity
• Serve as Advisor for the student-led Restorative Justice Panel (gr. 5-8, 9-12 only)
• Conduct Reintegration Conferences for students returning from suspension
• Identify and resolve school culture challenges using defined processes, expertise, and sound judgment
• Coordinate school wide events such as fun Friday, community meeting, celebrations etc.
• Support the development and implementation of positive behavior and rewards systems
• Lead high quality professional development for practical implementation of behavior intervention strategies
• Reinforce and maintain the school's culture of high academic and behavioral achievement through restorative practices and social emotional learning
• Respond to family concerns promptly and effectively
• Provide consultation to staff to ensure that all school systems promotes a supportive learning environment for students
• Attend and participate in grade level meetings
• Oversee the collection and management of attendance and behavior data to track performance of prevention strategies, Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions
• Collaborate with other culture team members to implement climate and culture activities
• Maintain relationships with community partners
• Implement creative interventions for students with repeated instances of similar challenges
• Assist with the implementation of BRICK Roads to Success (I&RS) to ensure a positive, achievement-focused school culture among teachers, staff, students and families
• Assist with the school attendance strategy including supporting families with chronic absenteeism

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in social work, education or related field
• At least three (3) years working with youth from urban communities
• Experience working in mental health or behavioral health settings is preferred
• Experience making data-informed decisions
• Experience implementing therapeutic treatment modalities
• Knowledge of social emotional learning competencies and applied practices
• Knowledge of trauma informed care or healing centered engagement
• Case management experience is required

Salary, Goals and Employment Period

Salary Range: Competitive compensation package; Based upon previous experience

Full time

Employment Period: 12 Months

Fringe Benefits: Health, Vision, Dental, 401K

BRICK Education Network is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected category. BRICK promotes affirmative action for minorities, women, disabled persons, and veterans.

$50,000 - $80,000 a year