About IMS: Independence Mission Schools (IMS) educate students of all faiths living throughout Philadelphia. Our inspiring new network of 15 schools blends the best of Catholic education with innovative teaching strategies designed to meet the unique learning needs of all students.

Since our inception in 2012, our enrollment has grown over 20%, our students are outperforming 80% of their neighboring public and charter schools in Reading, and we have received increasing recognition as a network that successfully integrates faith, character, and academics to create warm, energizing schools that are sustainable for students, staff, and community. Ultimately, IMS recognizes  that our students are on track to make their own choices in pursuit of college and career opportunities because they are on grade level academically and enrolled in a high-quality high school.

Perks of IMS: Teachers at IMS enjoy ongoing development through coaching, mentorship, and professional development and a benefits package that matches 403b contributions, provides low-cost healthcare, and guarantees paid sick time and personal time. Learn more here.

Description

Independence Mission Schools seeks candidates who have a commitment to our mission, a growth mindset for themselves and students, experience in differentiating instruction based on comprehensive data analysis in order to meet each student’s needs, and a desire to work in a collaborative setting as an educational leader.

The successful candidate will work in collaboration with Student Support Specialists located within in the school to support students in need of social emotional support. In the absence of the Student Support Specialists the aide will work in collaboration with School leadership to reach an appropriate resolution for student support.

Key Functions:

Work will primarily take please in the school Restore Room (Focus on Restorative Practices). Supporting students who have breached school culture via restorative practices and get students back to learning as quickly as possible, including:

• Implementing restorative practices in conjunction with school-wide behavior system
• Ensuring students are appropriately and adequately reflecting on behavior choices and consequences, in order to promote continual improvement of student behavior.
• Facilitating restorative practices in a timely manner, so that students are back in class as quickly as possible while maintaining high expectations in terms of how members of our community treat one another, consequences for choices, and ongoing social development of our students.
• Building and leveraging relationships with students and parents to build trust and effectiveness of systems via phone communication, meetings, and other relationship-building strategies
• Communicating with teachers and parents about students’ behavioral choices in a way that coordinates support, communicates clear expectations, and promotes students’ ongoing growth
• Collaborating with outside service providers and contributing to creation of individual behavior plans, contributing to Student Support Team and Social/Emotional/Behavioral Support Team Meetings.
• Utilizing restorative practices including the following as necessary:
• • Apologies
  • Logical Consequences
  • Reflection on behavioral choice, impact, and options
  • Taking ownership for action
  • Creating a plan for making better choices
  • Accountability for making better choices
  • Contribution to planning for reinstatement/re-introduction
  • Contributing to personalized aspects of individual student behavior plans

• Allowing for strong consequences without compromising learning time
• For example, in-school suspension as opposed to exclusion from school, students completing work missed during resolution of breach or consequence, ensuring students have the academic support they need to meet demands of academic work
• Contribute to ongoing refining and strengthening of behavior systems through
• • Regular meetings with the Dean of Students and behavior support personnel
  • Creating and piloting revisions of reflections, essay prompts, consequences, incentives, and home-communication forms as well as providing feedback on implementation and effectiveness
  • Contributing to collection and analysis of behavior support documentation and infractions in order to help identify trends and ensure students’ needs are being met and expectations maintained
  • Collaborating with Dean of Students and Culture Team to facilitate incentive experiences for students to promote positive behavior intervention system

Qualifications:

The Social/Emotional Support Aide must have a knowledge of the age appropriate strategies needed in order to best serve the students in often challenging situations. Ability to think quickly and make grounded and swift judgment calls with that keep student and employee safety at the forefront.

Requirements:

• High School Diploma or equivalent
• Minimum of two years of successful experience in a related student support work
• Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office (good language, writing, and grammar skills)
• Have the ability to communicate effectively with various groups (parents, students, teachers, visitors, etc.) and demonstrate appropriate telephone etiquette.
• Continued learning and participation in Professional Development and grow through opportunities such as Trauma-Based Training, Mental Health training, and CPR Certification
• Successful candidates must be able to clear all background checks as listed on Careers Page.

EOE: IMS is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and celebrates staff diversity. We strive to be and build a diverse team that is representative of our students and the communities in which we serve. If you identify as an individual of color, we highly encourage you to apply!

Want to learn more about IMS and our school locations? Please visit:https://independencemissionschools.org/schools/