High School Counselor/ Social Worker

Overview

School Counselor/ Social Worker Job Description

About Launch

Launch Expeditionary Learning Charter School is currently hiring to staff a brand new high school option for students of Central Brooklyn focused on tackling the two greatest challenges of our time– climate change and equity. The Launch High School will welcome its first 9th grade class in Brooklyn, NY in Fall 2025. Launch High School builds on the work of Launch’s middle school, an EL Education school that has operated in Weeksville, Brooklyn for 12 years. Launch’s mission is dedicated to empowering all students to develop the knowledge, skills and character to disrupt inequities in society and build a better world. We believe that students at all levels can be pushed and supported to do more than they think possible.

Launch High School is a transformative, student-centered learning environment that offers one of the most innovative and impactful high school experiences in NYC.

Launch’s design is anchored by 4 principles:

• Power of Joy: We infuse joy into every aspect of our culture and activities
• Everyone Belongs and Grows: We create a community where everyone feels known and valued
• Deeper Learning, Rooted Here: We embrace meaningful, real-world learning grounded in our local context
• Liberation through Action: We empower ourselves and others through learning, addressing inequities, and championing environmental and social justice.

The student experience is grounded in:

• Groundbreaking Learning Ecosystem model design developed in partnership with Transcend Education and EdReimagined
• Competency Based Learning using reDesign’s Future9 Competencies
• Community & Work Based Learning offered in collaboration with the National Park Service, and local non-profit partners operating in sustainability
• Dual enrollment classes through local community colleges
• Pathways to Green Careers through opportunities to earn career-connected credentials/badges in Green Energy, Sustainable Agriculture, Marine Sciences & more

You can learn more about the high school model in our community driven, work-in-progress School Design Blueprint.

As the Director of Student Support Services at Launch High School, your responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Counseling and IEP Responsibilities

• Support all students in Launch’s design principles
• Provide individual and group counseling to at-risk students and those with counseling mandates in their IEPs
• Provide counseling PLOPs to IEPs, which address the social/emotional and behavioral support needs of students who receive counseling services
• Input counseling PLOPs into SESIS before scheduled IEP meetings
• Participate in IEP meetings for students with counseling mandates
• Attend parent conferences and grade team meetings
• Develop and monitor Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBAs) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs)
• Support inclusive education teachers in gathering data for FBAs and BIPs and with delivery of BIPs for high needs students
• Supporting teachers in reporting issues of abuse and neglect to ACS
• Support the Response to Intervention (RTI) process

School Culture and Staff Support Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Leadership Team members to plan, analyze data, and engage in implementing Restorative Justice (RJ) practices schoolwide, which also includes facilitating circles across grade levels
• Participate in grade team meetings to discuss the needs of students and identify strategies to meet student needs
• Lead an advisory group called Crew using common school-wide structures and materials. Coach and mentor students, track progress around their progress on the Future9 Competencies and the ownership of their Personalized Learning Journey (PLJ)
• Develop and maintain school structures to address the social, emotional, and academic needs of Launch students and actively support the building of strong character
• Develop relationships and consistently communicate with students’ families and help others do so
• Provide behavior counseling and support for high-needs students such as observations, push-in support, parent conferences home visits, and intervention groups
• Help maintain strong school culture in public spaces throughout the school by fulfilling assigned duties

Community Partnerships

• Find, establish, foster, and manage Community Partnerships that enable us to grow and develop career pathways for students inside and outside our school (including college access programming, external partnerships, summer programs, work study, volunteer and internship opportunities).
• Supervise, facilitate, and build staff capacity to administer curricular, co-curricular and extra curricular programming that exposes students to a variety of opportunities that support their advancement on the Future9 Competencies and interests.

Attendance Intervention

• Develop and execute attendance and chronic absenteeism programming in support of all students academic achievement rooted in data.

Student Life Coordinating

• Foster community in our school by building student and staff capacity to develop for programming (including events, field trips and clubs) by creating and maintaining Student Life systems and procedures.
• Oversee student satisfaction in collaboration with students, staff, parents and Crew advisors through regular data analysis and PD supports.
• Support the Student Life Calendar Events and communication of programming with all stakeholders.

Depending on readiness level and/or workstream of the social worker and counselor:

• Plan and facilitate staff professional development related to Social Emotional Learning (SEL) & Emotional Intelligence/Resilience (EI/ER)
• Collaborate with inclusive education teachers and the Parent Association to provide trainings up to twice a year for families with students with IEPs
• Acquire and manage social work/counseling interns, which is dependent upon social worker’s SIFI Certification status
• Collaborate with external providers and link families to external resources as needed
• Serve as Launch’s McKinney Vento representative

The ideal candidate will be:

• Aligned with, passionate about, and invested in both the vision for Launch High School that is currently in progress (School Design Blueprint) and the community-based design process by which it will continue to be developed
  • This includes unwavering commitment to equity, Launch’s mission, and the EL Education model
• Alignment with the educational philosophy and core beliefs that will undergird Launch High School: project-based and competency-based learning, an interdisciplinary approach, and work-based/career-connected programming
  • Preferably with experience teaching and/or leading in a school that uses one or more of these elements
• Entrepreneurial
  • Comfortable with rapid growth and evolution (personal and of the school) within an innovative educational model
  • Skilled in starting and growing a new program as it is in development
  • A visionary that can construct, implement, and successfully reach a desired outcome, in true partnership with community
• A staff member who demonstrates:
  • Self-awareness, demonstrating an accurate idea of one’s own strengths and weaknesses
  • An ability to treat all members of the school’s community with respect and to inspire others
  • Skill in project-based and competency-based instruction, and innovative educational approaches, as evidenced by quantitative and qualitative data
  • Strong organizational, self-management, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to handle many responsibilities simultaneously
  • Enthusiasm, energy, and optimism, even in the face of challenges
  • Adeptness in managing change, coupled with innovative thinking to surmount obstacles
  • A belief in the value of building relationships and balancing empowering staff and students while ensuring accountability
  • Composed demeanor during crises, underpinned by optimism and resilience
  • Confident and effective communication, adjusting styles to suit diverse audiences
  • Empathetic listening skills and high emotional intelligence
  • Strategic thinking, critically assessing information, data, and processes to facilitate organizational improvement
• Holder of a Masters degree in Social Work or School Counseling.
• Previous experience with high school students in urban communities preferred
• Holder of current LCSW

Compensation: Highly competitive and commensurate with experience, along with a full benefits package.

Launch is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any individual or group for reasons of race, color, creed, sex, age, culture, national origin, marital status, sexual preference or mental or physical disability.