About Clare Woods Academy
Clare Woods Academy is a dedicated therapeutic day school serving individuals with learning disabilities, emotional disabilities, developmental delays, and autism spectrum disorders. We are committed to fostering a supportive, structured, and empowering environment where our students can thrive academically, socially, and behaviorally.
Position Overview
We are seeking a highly resilient, proactive, and analytical Behavior Specialist to join our leadership team. In this role, you will serve as the right-hand person to our Director of Behavior and Analytics, blending hands-on behavioral support with systemic management.
- Maternity Leave Coverage: A core component of this role includes stepping up as the primary
- Behavioral Point Person for the academy during the Director’s upcoming maternity leave. This role demands a high level of independence, professional boundaries, and the dedication to handle extended hours when necessary to meet administrative and compliance deadlines.
Key Responsibilities
State Reporting, Data Analytics & Record Keeping
- Behavior Tracking Systems: Maintain, update, and heavily utilize detailed Excel tracking sheets to log student behaviors. You must be able to pull exact, real-time metrics on how many behaviors a student has had at any given time.
- Rapid Reporting & Charting: Create dedicated, visual behavioral data charts at the drop of a hat (often with short notice) to support administrative decisions and parental reviews.
- Compliance & Deadlines: Manage internal systems to ensure student-facing staff submit behavioral data on time. You will oversee and complete rigorous documentation required to meet strict state reporting deadlines, which requires staying past core hours (until the last student leaves, and occasionally later until the paperwork is done).
Meeting Attendance & Multidisciplinary Contribution
- In-House Problem-Solving Meetings: Provide the heavy lifting for internal strategy sessions. You will contribute hard data numbers, offer alternative solutions, and provide vital classroom context to administrators who are not in the trenches daily.
- IEPs & District Reviews: Prepare and provide behavioral charts for IEP meetings upon request (though direct attendance is rarely required). Attend and consult during District meetings and Behavior Update Meetings requested by districts or parents.
- Crisis Team & Teacher Collaboration: Lead behavioral crisis team meetings at your discretion (typically two large strategic meetings per year and random touchpoints).
- Conduct targeted check-ins with teachers regarding new BIP implementations to assess resource needs.
Staff Management & Boundary Navigation
- Conflict Resolution & Supervision: Navigate staff conflict confidently. You must be comfortable enforcing personnel or room movements when necessary (having "I'm telling you, not asking you" conversations) while knowing when and how to attempt local resolution before escalating to upper management.
- Crisis Approach (CPI): Demonstrate an advanced understanding of CPI approaches—knowing exactly when, where, and how to safely utilize specific de-escalation methodologies.
Peer & Admin Relations:
- Maintain firm professional boundaries with staff and administrators. Actively collaborate with peer counselors and take their input into account, while maintaining the autonomy to make final clinical calls.
Advanced Problem Solving & Crisis Discretion
- Navigating Grey Areas: Handle highly complex, sensitive student scenarios (e.g., severe hygiene crises, students using objects as weapons) where a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) may not have a straightforward answer.
- Policy vs. Clinical Judgment: Evaluate situations where a BIP intersects with the Student Handbook or legal thresholds (such as determining emergency medical/police intervention or search-and-seizure protocols), deferring appropriately to administrative discretion.
- Composure Under Disagreement: Confidently make recommendations to upper administration. If administrative staff move forward with a different decision, you must maintain absolute composure, respect, and unity in front of staff and students, pushing back only when entering an explicitly unsafe space.
Qualifications & Skills
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Special Education, Psychology, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), or a related field required. Master’s degree preferred.
- Experience: 3+ years of experience in a therapeutic day school or restrictive behavioral setting. Proven experience managing crisis teams or behavioral data systems is highly valued.
- Emotional Resiliency: Exceptional emotional stability and calm composure when dealing with severe physical aggression, complex human rights/student rights situations, and high-stress workplace conflicts.
- Technical Skills: High proficiency in Microsoft Excel (advanced data tracking, graphing, formulas) with an ability to manage running tallies smoothly.
- Schedule Flexibility: Willingness to work beyond core student hours to ensure state-mandated documentation is completed and that student safety is secured before departing for the day.
- Certifications: Current Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) or equivalent safety training certification.
What We Offer
- Competitive salary commensurate with experience.
- Comprehensive benefits package (Medical, Dental, Vision, and retirement options).
- An unparalleled opportunity for career advancement, offering an immediate bridge into administrative and departmental leadership.
- A tight-knit, collaborative environment supported by dedicated leadership.
Pay: From $22.00 per hour
Benefits:
- 403(b)
- Employee assistance program
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Retirement plan
Work Location: In person
