Family Liaison - Southbridge Middle School

Southbridge Public Schools serve approximately 2,200 students across six schools—and we’re in the midst of an exciting and measurable transformation.  In particular, our secondary schools are on a trajectory of rapid improvement.  This brief video,  Southbridge Middle School Celebrates Recent Improvement, highlights the results of a process of improving culture, climate, and instruction that empowered Southbridge Middle School to take dramatic steps forward even in the challenging aftermath of the COVID pandemic.  Over the past couple of school years, SMS has continued to thrive and has been recognized for outstanding student achievement gains in Math, and by the University of Connecticut as a PBIS success story.  We are now also seeing the same kind of transformative change at Southbridge High School, with culture & climate among both staff and students improving dramatically in the current 2024-25 school year, and we are confident that significant academic gains will soon follow.  

This success is no accident—it’s the result of passionate educators, high-quality curriculum, targeted professional development, and a deep commitment to providing a better education to children in a community that has long been under-served.  We are a district with many high-needs students, but they prove to us on a daily basis that when we provide them with high expectations and consistent support, they can excel.  Most of all, our students thrive when the adults in our schools unite as a team to provide a safe and positive climate, when we uphold high expectations for both behavior and academics, and when we show our kids that we believe in them, we care about them, and we will never give up on them.  

If you’re an educator who wants your work to matter—who wants to be part of a team that believes deeply in growing people and improving student outcomes—Southbridge is a place where you can see the impact of your efforts every day.

Family Liaison

The Family Liaison job responsibility is to serve as the bridge between families, schools, and the community. The Family Liaison is committed to actively engaging all families in understanding their interests, needs, and aspirations for their child. The Liaison supports teachers, staff and administrators as the school develops and implements best practices to become one force in supporting children, enabling them to become the best versions of themselves. Family Liaisons Communicate, Connect, Collaborate, and Celebrate effectively to support this work. The Family Liaison helps establish systems and processes to cultivate and leverage family and community partnerships and strengthen positive school climate. They support this by focusing their work on assessing and addressing needs through:

Communicating:

• Through an appropriate cultural and linguistic lens, the Family Liaison ensures that families are aware of:
• School events and priorities
• School based and community based resources
• Opportunities to volunteer in and outside of the classroom/school building
• How to navigate the school system and advocate for their child
• Knowing what questions to ask
• Knowing how to read and interpret their child’s data
• Knowing who to speak with when supporting their child’s school experience
• Ensure that teachers have the tools and support they need to share information with families regarding students’ progress, and how parents/guardians can support learning at home

Connecting:

• Through effective communication and active listening, be able to:
• Connect families with the resources available through Southbridge Public Schools and Community Partners
• Connect families with volunteer opportunities in and outside the classroom
• Connect teachers and parents/guardians to improve student outcomes

Collaborating:

• Through deliberate efforts, the Family Liaison will develop a mechanism for parental/guardian voice in school decision making.
• Influence the development of policies, practices, and programs affecting their child
• Parents/guardians will work with liaison and to plan whole school events
• The Family Liaison will collaborate with teachers to identify ways to expand their classroom outside the classrooms’ four walls.
• Teachers will provide learning activities that can be completed at home and during family events

Celebrating:

• By acknowledging the school and greater community’s endeavors, the Family Liaison will highlight accomplishments and improvements in climate and culture, academic success, increased school-parent collaboration and community partner development:
• Partnering with the school PBIS teams
• Coordinating family events - tell our story
• Develop a gateway for parents/guardians to share their culture, ethnicity, and heritage in their child’s school.

Knowledge and Experience:

• Translation and Interpretation competencies
• Correct English and Spanish usage, grammar, spelling, punctuation and vocabulary
• Experience with Student Information Systems: experience with IPASS/ Aspen preferred
• Modern office practices, procedures and use of equipment
• Record-keeping techniques
• Health and safety regulations
• Oral and written communication skills
• Interpersonal skills using tact, patience and courtesy
• Telephone techniques and etiquette

Physical Demands:

• Work is performed while standing, sitting and/or walking
• Requires the ability to communicate effectively using speech, vision and hearing
• Requires the use of hands for simple grasping and fine manipulations
• Requires bending, squatting, crawling, climbing, reaching
• Requires the ability to lift, carry, push or pull light weights, up to 30 pounds

Preferred Education/Experience:

• Associate Degree preferred and at least two years of experience working in a public school system.
• Formal translation training
• Experience working with online systems and database, student information systems preferred

Equal Opportunity Employer

Southbridge Public Schools is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, sex, gender identity, disability, religion, age, or sexual orientation.