The role involves the following responsibilities:
Supporting students
Learning about each student as an individual in order to identify those in need of services, advocating for students at Bergen County meetings, articulating goals for each student and communicating those goals to all relevant faculty and staff, serving as a resource for students who need to talk, identifying skills that need improvement across the board (such as organizational and executive functioning skills) and implementing grade-wide educational initiatives to address these needs.
Supporting parents
Laying out goals and a support plan for each student and communicating this plan to the parents, checking in regularly with parents to convey progress and challenges, and serving as a resource for questions and concerns.
Supporting, overseeing, and coordinating with the support staff and general faculty
Coordinating push-in and pull-out support services and accommodations within mainstream classrooms, facilitating communication and arrangements between support staff and general faculty, adopting and supplementing the school’s common language to discuss these needs, communicating individual student goals to the teachers and supervising to ensure consistent execution, providing feedback in a manner that will elicit buy-in and cooperation, and serving as a resource to teachers who need help and guidance.
Coordinating support services in school
Communicating with the school support staff, the general faculty and outside providers of support services to coordinate support needs and scheduling details, and coordinating with the school psychologists to formulate and adjust plans.
Communicating and coordinating with Bergen County regarding special services
Maintaining familiarity with the Bergen County rules and processes, identifying children who need county evaluation and scheduling such evaluations, coordinating county services, organizing annual reviews and re-evaluations for existing cases, advocating for students at IEP meetings, helping parents and students navigate the process, and ensuring that the school support team is updated on all results.
The ideal Director of Support Services will have the following qualifications, qualities and experience:
- Excellent organizational skills
- Excellent communication skills
- Visionary who can identify system weaknesses and put needed systems in place
- Commitment to teamwork and a collaborative management style
- The ability to relate to students with kindness and empathy, with a balance of warmth and firmness
- Ability to relate to and communicate effectively with parents and faculty
- The ability to de-escalate tense situations and serve as a calming force
- Background in special education
- Background in middle school education (both Judaic studies and general studies), and the educational experience to observe classes and understand the nature and goals of the various classes (teaching experience a plus)
- Experience with data management, in order to effectively analyze testing results
If you are interested in learning more about the position and/or nominating someone for the role, please email [email protected]. Thank You