Bilingual College And Career Guidance Counselor, Salem High School, Salem Public Schools Sy2024-2025

Bilingual College and Career Guidance Counselor, Salem High School, SY2024-2025

About Salem Public Schools, where belonging leads to opportunity.

Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history. Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district enrolling nearly 4,000 students across our 11 schools. Our vision is to ensure that all students will be locally engaged, globally connected, and fully prepared to thrive in a diverse and changing world. We hold dear our core values of belonging, equity, and opportunity in everything we do. Over the next three years (2023-2026), we are committed to the work outlined by the four core priorities in our strategic plan: 1) Elevate Learning; 2) Empower Educators; 3) Center Belonging; and 4) Strengthen Our Foundation. We seek individuals who are passionate about urban education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement for all students, regardless of ability, economic status, gender/gender identity, language, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or other backgrounds. Applicants who have experience working in urban schools and settings and are bilingual are strongly encouraged to apply.

What You'll Do:

The Bilingual College and Career Readiness Guidance Counselor will enable every student to graduate ready for college and career by creating access to pathways that promote full implementation of personal goals and lead to the widest range of future life options. The Bilingual College and Career Readiness Guidance Counselor is committed to reaching all students and seeks to close gaps between low performing students and their peers

Responsibilities:

Traditional School Counselor Functions

• Help with the processes of scheduling students and of making course changes

• Monitor quarterly academic progress and yearly graduation progress

• Collaborate with teachers, parents, students, and administration to set up academic interventions for underperforming students

• Facilitate students' growth in the areas of academic, social/emotional and career development

• Manage school-wide, school day testing programs of the PSAT and SAT

Supporting all Students

• Engage students in conversations about academic performance and their habits as learners and how they are connected to meeting career goals.

• Help each student implement a program of study that connects his/her high school experience to college and career goals and that includes strategies to transition to post-secondary settings.

• Actively support students who are at-risk of dropping out (high absenteeism and discipline rates). Connect each student to a peer network and at least one adult in the school community who can serve as a mentor.

• Inspire minority and newcomer students to pursue college enrollment.

Academic Planning for College and Career Readiness

• Ensure that every student has a college and career plan that informs what courses and extracurricular activities they focus on in high school and what colleges and/or post-secondary opportunities to explore that best align with their interests and goals.

• Help students plan and implement a program of study that meets requirements for acceptance to in-state universities and/or leads to industry and technology licenses and certifications.

• Help students take college/career/technology classes while still in high school by introducing them to dual enrollment, online classes, and early college.

• Help students understand their own learning styles as they develop skills in test taking, research writing, speaking, debate, presentation, studying, and higher order thinking as success in these skills will develop their confidence to take more rigorous courses.

• Facilitate college fairs and visits.

Enrichment and ExtraCurricular Engagement

• Help students to develop portfolios that include work samples, audition recordings, and artwork to enhance their college and career applications.

• Advise students regarding how to be more competitive for college and career by including enrichment and extracurricular engagement as well as leadership roles into resumes, portfolios, and college and career applications.

• Advise students on researching college/career/technical schools aligned to their interest inventories and selected majors as well as clubs, teams and interest groups that connect to their talents and abilities.

• Collaborate with the Externship/Career Readiness Coordinator and the Director of Career and Technical Education to support student access to enrichment and extra-curricular opportunities.

College and Career Options and Selection Processes

• Help students align their college or career technical school goals with their program of study.

• Help students access and review applications and prepare all documentation including recommendations, personal essays, work samples that meet higher education writing standards, and portfolio materials (art, music, etc.).

• Help students sign-up to receive mailings, join listservs and social media groups, and retrieve college/career/technical newsletters and other forms of information from institutions of interest.

• Provide newcomers with targeted guidance on the college application process

College and Career Assessments

• Help students know the types, importance and use of college and career assessments, when to take them, and how to apply them to their academic and career planning.

• Help students become test savvy through test prep that includes overcoming test anxiety, types of test questions, types of directions, logistics of test day, scoring and fee waivers.

• Help students use test scores and relevant analysis to identify skill gaps and plan strategies for skill development and course selection.

College Affordability Planning

• Advise students regarding financial aid application processes, including application completion and submission procedures, federal borrowing and repayment options tailored for diverse student groups, and communicating with financial aid offices.

• Familiarize students with financial aid publications and applications, including FAFSA, state agency applications, scholarship/grant applications, and financial literacy glossaries.

• Ensure that students with special circumstances (e.g., independent students, students with incarcerated or missing parents, foster care students) have information about federal, state and institutional financial aid guidelines.

College and Career Application Processes

• Provide students with college application completion checklists, calendars, application procedure forms and application fact sheets, school comparison tools, and portfolios to assist them with application completion and final decision-making.

• Advise students on the timelines for early decision, early action and single-choice early action options.

• Advise students how to access and complete applications, including school-specific applications and the Common Application.

• Review supporting documents, such as transcripts, standardized test scores, application essays and letters of recommendation.

Transitions from High School to College and Career

• Assist students with planning for logistical issues, such as requesting final transcripts, filling out forms, taking placement tests, and transportation to and from college or career/technical schools.

• Assist students in identifying the necessary materials and supplies they will need for post-secondary education such as dorm room supplies, classroom materials (e.g. calculators, notebooks, computers, etc.), and supplies for technical school (e.g. drafting tools and uniforms).

Other

• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications:

• Bilingual (Spanish), required; Bicultural, preferred

• Required Massachusetts teaching certification/licensure for a Secondary School Guidance Counselor

• Successful experience in diverse communities

• Demonstrated commitment to high expectations for all

• Demonstrated aptitude and competence for assigned responsibilities

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with students, families, staff, and community

• Excellent communication and counseling abilities

• Bilingual candidates and candidates of color strongly encouraged to apply

• Current authorization to work in the United States

Work Year: Teachers in Salem Public Schools work a 185 day school year (180 student contact days plus 5 professional development days. Please visit www.salemk12.org to view the 2023-24 district and/or school calendar.

Salary: Teacher salaries in the Salem Public Schools are determined by the Salem Teachers Union collective bargaining agreement. Salary information can be found in Appendix A. Use our new Salem Teacher Salary estimator here.

Benefits: The City of Salem offers Group Insurance Commission (GIC) benefits to all full-time employees. Click here for more information about our health benefits.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Salem Public School District is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws. Additionally, we prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose such discrimination and harassment or who participate in an equal opportunity investigation.

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