POSITION SUMMARY:

Supervised by the Principal, the Student Advocates will be responsible for intervention services for the school’s most at-risk populations. Student advocates will build positive and productive relationships with students and leverage those relationships to fully engage students in the learning environment. This position is multi-faceted and the incumbent should be skilled or willing to be trained in the following areas: advocacy, crisis intervention, peer mediation, coaching, and mentoring. The primary focus of the Student Advocate is to work collaboratively with staff to promote a positive learning climate for students.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. 

• Develop appropriate personalized relationships with all students on assigned caseload;
• Work collaboratively with the school’s Dean of Students, to develop an effective In-School Personal Development program while ensuring that all students who are assigned are subjected to experiences and activities that will reduce their rate of recidivist behaviors and that will support their academic and personal growth;
• Conduct home visits to communicate with parents and develop collaborative partnerships with parents and community stakeholders that are designed to identify and respond to student needs and to increase attendance, enhance academic achievement, and student well-being;
• Work collaboratively with the school’s professional school counselors, social worker, psychologist, and pupil personnel workers to provide preventive support and responsive assistance to all students on assigned caseload who are experiencing personal, social, or academic difficulties;
• Advocate for individual students and systemic change whenever necessary to promote an environment more conducive to student achievement and well-being;
• Assist professional school counselors, psychologists, pupil personnel workers, social workers, and other faculty and staff as needed to address students’ needs as efficiently and effectively as possible;
• Be intimately aware of the school-wide student development agenda and actively support all student development programming such as Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports PBIS, Advisory, Athletics, and Activities;
• Provide consultation to administrators, teachers, and parents regarding individual or group of students; and
• Consistently and enthusiastically promote the expectation of high achievement for all students and reinforce and reward school wide rules and expectations.

QUALIFICATIONS:

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. 

• Experience inimplementing or managing systems of positive behavior support in the classroom and consulting using proven methods is strongly preferred;

• Extensive knowledge of the school system’s curriculum, practices and trends;
• Experience with school-based accountability preferred, specifically, experience with school improvement planning process, student tracking and documentation, including strategies to define the problem(s) and offer specific solutionsand experience in interpreting and analyzing data, implementation of instructional practices, and curriculum alignment;

• Ability to use technology effectively for instruction, research, record keeping and other administrative tasks, and communications including Internet research, MS Office and educational software to support the behavior program; 
• Ability to work on multiple projects and respond to requests and deadlines in an accurate, timely manner;
• Ability to make sound decisions within the parameters of authority;
• Ability to exercise initiative and sound judgment in resolving problems;
• Ability to work productively with diverse populations, teachers, parents, board members, and community members, including demonstrated expertise in building and maintaining effective working relationships;
• Maintain a positive working relationship with faculty, staff, board members, parents, students, and community;
• Ability to motivate and create a shared vision within the school community;
• Serve as a role model who acknowledges through actions and behaviors the critical value of human relationships in achieving personal and professional goals and organizational purpose;
• Demonstrated written and oral communication skills; and
• Excellent interpersonal/human relations skills.
• Technical experience working with spreadsheets and databases.

EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS:

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university; Character Education training, or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

None Required. 

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

No direct supervisory responsibilities.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, talk, hear, walk, sit, and use fingers, tools or controls. The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision such as to read handwritten or typed material, the ability to adjust focus, and depth perception. While performing the duties of this job, the employee may occasionally push or lift up to 25 lbs.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT:

The work environment characteristics are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

None.