Coordinator-Family and Community Engagement bei Holyoke Public Schools

DISTRICT OVERVIEW

Holyoke Public Schools is a PreK-12 public school district serving nearly 5,100 students, of whom 80 percent are Latino/Latina, in 11 schools. We employ nearly 1,300 people who together educate and support a richly diverse community of learners. We are committed to recruiting and retaining top-quality educators who believe all children can and will learn and who strive daily to make school a joyful place of discovery, support, and belonging.

Holyoke Public Schools’ strategic plan, “Moving Forward Together,” builds on the strengths of our past while serving as a call to action to accelerate student learning by thinking differently about how we teach, how we work together, and how we support students’ well being. 

Our Equity Commitments are pledges we are making to address systemic equity challenges. 

• We intentionally build a community that is anti-racist, inclusive, and culturally responsive.
• We ensure that students, families, and staff get the support they need to be successful.
• We seek out and incorporate the voices of those impacted, with a commitment to include those who have been excluded in the past. 
• We promote access and inclusion for all students, staff, and families.
• We respect, embrace, and honor the diversity of our students, families, staff, and community.
• We reflect on our own behavior to minimize harm to others.
• We create a culture of acceptance and empathy so that everyone feels valued and is able to contribute to our community’s success.

Please visit the Holyoke Public Schools website to learn more about us as well as some of our recent accomplishments. 

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Spanish:

Las Escuelas Públicas de Holyoke son un distrito escolar público de prekínder a 12.° grado que acoge a casi 5100 estudiantes, de los cuales el 80 por ciento son latinos/latinas. Empleamos a casi 1300 personas que, juntas, educan y apoyan a una comunidad de estudiantes muy diversa. Estamos comprometidos a contratar y retener educadores de alta calidad que tengan la certeza de que todos los niños pueden y podrán aprender, y que también se esfuercen diariamente por hacer de la escuela un lugar alegre de descubrimiento, apoyo y pertenencia.

El plan estratégico de las Escuelas Públicas de Holyoke , "Avanzando Juntos", toma en cuenta nuestras fortalezas anteriores y al mismo tiempo sirve como un llamado a la acción para acelerar el aprendizaje de los estudiantes a través de una perspectiva diferente sobre cómo enseñamos, cómo trabajamos juntos y cómo apoyamos el bienestar de los estudiantes.

Nuestros compromisos de equidad son promesas que hacemos para abordar los desafíos de equidad sistémica.

• Construimos intencionadamente una comunidad antirracista, inclusiva y culturalmente receptiva.
• Nos aseguramos de que los estudiantes, las familias y el personal reciban el apoyo que necesitan para tener éxito.
• Buscamos e incorporamos las voces de los afectados, con el compromiso de incluir a los que han sido excluidos en el pasado. 
• Promovemos el acceso y la inclusión de todos los estudiantes, el personal y las familias.
• Respetamos, acogemos y honramos la diversidad de nuestros alumnos, familias, personal y comunidad.
• Reflexionamos sobre nuestro propio comportamiento para minimizar el daño a los demás.
• Creamos una cultura de aceptación y empatía para que todos se sientan valorados y puedan contribuir al éxito de nuestra comunidad.

Por favor, visite el sitio web de las Escuelas Públicas de Holyoke en www.hps.holyoke.ma.us para obtener más información sobre nosotros y algunos de nuestros logros recientes.

The Family And Community Engagement Coordinator will report to the Director of the Family, Student, and Community Engagement. They will work in collaboration with school-based leaders. Each Family Access & Engagement Coordinator may be expected to work with multiple locations in a flexible schedule, which will require adaptability, resourcefulness, and excellent organizational, communication, and teamwork skills.

The FACE Coordinator will:

• Build school and district capacity to expand and deepen relationships with families.
• Develop key community partnerships to enhance family-school relationships
• Support parent, involvement, voice, and leadership development.
• Lead a District Affinity Group
• Support a Family and Community Connector

The key goals of this position will be to:

• Support parents in strengthening their efforts at home to support their child’s learning
• Build and Support school staff in strengthening family engagement and two-way communication.
• Create and implement a strategy in alignment to the district vision to rebuild trust and strengthen the relationship with HPS families, including increasing opportunities for Family and community voice and leadership.

