School Psychologist

School Psychologist

The Community Charter School of Paterson (CCSP) is seeking a School Psychologist to join our Schools. The School Psychologist is a core member of the Child Study Team (CST) at CCSP, responsible for conducting psychoeducational evaluations, contributing to eligibility determinations and educational planning, and providing consultation and psychological services to students, families, and staff. This role is essential to building a fully functioning, in-house CST that reduces dependence on contracted agency providers over time.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Psychoeducational Evaluation and Assessment

• Conduct comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations for students referred to the CST, including assessments of cognitive ability, academic achievement, social-emotional functioning, and adaptive behavior.
• Administer, score, and interpret standardized psychological and educational assessments in compliance with NJAC 6A:14 and IDEA requirements.
• Prepare written psychological evaluation reports that are clear, legally compliant, educationally relevant, and completed within required timelines.
• Conduct re-evaluations on a triennial basis or as otherwise required by the IEP.

2. Child Study Team Participation

• Participate as a core CST member in eligibility conferences, IEP meetings, and annual reviews.
• Contribute psychological and cognitive assessment data to eligibility determinations and educational planning decisions.
• Collaborate with the Lead Social Worker to ensure coordinated evaluation processes and consistent documentation practices.
• Maintain evaluation timelines in coordination with the CST calendar managed by the Lead Social Worker.

3. Consultation and Support Services

• Provide consultation to teachers and administrators on behavioral and social-emotional intervention strategies for students with and without IEPs.
• Support the development and monitoring of Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) and Behavioral Intervention Plans (BIPs) in collaboration with the Behaviorist.
• Participate in I&RS/MTSS team meetings as a resource for universal and targeted intervention planning.
• Provide crisis assessment and support as needed, in coordination with the Lead Social Worker and school administration.

4. IEP Case Management — Non-Negotiables, Guardrails, and Expectations

As a designated case manager, the incumbent is personally accountable for the standards in this section. These are conditions of the role.

Non-Negotiables (Regulatory Floor)

• Convene the identification meeting within twenty (20) calendar days of a written referral, and ensure eligibility determination, IEP development, and IEP implementation are completed within ninety (90) calendar days of parental consent to evaluate, consistent with N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.3 and 6A:14-2.3.
• Convene each annual review of the IEP no later than 365 days from the date of the prior IEP, and ensure each reevaluation is completed within the three-year (triennial) cycle unless the parent and district agree in writing that it is unnecessary, per N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.8.
• Ensure Prior Written Notice is issued for every proposal or refusal to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, educational placement, or provision of FAPE, per N.J.A.C. 6A:14-2.3(g).
• Ensure parents receive procedural safeguards as required, and that all notices and communications are provided in the parent's native language or primary mode of communication, per N.J.A.C. 6A:14-2.3 and IDEA.
• Treat all case-related documentation — including email, meeting notes, and drafts — as part of the student's educational record subject to FERPA and discoverable in the event of dispute.

Guardrails (How the Work Is Performed)

• Implement IEPs as written. No service, accommodation, modification, or placement is added, reduced, suspended, or withheld except through a properly convened IEP team decision documented by Prior Written Notice.
• Make no verbal-only commitments to families regarding services or placement. Any agreement that affects a student's program is reduced to writing and routed to the Special Education Coordinator for review prior to transmission.
• Maintain each case file in audit-ready condition at all times: current IEP, signed consents, evaluation reports, service logs, progress data, and correspondence filed contemporaneously rather than reconstructed after the fact.

Expectations (Cadence and Accountability)

• Maintain a current caseload compliance tracker capturing all regulatory dates (referral, consent, evaluation, eligibility, annual review, and reevaluation deadlines) and submit it to the Special Education Coordinator on a bi-weekly basis.
• Participate in a monthly case-management check-in with the Special Education Coordinator, arriving prepared with the status of every open timeline, identified compliance risks, and any family or service-delivery concerns.
• Report any actual or anticipated timeline slippage, missed deadline, or compliance exposure to the Special Education Coordinator immediately upon becoming aware of it, rather than deferring to the next scheduled check-in.
• Generate and distribute IEP progress reports concurrent with the issuance of each marking-period report card.

5. Documentation and Compliance

• Maintain accurate and current records of all evaluations and psychological services provided, in compliance with FERPA, IDEA, and NJDOE regulations.
• Coordinate with the Special Education Coordinator on all documentation requirements and submission deadlines.

Qualifications:

• New Jersey Certification as a School Psychologist (Educational Services Certificate with School Psychologist Endorsement) required.
• Specialist-level degree (Ed.S.) or doctorate (Ph.D./Psy.D.) in School Psychology from an APA-accredited or NASP-approved program required.
• Minimum of two (2) years of school psychology experience in a K-12 setting preferred; internship experience considered.
• Proficiency in a range of standardized assessment instruments (e.g., WISC-V, WIAT-4, BASC-3, Vineland-3).
• Knowledge of NJAC 6A:14, IDEA, and NJ special education classification criteria.
• Spanish language proficiency preferred but not required.

Employee benefits, including health benefits and PTO benefits are a valuable part of the total compensation package at CCSP. The CCSP benefits package is subject to the terms outlined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for members that are subject to the CBA. The benefits package for staff members that are not subject to the terms of the CBA is at the sole discretion of the Board of Trustees.

Community Charter School of Paterson is among the top 1% in the state for student growth in math and reading—proof of our commitment to academic excellence.

Community Charter School of Paterson is an equal-opportunity employer.