As City Garden embarks on this ambitious strategic plan, we’re seeking to hire a Family Support Coordinator for our flagship campus at the start of our 2020-21 school year (August 12, 2020).

Providing holistic support to our students and families is core to our school model; the Family Support Coordinator/ School Social Worker will have the responsibility of coordinating counseling, social-emotional and wrap-around support for City Garden students and families.

The primary duties of the Family Support Coordinator/ School Social Worker are:

• Provide counseling and individualized intervention support for students
• Coordinate family and student resource support
• Support and coordinate relationship- and community-building at City Garden
• Support social-emotional assessment and education

The Family Support Coordinator/ School Social Worker will contribute to a positive, trustworthy, and respectful climate that has consistent expectations for all. The Family Support Coordinator/ School Social Worker will build relationships, communicate proactively, and promote continual growth while maintaining a student-centered focus.

The Family Support Coordinator/ School Social Worker will report directly to City Garden’s Principal, and will collaborate with City Garden Montessori’s faculty and staff, parents, and students to implement the school’s mission and vision.

The priorities for the Family Support Coordinator/ School Social Worker over the next two years will be:

• Building strong relationships among students, guides, staff, parents and community members
• Ensure that students and families have the physical and emotional support they need throughout COVID-19
• Working with the principal to build and codify City Garden’s student and family support program as we prepare to grow our flagship campus, beginning in Fall, 2021

The ideal Family Support Coordinator/ School Social Worker candidate will...

• Be an experienced school social worker
• Have strong rapport with children ages 3-14 and their parents and guardians
• Be familiar with Montessori education, and aligned to Montessori’s holistic approach to child development
• Have a strong grounding in anti-bias education and antiracist values and principles, and is excited to be part of a school that is reimagining education through these lenses
• Have an ability to meet people where they are, build and nurture strong relationships, collaborate across stakeholders, build community, and lead with empathy and conviction
• Be deeply committed to both whole-child education and academic rigor, having proven success and outcomes in meeting children’s needs holistically and supporting high academic achievement for children of all backgrounds
• Be excited to engage deeply with students, teachers, staff and families as partners
• Love to learn, have a sense of egoless-ness, be open to feedback, have an extreme growth mindset, and will always place children at the center of decisions and actions

Responsibilities

The Family Support Coordinator/ School Social Worker’s Responsibilities:

Counseling and Individualized Intervention Support

• Counseling caseload of approximately 30-40 students per week –providing direct counseling services and supervising outside counselors
• Parent and teacher consults regarding counseling and facilitating consent paperwork for all counselors
• Student/family processing and interventions as needed (emotional dysregulation in class, death/divorce in family, etc.)
• Conflict mediation between students
• Risk assessments and safety planning (and referral for Behavioral Health Response evaluations or other applicable levels of care when needed)
• CARE Team- Participate in CARE Team and support implementation of CARE Team plan interventions
• Counselor, psychiatrist, and evaluation referrals- and support completing, navigating, and interpreting outside assessments and evaluations (attend with family at times)
• Mandated reporting- find out more about potential child abuse/neglect situations and report if mandated (support for staff member if staff member is reporting)
• Assess incidences at school involving private parts- teacher consultation, parent notification/consultation, safe touch education for student
• Maintain documentation of all counseling sessions, interventions, consults, interactions with families, etc. as well as complete students (in SPED)’ IEP quarterly progress reports

Family/Student Resource Support:

• Community resource linking and assistance navigating (utility assistance, housing, med. insurance, glasses, food assistance, diapers, legal aide, holiday assistance program coordination, furniture, tutoring programs, etc.)
• Direct resource distribution from family assistance budget- inform and get approval from Principal
• Larger-scale resource/opportunity coordination
  • attendance tracking & absence/late arrival support
  • hearing/vision screenings & follow up
  • dental care van visits & follow up
  • Louis City Treasurer’s Office College Kids Program
  • camp liaison and coordinator including family meetings for partnerships with Camp Thunderbird, Sherwood Forest, SLU, etc
• Custody issues, orders of protection, safety planning- meet with family, request/review legal paperwork, communicate to relevant staff
• McKinney-Vento liaison

Relationship- and Community-Building at CG:

• Parent Action Committee Social Engagement Subcommittee (PAC SES) liaison
• Morning student arrival outside greeting
• Supporting and building relationships with new families

Social-Emotional Assessment and Education:

• Provide support and coordination regarding SEL curriculum, resources and assessment
• Panorama research, planning meetings, student survey proctoring, and professional development trainings

Supervision and Consultation of Practicum Students and Contracted Counselors:

• recruiting, supervising, and evaluating practicum students (attending college fairs, interviewing, mandatory supervisor trainings, in-person site visits, and written evaluations, etc