SY26-27 High School of Commerce Early College Coordinator

Springfield Public Schools • Springfield, MA

4d

About The Position

While Massachusetts is consistently ranked as one of the top states for education results in the country, we have one of the highest and most persistent opportunity gaps. The Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership (SEZP) - established in 2015 as a collaboration between Springfield Public Schools (SPS), the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and the Springfield Education Association (SEA) – seeks to improve the longitudinal life outcomes of the more than 2,500 students in our 8 middle schools. SEZP combines district-based public education with the flexibility of autonomous school models, granting schools meaningful control over curriculum, staffing, scheduling, and budgeting—while maintaining clear accountability for student learning and growth. Across all of its work—including school improvement and educator preparation—SEZP is guided by three core values: Access: Expanding access to strong learning environments, skilled mentors, and clear pathways for students and educators Belonging: Building communities where people are known, supported, and accountable to one another Opportunity: Preparing students and educators to learn, lead, and thrive over time
The Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership (SEZP) is committed to building anti-racist schools by ensuring the work of equity is fully inclusive of and focused on our students of color, exceptional learners, emerging bilinguals, and all families across our schools. A central SEZP strategy for disrupting institutionalized racism lives in our innovation around Early College for high school students. The SEZP pioneered the “fifth year” graduation deferment option for high school seniors to provide enough time for scholars to earn an Associate’s degree or to amass an equivalent number of college credits, thereby significantly increasing the odds of college matriculation and retention, and drastically reducing the financial burdens of higher education on families. The SEZP supports multiple models of early college programming, including wall-to-wall, dual enrollment, and pathways-focused options. This deeply impactful work is made possible through the most robust college partnership strategy in the state, engaging multiple institutions of higher education in course delivery and degree attainment. Our partners include Worcester State University, Springfield Technical Community College, Quinsigamond Community College, Westfield State University, and Holyoke Community College. The SEZP calls upon skilled and passionate professionals to trailblaze a new model of early college instruction in which they are dually employed as both an adjunct faculty member of Worcester State University and our SEZP high schools. Early College Coordinators will work to ensure linguistic and racial equity through academic rigor and personalized supports that empower students and families in maximizing credit accrual, developing personalized college and career plans, and allowing scholars to obtain an Associate’s degree by their high school graduation, if they choose. ECCs serve to make early college a force for disrupting the institutionalized racism inherent in secondary and postsecondary schools for our Springfield scholars.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's Degree preferred but not required
• Strong commitment to the philosophy and efficacy of providing early college access to scholars in marginalized populations
• Experience in advising in a higher education context preferred
• Experience working with high school-age students preferred
• Bilingual in English and Spanish preferred
• Experience as an active anti-racist or advocate for equity preferred

Responsibilities

• Coordinate early college courses with Worcester State University (WSU), Baypath, other college partners and SEZP staff
• Provide students with language supports during classes so they are able to access key concepts
• Track student asignment progress and support students to make up assignments as needed
• Run intervention progarmming as needed to support students to master early college content
• Provide support sessions, advising, and office hours to ensure enrolled students have access to intervention and additional resources to ensure success
• Enact anti-racist instructional practices that ensure students own the learning
• Work closely with a team of student support team members, mentors, and interventionists to amplify student success
• Engaging with families as partners in the learning around successes, challenges, and problem-solving on behalf of our scholars

Benefits

• Selection as a coordinator in the SEZP recognizes an individual for their outstanding vision, capacity, and commitment to anti-racist school communities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time