Restorative Practices And Student Leadership Specialist

Position: Restorative Practices and Student Leadership Specialist

Position Type: Full-Time; 12-months

Location: WPS Central Office

Reports to: Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB)

Affiliation: Non-aligned (salaried, exempt)

Salary: $105,000-$115,000

About Watertown Public Schools

The Watertown Public Schools offers a unique learning environment that is intellectually rigorous and nurturing with small, responsive classrooms designed to ignite creativity while empowering student resilience and confidence. Located in the greater Boston area, the Watertown Public Schools currently has 2717 students enrolled in its preK-12 program within the Early Steps Preschool, three elementary schools, Watertown Middle School, and Watertown High School. Of these schools, three are identified as school-wide Title I sites with more than 40% of the student population qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

Watertown students explore and shape the world around them through a variety of innovative learning experiences and opportunities in a public school setting. Our student body is diverse, reflecting the ever-changing demographics of our community and our nation. Watertown serves a racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse student population and over 45+ languages are represented among our families. Providing opportunities and removing barriers through our commitment to equity and inclusion serves as the foundation of our core values.

About the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB):

Two years ago Watertown Public Schools (WPS) completed an equity audit and at the conclusion of SY 2022-23, compiled the WPS Strategic Equity Plan. School Year 2023-24 marks year one implementation of the plan. The Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging is committed to working in collaboration with the Superintendent and district senior leadership to accomplish the goals set forth in the WPS Strategic Equity Plan "Strategy for Success". The plan focuses our district on the following four priorities:

• Cultivate belonging and social-emotional wellness

• Challenge students with rigorous instruction while providing appropriate levels of support for ALL

• Create a learning community that provides authentic, relevant, and engaging opportunities

• Utilize all available resources to address student needs

Summary:

As a member of the Office of DEIB, the Restorative Practices and Student Leadership Specialist will be responsible for both implementing the district-wide PreK-12 Restorative Practices program (Priority #1 Goal#2) and curating student voice by developing student leadership and service learning opportunities for all WPS students (Priority #3 Goal#3).

Responsibilities:

Restorative Practices

• Facilitates, supports, and monitors the implementation of the WPS district-wide PreK-12 Restorative Practices program

• Identifies and develops restorative justice frameworks, comprehensive restorative practice protocols, and resources at the local school and community levels.

• Serves as a liaison to community organizations to ensure students, families, and school communities receive the necessary resources and support to ensure student academic success and social-emotional wellness.

• Facilitates, coaches, and monitors a nexus between implementing restorative justice practices and change in school culture, the ability to re-engage students, and increased student performance.

• Serves as lead support for school-based staff in their implementation process for a restorative justice framework.

• Assists with increasing the efficacy and fidelity of restorative justice and mindfulness interventions

• Creates and implements various district-wide restorative practices coaching and professional development programs

• Coordinates, develops, and facilitates workshops, tools, and resources for restorative practices implementation and evaluation

• Develops systems to ensure appropriate data collection, analysis, and interpretation for process and outcome metrics to facilitate continuous quality improvement for restorative practice support

• Assess the readiness and knowledge-level of staff to engage in anti-bias inclusive and equitable practices.

• Oversee and develop grants related to restorative practices interventions and school supports

• Provides technical assistance to building-level teams in using restorative practices as requested, including facilitating restorative sessions when outside facilitation is needed

Student Leadership

• Develops and grows the Watertown Public Schools Student Leadership Academy (WPSSLA) that offers programming designed to curate student voice by developing student leadership and provides opportunities that nurture creativity, passion, and joy for learning and cultivate belonging and social-emotional wellness for our Watertown students K-12.

• Build and support mechanisms that elevate student voice for input and leadership in key decision-making processes with specific responsibility for curating the voices of students of color.

• Plan, coordinate, and assess student leadership events

• Identify and recruit community and educational partners to host Youth Leadership and service Learning Internships

• Collaborate with the Office of Human Resources to design and launch the Watertown Public School Future Teachers Club with specific responsibility for curating a cohort of future teachers of color

• And any additional duties assigned by the Superintendent or the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging related to the position.

Qualifications

• Required

• Proven ability to work effectively and flexibly as an individual contributor and collaborative team member.

• Previous experience designing district-wide implementation plans for proactive and responsive Restorative Practices

• Previous experience working collaboratively with district teams and school-based teams to establish a mission and vision for Restorative Practices

Qualifications

• Preferred

• Proven experience in leveraging technology as a tool in driving and supporting equity initiatives.

• Knowledge of a second language, Spanish or Portuguese preferred

Interpersonal/Management Skills:

• Attention to detail

• Self-starter, driven towards achieving measurable results while effectively generating positive engagement and support among groups

• Ability to think strategically and communicate thoughtfully to a wide range of stakeholders; excellent written and oral communication skills

• Ability to be flexible and change direction as needed

• Comfort working as part of a team and working independently to complete specific tasks

• Demonstrates a firm commitment to educational equity for all students in the PreK-12 environment

• Possess an unwavering commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion, with an ability to model and foster an inclusive and respectful workplace

• Comfort designing and leading professional learning trainings with both adults and youth

• Possesses a high degree of personal integrity, demonstrated leadership abilities, and a history of working cooperatively with key stakeholders

Qualifications:

Successful candidates will possess the following qualifications:

Educational Background and Work Experience

• A Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution is required;

• Master's degree

• A minimum of 3 to 5 years of professional experience in the K-12 educational field is strongly preferred.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Watertown Public Schools 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.