School Counselor (2024- 2025) - Academy of Visual and Performing Arts

Description

About Academy of Visual and Performing Arts

Academy of Visual and Performing Arts is a 6-12th grade, tuition-free public charter school for students in Fort Worth, Texas. Our mission is to provide a safe, challenging learning environment that cultivates our students’ academic and artistic excellence. We exist to ensure that all students are provided with equitable opportunities to Learn In The Arts and Learn Through The Arts.

Start Date: July 15, 2024

Type: Full-time position. Work hours are generally 8:15 am - 4:45 pm. Flexibility in the work schedule is expected due to the nature of working in a start-up environment. Candidates should have the flexibility to work after hours and on the occasional weekend, as needed. The schedule will be adjusted to accommodate after-hours assignments.

SUMMARY

Reporting to the Director of Operations, the Counselor serves as a key member of the School Leadership Team, ensuring that the campus meets high standards of organizational, operational, and customer service excellence, enabling instructional leaders and staff to focus on driving strong student achievement outcomes. As an Academy of Visual and Performing Arts Office Manager, your core responsibilities, at a minimum, include:

School Operations Leadership

• Collaborate with the Assistant Principal - Culture to develop and implement core practices and policies that are focused on collective well-being, community building, building trusting relationships, leadership, explicit and implicit emotional intelligence (EI) and executive function (EF) training, and community/relationship repair and restoration.

Counseling Services

• Plan, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive, proactive program of guidance and counseling services.
• Provide counseling to individuals and small groups of students in a proactive manner.
• Deliver classroom lessons that align with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) standards.
• Teach a guidance curriculum that facilitates community and relationship building, promotes the development of self-regulation skills, and includes well-being-related topics, such as social and emotional learning, healthy living, mindfulness, stress and mood regulation, and self-care practices.
• Work with administration, staff, families, and community businesses and organizations to obtain resources for students.
• Use an effective referral process to help students and others use special programs and services.

Student Leadership and Governance

• Collaborate with the Assistant Principal - Culture to create, develop, and implement the following student-led and/or student-facilitated groups: peer support, peer mediation, peer tutoring, student ambassadors, and any student leadership, advocacy, and governance groups.
• Lead the democratic selection, ongoing training, and support for student-led/student-facilitated groups.
• Act as the lead manager to ensure that students have direction and support, are setting goals and monitoring progress, and are engaged in the problem-solving process.

Instructional Leadership

• Participate in academic committee meetings, as required, to ensure the appropriate placement and development of individual education plans for students according to required policies and procedures.

Communications

• Maintain the confidentiality of students and their families unless there is a need to know or a safety concern.
• Provide two-way communication with the principal, staff, students, parents, and community.
• Consult with parents, teachers, administrators, and other relevant people to enhance their work with students.

Risk Management and Compliance

• Comply with policies established by federal and state law, State Board of Education rules, and board policy in the guidance and counseling area.
• Develop and coordinate a continuing evaluation of the guidance program and make changes based on findings.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

First and foremost, the School Counselor must have an unwavering commitment to the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts’ mission and willingness to go above and beyond to meet the needs of AVPA students, families, and staff. Additionally, for this position, we’re looking for candidates that possess a combination of the following skills:

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree in Guidance & Counseling preferred
• Three (3) yrs. teaching exp.; Experience in school counseling setting preferred
• Valid Texas counseling certificate
• Strong project and time management skills; ability to effectively backward plan, juggle multiple priorities with great attention to, detail, and deliver consistent and timely results
• Ability to lead, influence, and hold others accountable to high standards of operational excellence
• Strong learning orientation and desire to work in a fast-paced, dynamic work environment
• Successful criminal background check required

Benefits

What We Offer

Academy of Visual and Performing Arts’ compensation philosophy is to pay competitively for the PK-12 charter market to ensure equity across our institution. The salary for this role is $65,000-$70,000 annually. AVPA is committed to internal pay equity throughout our organization. Because of this, we do not negotiate salary offers outside our salary bands. We offer a competitive benefits package with comprehensive health benefits. All staff members are equipped with the tools needed to succeed, including relevant and quality professional development, laptop computer, email, and all necessary supplies.

Equal Employment Opportunity: Academy of Visual and Performing Arts provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.