Legal Prep is Chicago’s first legal-themed high school, providing a free, college-preparatory education to students in West Garfield Park. Since opening in 2012, the school has become the highest-rated high school within a two-mile radius, with over 70% of alumni attending college.
Serving approximately 230 students, Legal Prep uses a law-themed curriculum and partnerships with Chicago’s legal community to build students’ critical thinking, advocacy, and real-world skills for success beyond high school.
The School Social Worker (“SSW”) has overall responsibility for supporting our special education department with its social work minutes, performing mediations between students, and generally supporting the social and emotional needs of our students and the corresponding programs. In this role, the SSW will work closely with Director of Special Education Services to identify students who would benefit from social work minutes, help write IEPs to support these students, and provide the necessary minutes to make sure these students have the support and counseling they need to be successful. The SSW will also work alongside our two School Counselors to lead student mediations, restorative conversations, and peace circles to prevent and repair harm to the school culture. The SSW will provide counseling services to our students as needed and generally support the school’s various social and emotional learning programs and initiatives. The SSW will also serve as the team lead for behavioral MTSS to ensure tiered support for students with behavioral struggles.
Organizational development, program management, and oversight of administrative duties are among the diverse skills needed for this position. In addition, the SSW should be a person of vision, high energy, initiative, creativity, and follow through. This position reports to the Director of Curriculum & Instruction.
Responsibilities:
The SSW will participate in and contribute to a broad range of activities within the organization, including but not limited to the following:
- Support the Special Education department in creating and implementing student IEPs
- Write, evaluate, and update students IEPs
- Provide social work minutes to students per their IEP
- Lead student mediations, restorative conversations, and peace circles
- Lead parent/guardian and student attended mediations, restorative conversations, and peace circles
- Lead behavioral MTSS, collecting data and implementing tiered interventions together with the counseling and culture teams
- Communicate with parents/guardians when necessary to best serve a student, report issues, report improvement, etc
- Lead teacher/staff and student mediations, restorative conversations, and peace circles
- Support and work closely with our Dean of Culture, Discipline staff, and School Counselors
- Support students and their social emotional needs by meeting with them one on one, in a focus group, or as a grade level to proactively or reactively address areas of growth or concerns
- Report large-scale social emotional or behavioral trends to the Principal
Qualifications:
The qualified candidate for this position should have at minimum a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s in Social Work. Additional qualifications include the School Social Worker endorsement and experience working in either a school, non-profit, or for-profit organization, with particular experience and interest in:
- School Social Work
- Counseling Services & Special Education Support
- Student Mediations and Restorative Practices
- Program development and management, and
- Student teaching and/or management.
The qualified candidate should have superior organizational skills and the ability to develop a rapport with students and families. Other qualifications and experience should include:
- Commitment to the organization’s mission
- Experience with or in high need communities similar to West Garfield Park
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to apply principles and practices of sound management and supervisory methods
- Competence in a variety of computer applications, including word processing, databases, and spreadsheets
Attributes and Strengths:The SSW will be expected to display critical thinking skills and abilities consistent with high quality program management, including:
- Dynamic leadership skills
- The ability to manage multiple priorities
- The ability to analyze information and communicate the results effectively to a widely varied audience of Directors, staff, volunteers, students, funders and other community stakeholders
- The creativity required to oversee the design of new programs and services
- The strategic thinking required to envision long-term goals and objectives
- The management skills required to move the organization forward in achieving its goals
If you would like to be considered for this position, please apply through Indeed.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $61,000.00 - $75,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Vision insurance
Education:
License/Certification:
- School Social Worker endorsement (Illinois preferred) (Required)
Ability to Relocate:
- Chicago, IL 60624: Relocate before starting work (Required)
Work Location: In person
