TITLE: Portuguese Family and Community Engagement Specialist - Multilingual Center
POSITION OVERVIEW:
The Family and Community Engagement Specialist supports efforts to establish and strengthen relationships between families and the Portland Public Schools community; assists in implementing systems and programming designed to provide relevant and timely information and resources to families; assists in building an internal culture that values family engagement, including ensuring parents as partners and ensuring proactive, multi-directional, and ongoing family communication; establishes and sustains partnerships with community agencies; and works to connect students and families to support services that address barriers to successful engagement in school.
Success is measured by student academic improvement, a reduction in chronic absenteeism, strong engagement of parents in academic improvement and school-related activities, parent participation in parent workshops and parent/teacher conferences, increased presence of community partners, increasingly higher satisfaction indicators on parent surveys, and cultural brokering increasing cultural competency among staff . Reports to the Language Access Coordinator.
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Translate district documents and provide interpretation and cultural brokering services to families needing language access services
- Assess the needs of families to participate fully in school and support their students' academic growth
- Collaborate with school-based leaders, teachers, social workers, guidance counselors, and other school staff to implement programming to meet those needs, within the capabilities of the school
- Provide parent orientation, training, and other informational sessions for families through the Multilingual Parent Advisory Councils
- Conduct family intake services for new students registering for school and facilitate meet and greet meetings between parents and school staff
- Provide interpretation and cultural brokering for student support teams, RTI meetings, IEP meetings, as needed
- Conduct home visits, when appropriate, to supplement office-based assessment, or to facilitate contact with parents and clarify any additional needs
- Identify and cultivate relationships with community based organizations, service providers, programmatic partners, human services agencies, and volunteer groups to build pipelines of resources for families
- Commit to growing professionally through consistent and constant feedback and reflection
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:
- Bilingual and biliterate in English and Portuguese
- A proven track record of working collaboratively and productively with all stakeholders – students, teachers, school staff, parents, and community-based groups, particularly in an urban environment
- Exceptional interpersonal skills
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Demonstrated ability to assist newcomer families in developing the skills to support student engagement and academic success
- Must be able to work a flexible schedule to accommodate family and community outreach and/or events on evenings and weekends
- A commitment to high performance standards and unwavering belief that all students can excel
EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND EXPERIENCE:
- Bachelor’s Degree
- [Preferred] At least two years of relevant experience preferred
- [Preferred] Experience and training in the interpreter field, training in medical or court interpreting
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be able to work a flexible schedule to accommodate family and community outreach and/or events on evenings and weekends
CREDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Maine State fingerprint (CHRC) authorization (more info - cost is $70.00)
EMPLOYMENT DETAILS: - Year-round position
- Permanent
- Full Time, 1.0 FTE
- Non-represented, salaried position, not eligible for overtime
- Salary offered based on experience
- Eligible for benefits (see here for current offerings and rates)
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Portland 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, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws.