Responsibilities: FAMILY ENGAGEMENT:

• Implement strategies using the capacity-building Framework to support teachers, school leaders, and other school staff in establishing connections and deepening partnerships with families.
• Design, Implement and facilitate home visiting protocols, modeling of learning strategies, classroom observations by parents, staff understanding of family and community context and resources, etc.
• Design, support, lead and coordinate periodic school-based family activities, such as educational workshops, fun nights, cultural celebrations, community outreach, etc. in collaboration with school leaders and staff in multiple schools
• Enhance parent voice, leadership, and feedback. Support teachers and other school staff to understand family and community context and resources
• Lead the communication with families (including translation and interpretation of family communications, excluding IEPs) as well as in family engagement in school activities
• Assist designated groups of families in need of special support, through light case management, referrals, and liaison work with community agencies
• Manage and support parent volunteers to address school needs and initiatives and develop their leadership skills Lead educational workshops and coaching for parents and volunteers on different subjects, particularly around early literacy, educational policy, and regulations, special education, ELL, parent leadership, etc.
• Implement and strengthen a robust system for regular communications with families, particularly related to navigating the school system, district policies and procedures, events, and opportunities for parent involvement

Responsibilities: COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS & PARTNERSHIPS:

• Develop and Maintain updated HPS resource and information sites as part of the district-wide family resource information system
• Lead Site Councils and Work collaboratively with school PTOs
• Develop and manage key community partnerships that support family engagement Support district-wide collaborations and initiatives to increase family engagement

Responsibilities: POSITIVE SCHOOL CULTURE & CLIMATE:

• Plan, Develop, implement and assess District and school attendance policy communicate with families regarding attendance and punctuality issues, and lead attendance teams.
• Attend training and workshops necessary to perform FACE duties
• Consistently Demonstrate positive interpersonal relationships with students, staff, parents, and community members
• Consistently Demonstrate punctuality, great attendance, and a strong work ethic for all duties assigned
• *Other duties as assigned by the FACE Director

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree strongly preferred, or 2 years of college-level coursework with 3 years of highly relevant experience or equivalent training in a school, early education, or community agency setting which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform essential job functions.
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) with Cultural competence in Puerto Rican/Latino communities
• Genuinely Warm and engaging personality and exceptional interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated working knowledge of community dynamics, resources, services, leaders, and partners as well as Knowledge of community conditions in Holyoke and of the needs of the diverse families residing in Holyoke
• Experience working with families, family programming, and community outreach.
• Demonstrated ability to develop leadership skills in others.
• Excellent proactive oral and written communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and be a self-initiator
• Demonstrated ability to be flexible and to work and deliver results as part of multiple teams
• Demonstrated ability to work with word processing, spreadsheets, student database, and other office software.

Expectations:

This position is a highly visible position serving the school community and interfacing with families and outside agencies, knowledge of the general school office or professional office environment is expected. This position requires an appreciation, consistent practice, and understanding of customer service, time management, positive interpersonal relationships, and multi-tasking in a service-oriented environment.

• Demonstrate punctuality, good attendance, solid work planning, and organization, and work ethic for all duties assigned
• Ability to multi-task and flexibility to meet the varying needs of parents, school staff, students, community partners, and office visitors
• Extraordinary attention to detail and follow through to meet deadlines and commitments Commitment to accuracy, timeliness, and attention to detail regarding reporting of attendance, punctuality, and family engagement activities and services
• Ability and commitment to maintaining the confidentiality of data and interactions for students, parents, and staff Ability to exercise judgment, decisiveness, and creativity
• Collect, document and input all data and necessary information requested by school and district administration in an accurate and timely manner
• File, maintain, and set up all in-school family engagement files
• Maintain confidentiality of student data and information Page 3 of 3
• Attend staff, school, and district meetings as required