OVERVIEW OF TENACITY MIDDLE SCHOOL ACADEMY:
Working in partnership with the Boston Public Schools, Tenacity’s Middle School Academy delivers an intensive three-year experience for middle school students presently at four schools: Curley (K-8), Frederick Pilot Middle School, McCormack Middle School, and the Mario Umana Academy (K-8).
DESIRED RESPONSIBILITIES, QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES:
As Tenacity grows to meet the critical needs of Boston’s children, it offers a unique opportunity for a talented professional who understands the development of the whole child. The successful candidates will be entrepreneurial, collaborative, “willing to go the extra mile,” have a strong desire to lead, possess a willingness to share full responsibility for the success of a site and be deeply committed to supporting Boston’s youth to achieve excellence in the classroom and on-court while imparting life skills and promoting character development to lay the foundation for their pathway to college. The successful candidate will have a passion for not only delivering high quality instruction to middle school students and their families, but also supervising the growth of the AmeriCorps Fellows who comprise the site team.
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ACADEMIC COORDINATOR (AC):
- Ensure the effective development and implementation of Tenacity's academic curriculum:
- Developing and regularly refining lesson plans based on instructional goals and assessment data and partner school instructional priorities
- Facilitating whole group and small group curriculum-based activities
- Supervising classrooms and instructional experience for students, including management and direction of AmeriCorps Fellows, volunteers, and part-time staff
- Managing student behavior, and offering individualized support to students (and parents) experiencing behavioral, social and/or academic difficulties
- Prepare students for program wide literacy celebrations such as Poetry Slams
- Integrating academic activities with an emphasis on unit or lesson development
- Organizing “push in” academic support during the school day as requested by the school.
- Perform preparatory work and/or strategic program revisions during the summer for the following school year's implementation as directed.
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ALL MSA COORDINATORS:
Work as a team with other site-based Tenacity coordinators, AmeriCorps Fellows, volunteers and part time tennis instructors to manage all aspects of the Middle School Academy (MSA) at a particular BPS site. This includes:
- Accountability for the overall success of the site, which includes but is not limited to:
- Recruitment and enrollment of middle school students for the MSA Program.
- Maintenance of high student retention rates and site attendance rates.
- Meeting expected student achievement goals.
- Directly supervise and coach relevant staff in program.
- Organize and facilitate regular meetings with staff to ensure quality execution of lesson plans and preparation of all materials or equipment.
- Meet regularly with role-specific Fellows to supervise their professional development, increase instructional and behavioral management skillset, provide in-the-moment coaching around program-delivery techniques, provide growth opportunities, and manage professionalism and team dynamics.
- Expertly navigate and mediate team conflicts or professional improvement opportunities for staff, where relevant.
- Co-plan and attend events, field trips, and other activities, including some evening and/or weekend events.
- Build and manage highly effective relationships with the principal, teachers and parents to discuss individual student progress and ways to better meet the needs of the students and school.
- Participate regularly in school meetings, including but not limited to weekly content or student support meetings, student-specific meetings such as IEP meetings, the Instructional Leadership Team, school wide assessment reflection sessions, and professional development sessions.
- Exhibit a desire to collaborate and share best-practices with coordinators from all MSA sites.
- Show an eagerness to take on more leadership in the organization, including preparing and facilitating weekly coordinator meetings, attendance at conferences or events that raise the visibility and thought leadership of the organization, initiate new partnerships with other institutions that strengthen the strategy of Tenacity and its students.
- During the summer, perform preparatory work, family visits, and/or strategic program revisions for next year’s implementation as deemed appropriate by the MSA Director.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCES FOR THE AC:
- Experience creating and modifying lesson plans appropriate for middle school aged students.
- Experience working with young adults and providing coaching, mentoring, and support for them to meet the needs of middle school youth.
- Master’s Degree in education, youth development or related field preferred.
- Bilingual in Spanish is highly preferred.
- An ability to model a “Growth Mindset” for students, other staff, and oneself.
- Experience working with urban middle schoolers, ideally in a capacity that targeted socio-emotional growth.
- Strong interpersonal, team development, management, organizational and verbal/written communication skills.
- Have relationship management skills and experience – particularly working with parents, students, teachers, and principals.
- Passion for improving the quality of education for children living in low income, urban communities.
- Proficiency in verbal and written communication, Microsoft Word, Excel, Sharepoint, OneDrive
- Some tennis experience a plus
- Owning a car is a significant plus/willingness to drive
TO APPLY:
Send resume and cover letter to garyphillips@tenacity.org. Please include the position for which you are applying (Academic Coordinator) in the subject line of your email.
We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on race, religion, gender, age, sexuality, gender identification, or physical ability.
