Job Description

What You’ll Do

As a School Adjustment Counselor at Veritas Prep High School you’ll partner with teachers, leaders, and staff to ensure our students have the support they need to achieve, grow, and thrive at school. You’ll provide counseling services, develop and facilitate small skill-building groups, create and monitor behavior plans, and provide a variety of other social, emotional, and behavioral supports to students with and without special education needs. You’ll be an integral part of our Student Support Team, which includes outside service providers, Adjustment Counselors, Special Education Teachers, Student Success Coaches, and the College and Career Counselors.

You’ll also:

• Provide casework/group work services to scholars and/or families to enhance scholars’ educational progress
• Cultivate relationships with community organizations and connect students to appropriate resources for social and mental health services when needed
• Provide positive outreach to parents and/or scholars in target populations to facilitate scholars’ productive engagement in school
• Assist with the assessment, creation, implementation, and monitoring of individualized behavior plans
• Assist with the development of standard procedures to handle crises and support the training of staff to implement those procedures
• Assist in developing and implementing prevention activities and services in the school community, such as peer mediation and bullying prevention, leading community meetings around relevant topics for scholars
• Consult with staff, scholars, parents, and community agencies, acting as a liaison between these groups to ensure the social-emotional needs of scholars are being met
• Participate in scholar support and IEP meetings, contributing information on scholars’ social/developmental histories to develop a complete and holistic assessment of scholar’s needs
• Develop and monitor student progress toward social emotional goals
• Collaboratively develop IEPs for related services and write IEP progress reports during each marking period
• Engage in learning about racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion in education
• Build positive, meaningful relationships with colleagues, students, parents and families
• Actively engage in professional development to continually improve your practice

Requirements

What You'll Need (Qualifications)

• An unwavering belief that all students can achieve amazing things
• A passion for continuous growth as a counselor
• One to two years of school counseling experience at the secondary level (preferred)
• Proficiency in Spanish (preferred)
• A dedication to fighting racism in our educational institutions and in daily life and knowledge of the history of race and racism, as well as the systems of oppression our students face
• Degree in social work, school counseling, or a related field
• Appropriate license issued by Massachusetts Board of Registration of Social Work or Massachusetts Board of Allied Mental Health Professionals OR have or be eligible for a MA School Adjustment Counselor or School Social Worker license
• Current authorization to work in the United States – a candidate must have such authorization by his or her first day of employment
• Training in administering functional behavioral assessments (preferred)
• Alignment with our Values of
• Students First: We make decisions with our students in mind and know our actions model the way.
• Grow Together: We are role models of growth mindset, teamwork, and collaboration.
• One Team, One Mission: We cheer for, lean on, and support each other as we play unique roles in support of the same mission.

Veritas Prep is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against employees or qualified job applicants on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran or military status, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity or expression, or any other status or condition protected by applicable law. This policy extends to, but is not limited to, recruitment, selection, compensation, benefits, promotion, training, and termination.

Benefits

Veritas Prep offers competitive salaries and comprehensive benefit packages that include the following:

• Salary Range for this position is $58,000-$100,000 exclusive of fringe benefits.
• If hired, your final base salary will be determined based on factors such as skills, education, and/or experience.
• In addition to those factors, we believe in the importance of pay equity and consider internal equity of our current team members as part of any final offer.
• Keep in mind, the above range is the full base salary range for this position. Hiring at the maximum of the range would not be typical in order to allow for future and continued salary growth.
• We also offer a generous benefits package for full-time staff that includes, but not limited to the following:
• Health, Vision and Dental Insurance Plans
• Paid Family/Medical Leave Insurance (private and meets state requirements)
• Long-Term Disability and Life Insurance (100% employer paid)
• Enrollment in Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System (teacher pension program)
• Employee Assistance Program (100% employer paid)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Health Reimbursement Account (HRA), and more...

About Veritas Prep

Veritas Prep is a public, tuition-free school in Springfield that prepares students in grades 5 through 12 to compete, achieve, and succeed in college and beyond. Veritas Prep accelerates every student’s path to college and career by helping them set a strong academic foundation in middle school and guaranteeing access to college classes and college prep support in our wall-to-wall Early College high school.

At Veritas Prep, we are not only breaking down barriers to college access but also providing the tools students need to persist through college and prepare for a successful career. Our middle school program has been serving students in Springfield since 2012 and our scholars are supported by skilled, dedicated, and diverse teachers. Scholars learn important academic habits and are challenged to achieve at high levels academically, socially, and emotionally, setting them up for success as they enter our high school.

Our Early College high school program, in partnership with STCC and Worcester State University, prepares students to earn high-impact college degrees, saving students up to two years’ time in college and thousands of dollars. Students can earn up to an associate degree for free, and the general studies associate degree from STCC means students enter as JUNIORS at any Massachusetts public college or university after high school graduation.

Students at Veritas Prep benefit from high academic standards and robust support, an exceptional learning environment, a diverse staff of high-quality educators, a strong commitment to social/emotional and practical skill development, and an inclusive, anti-racist community that values the identities and backgrounds of all students.