About Elm Community Charter School

We are an interdisciplinary and collaborative learning environment focused on cultivating civically engaged student leaders. Essential to our school’s philosophy is a relevant hands-on curriculum, along with the commitment to nurture each student’s social and emotional intelligence. Elm seeks to achieve authentic, ongoing integration of diverse student perspectives, assets, and ideas to enhance an equitable learning environment that serve students with all types of needs. We are looking for a team of individuals committed to fostering an environment that is innovative, collaborative, and equitable for both students and staff. Join us!

Founding Middle School Counselor

Elm Community Charter School is seeking a nurturing and creative School Counselor to work collaboratively with school leadership, teachers, and parents to help our students achieve their highest potential academically, social emotionally, and behaviorally. This role leads proactive counseling services, small-group and individual support, crisis response, and family engagement. The counselor collaborates closely with teachers, grade-level teams, and school leadership to create a safe, inclusive, and developmentally responsive school climate aligned to the school’s core values of identity, community, creativity, mastery, and advocacy.

Essential Functions & Accountabilities:

Student Support & Counseling

• Provides individual and small group counseling for students referred by staff or self-referred for students whose behavior, school progress, or mental or physical impairment indicates a need for support;
• Provide short-term, goal-oriented individual counseling addressing topics common to middle schoolers such as identity development, self-esteem, peer conflict, stress, organization, anxiety, and social pressures.
• Facilitate small groups on social skills, friendship dynamics, self-regulation, executive functioning, and coping skills.
• Implement restorative practices—circles, mediations, and re-entry plans—to repair harm and strengthen relationships.
• Support students in developing self-advocacy, conflict resolution, and problem-solving skills.
• Conduct risk assessments and provide crisis intervention for students experiencing emotional or behavioral crises.
• Coordinates and conducts psycho-educational evaluations, including cognitive and academic achievement testing, and provide high-quality counseling sessions for students with IEPs and at-risk scholars;
• Provides mandated counseling services pursuant to students’ IEPs;
• Provides services centered in a variety of counseling and therapy techniques ranging from cognitive behavioral therapy to play-based therapy, with an emphasis in the latter;
• Conducts student observations and/or Functional Behavior Analyses for students who have persistent behavioral issues;
• Collaborates with teacher(s) and/or Student Success Team (SST) in developing behavior plans for identified/referred students;

Academic & High School Readiness

• Assist students with academic goal setting, organization systems, and study skills.
• Monitor student progress and collaborate with teachers on interventions for students demonstrating academic, behavioral, or attendance challenges.
• Lead high school readiness programming, including:
• High school choice guidance
• Vocational Questionnaire guidance
• Application support
• Interview and portfolio preparation
• Family workshops on admissions processes
• Support students in understanding graduation expectations, mastery learning, and portfolio requirements.

Collaboration & Schoolwide Support

• Lead an advisory (Crew) group of middle school students, designing meaningful, developmentally responsive experiences and lessons that promote social-emotional growth, identity development, community building, executive-function skills, and strong student-advisor relationships.
• Builds a positive, supportive school culture among students, staff, and parents through the coordinating of community circles, staff, school and family events;
• Collaborates with instructional leadership on developing social emotional programs and curriculum, including Elm’s social emotional intelligence lessons;
• Provide professional development and 1:1 supports around social emotional intelligence, skills, etc.; trains teachers in their role as mandated reports of suspected child abuse and neglect; acts as school liaison with Administration for Children’s Services;
• Conducts frequent and consistent classroom observations in order to best support students and staff;
• Proactively coordinates events that support and train families with students identified as at-risk;
• Plays an integral role in supporting the instructional team in the Response to Intervention (RtI) process;
• Collaborates with the leadership team in overall parent communication in regards to all students, not limited to: at-risk students, students receiving counseling services;
• Maintains case history records and prepares reports;
• Lead crisis management for students in need of this support; and
• Engage in school-based support team to ensure student progress through the right supports and interventions.

Qualifications

• Masters in Social Work or School Counseling;
• Appropriate New York State Certification which can include Licensed Mental Health Counselor, School Counselor, and Social Worker;
• Certification or demonstrated experience in play-based therapy;
• A minimum of 2 years of professional experience in schools and multilingual settings, serving as a counselor or social worker, preferably middle school education;
• Demonstrated ability in holding successful individual and group sessions with students;
• Experience in social emotional learning curriculum, preferably restorative justice practices, play-based therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy
• Alignment to Elm’s mission, core beliefs, and educational philosophy;
• Be a person of high moral character; and
• Be passionate about learning.
• Preferred Experience: Bilingual

Successful candidates should also have the following experiences and characteristics. They:

• Are an inspiring leader who continually pushes themselves and others to higher levels of achievement;
• Have an incredibly high bar and keen eye for detail, and can manage their school and team to reflect the same;
• Deeply embed themselves into the community of the school, ensuring strong relationships, high engagement, and great operational results;
• Are a champion of Elm’s belief that all members of the school community must be active learners and participants in order to ensure a high quality education for all our learners;
• Are a resourceful problem-solver who proactively shares best practices that drive our operational excellence; and
• Have a growth mindset

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $67,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Vision insurance

Education:

• Bachelor's (Required)

Experience:

• Teaching: 2 years (Required)

Ability to Commute:

• Glendale, NY (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Glendale, NY: Relocate before starting work (Preferred)

Work Location: In person