Academic Counselor
About The Position
The Counselor of College and Career Readiness (CCR) leads Unity's post-secondary preparation program. This person counsels seniors through their post-secondary plans, teaches the 12th-grade College and Career Readiness course, supports CCR events and culture initiatives, and helps students build the knowledge, habits, and experiences to pursue college, career, and other post-secondary pathways. The work is grounded in David T. Conley's "Think, Know, Act, Go" framework and in Unity's mission: empowering students as scholars and citizens so they may lead fulfilling academic, personal, and professional lives. About Unity Unity Preparatory Charter School of Brooklyn is an independent charter school serving central Brooklyn. Now in our fourteenth year, we serve approximately 250 students in grades 6-12 across a middle school and a high school. Our inaugural class graduated in 2020 at a rate of 98%, and subsequent cohorts have graduated at rates above 90%. Unity alumni continue to outperform their peers in post-secondary matriculation, retention, and persistence. See our results at unityprep.org. We offer a rigorous liberal arts and sciences program built by teachers who design curriculum for our specific students, an extended school day and year, differentiated academic support, and a growing set of enrichment and real-world learning opportunities. We believe students rise to the expectations placed upon them, that diversity strengthens learning, that strong teaching is the central lever for student growth, and that a positive school culture rooted in our Core Values - Awareness, Initiative, Courage, Inquiry, Kindness, and Integrity - is powerful. We assess students beyond standardized exams, including annual Roundtable portfolio presentations.
Requirements
- Demonstrated commitment to Unity's mission and philosophy
- Bachelor's degree required
- At least 1 year of college and/or career counseling experience (or comparable), including expertise in non-college post-secondary options, college access programming, financial aid, and admissions
- At least 2 years of high school or college teaching experience
- Track record of program development and management in a fast-paced environment
- Expertise in developing resilience and leadership in low-income and/or minority students and families
- Excellent communication, problem-solving, networking, and collaboration skills; strong interpersonal skills with students, families, colleagues, and community partners
- Highly organized with exceptional attention to detail
- Openness to feedback and a commitment to continuous professional growth
- Maturity, humility, versatility, a solution-oriented mindset, a strong work ethic, and a sense of humor
- Proficiency in Google Workspace, MS Office, and college/career platforms (e.g., Naviance, SCOIR)
Nice To Haves
- Master's in education or a related field preferred
- Bilingual Spanish/English highly desirable
Responsibilities
- Counsel the senior class (~60-80 students), ensuring every student has a formal post-secondary plan and maintaining case notes
- Conduct quarterly outreach to families on plans, applications, deadlines, and key notifications
- Advocate for Unity students with post-secondary institutions and assess the quality of student-program matches
- Teach the 12th-grade College and Career Readiness course; develop and update curricula as needed
- Assess student mastery of academic habits, life skills, and executive functioning skills
- Manage experiential learning opportunities (internships, job shadows, part-time employment)
- Track performance metrics for all post-secondary initiatives against national and subgroup benchmarks
- Create and present data reports for families, the board, and school leadership
- Support CCR school-culture initiatives, including in-school displays and website updates
- Support student and family workshops: post-secondary pathways, applications, financial aid, essay writing, scholarships, and information sessions on niche options (e.g., Opportunity Programs, trade schools)
- Support college fairs (two per year), the annual career fair, college representative visits, College Signing Day, and Senior Roundtable presentations
- Co-coordinate grade-level college trips (at least one per year, grades 9-12)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
