Instructional Support Counselor

BelovED Community & Empowerment Academy Charter Schools•Jersey City, NJ

3d•$42,000 - $62,000

About The Position

Empowerment Academy is hiring an Instructional Support Counselor (ISC) to support high school students with their social-emotional and academic learning. The role supports the Dean of Students, school leadership, teachers, and students, and differs from a traditional School Counselor role. The school is seeking someone to begin as soon as possible. The stated salary range is $42,500–$62,000, and the hours are 7:15 a.m.–3:05 p.m. Empowerment Academy is a charter school with four campuses and a sister school, BelovED. It serves a diverse student population in the Jersey City, Hoboken, and New York City area. The school emphasizes teamwork, community, staff support, and professional development while working to close the achievement gap and provide a quality educational program. The counselor builds positive relationships with students and families, supports attendance and truancy prevention, responds to student crises, provides counseling and skills training, and supervises or tutors students during classroom removals. The role also includes parent communication and training, collaboration with school staff and teams, and timely reporting and compliance tasks.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or higher in a relevant field.
Experience working with children.
Excellent communication and counseling skills.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with students, families, staff, and community members from diverse backgrounds.
Demonstrated aptitude, professionalism, and competence for assigned responsibilities.
Self-starter who takes initiative.

Nice To Haves

New Jersey DOE-issued School Counselor Certification or School Social Worker Certification; this is a bonus, not a requirement.

Responsibilities

Encourage positive student behavior and establish positive rapport with students and their parents or guardians.
Track student attendance and truancy, and lead parent outreach to counsel families about the importance of regular school attendance.
Respond to situations in which students need to be temporarily removed from the classroom; walk or sit with students to de-escalate stress and help them return to class as quickly as possible.
Provide counseling and life skills, social skills, and/or coping skills training to students as needed.
Supervise or tutor students on schoolwork during classroom removals.
Communicate with parents and provide training as needed to help them foster their children’s emotional, social, physical, and educational well-being.
Work closely with the Director of Education, Dean of Students, Social Worker, Special Education Coordinator, and teachers.
Serve on the school’s RTI team.
Complete periodic reports for the Director of Education, Board of Trustees, state-regulatory authorities, and communications to parents and the community in a timely and accurate manner.
Perform other tasks assigned by the Director of Education related to student behavior and social-emotional development.