Announcement of Open Position Program Manager A+ Schools - Pittsburgh’s independent community advocate for equity and excellence in public education – is seeking a highly productive, strategic, and experienced individual to join our team of dedicated, mission-driven professionals. The Organization A+ Schools is an independent community advocate for equity and excellence in public education in Pittsburgh. We envision a public education system in Pittsburgh where: • Overall student achievement continues to rise, with 100% of students graduating, and 80% finishing a training program, 2 year or 4 year university program, and • Race is not a factor in determining which students: are in the highest and lowest achievement categories, graduate from high school or matriculate in training programs or colleges and universities. A+ Schools’ purpose is to be a community force advancing the highest educational achievement and character development for every public school student. We choose to specifically focus on issues of educational equity because significant barriers exist that directly and indirectly deny groups of students a high quality education. To achieve educational equity in Pittsburgh Public Schools must enact policies and practices that specifically increase opportunities and resources for African American students. Our work focuses community attention on the specific issues at hand through research and policy analysis; explicitly engages and elevates community voices from the communities most at risk; creates opportunities at multiple levels of engagement for citizens to get involved in removing barriers to student success; and seeks to build broad community will to advance change in the public education system. One of the major goals of our current strategic plan is to build a sizeable community of parents and students with the power, skill and knowledge to organize others to ensure African American students receive the education they deserve. One such group of parent leaders from Hazelwood have built a parent engagement program at Mifflin school. We have partnered with them to help formalize the program, make it available to more schools, and build the capacity of additional parent groups to create and implement an engagement program that improves their school climate. This body of work is in its beginning stages and will be the main responsibility of the Program Manager. Summary of Position The Program Manager is a new position within A+ Schools. He/She will be responsible for developing program materials, training parents, facilitating parent volunteers through decision-making processes and assisting them in designing, implementing and evaluating their program. 6/11/2013 2 This position requires passion for social justice, a growth mind set, strong relationship orientation, planning and facilitation skills as well as strong speaking and writing skills. The Program Manager will spend a large percentage of his/her time in the community while working on several projects at once, so the position requires someone with high energy and effective time management. Because the success of the Program Manager will be reflected in the accomplishments of parent volunteer teams, a key function of this position is to coach, support, motivate, and encourage parents to succeed. This position is a key member of the organizing team and works collaboratively with others in A+ Schools including both staff and board members to execute the current strategic plan. Essential Functions Program Design/ Development: • Documenting the work done by Hazelwood parents in the Know the Joys of Love and Respect Anti-bullying, Safety and Parent Engagement Program in a way that makes it transferrable to other parent groups in other schools • Creating program materials in a format that is usable by parents as a tool in developing their own parent-led program • Infusing practices from credible research on anti-bullying programs, parent-led programs and/or parent engagement into program materials to ensure parent volunteers are implementing high-quality programs • Teaching and coaching parent volunteers how to build a program, set programmatic goals, track outcomes and evaluate their own success • Gathering data from volunteers at schools and implementing a process to evaluate the collective work being done in all schools by parent volunteers • Building and facilitating parent trainings for all volunteers • Developing leadership of parent volunteers by training and coaching, facilitating meetings, and creating opportunities for growth and ownership Community Engagement: • Working closely with parent volunteers in designing a program that is parent-led, based on best practices, intended to positively impact student outcomes and engaging to other parents • Delivering information to the community that is accurate, based on research, compelling and easy to understand • Being familiar and able to discuss current educational issues • Facilitating meetings with the community and making presentations to community and family groups. • Developing community relationships for the promotion of A+ Schools mission • Represent A+ Schools in public and at community meetings. Administrative: • Collecting or creating documentation of parent-led program activities, volunteer hours and new contacts • Updating contacts and records regularly in Salesforce, the contact database used by A+ Schools • Participating in the development and execution of other A+ Schools programs • Managing budgets as needed 6/11/2013 3 • Assisting with other work deemed necessary to accomplish the mission of A+ Schools as directed by the Executive Director. • Providing staff support to A+ Schools’ various program committees • Attending Board meetings and work with the Board of Directors as needed Qualifications • A bachelor’s degree and at least three years of relevant experience • A passion for education and social justice • A track record of dedication and the attitude to do what it takes to succeed • Successful experience working with groups through processes such as facilitation, consensus building and problem solving • Successful experience engaging parents or families in low-income communities • A comfort level with being in the spotlight, but not having the spotlight be about them; rather it being about the larger education issues and relevant concerns • A respect for and comfort level with rigorous and healthy debate about issues • An ability to address issues related to race or racism • A desire and commitment to continually learn, and an ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment Skills • Demonstrated organizational skills with planning and project management • Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to build relationships with culturally diverse populations • A “can-do” team player attitude • Analysis and synthesis skills, including the ability to collect information, determine key objectives, and act strategically • Excellent communication skills, including verbal, written and public speaking • Coalition building skills, including the ability to motivate, negotiate, and persuade stakeholders into a course of action Interested individuals should submit a cover letter and resume to A+ Schools at [email protected] by no later than July 15, 2013. Please use your cover letter to describe what aspect of the job interests you the most and demonstrate your ability to be persuasive.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:45:51 +0000
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