Executive Director of School Counseling (SY26-27)

Job Description

Reports to: Assistant Superintendent of College, Career & Life Readiness

Location: BPS Office of Secondary Schools, Bolling Building, 2300 Washington St. Roxbury, MA

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Executive Director of School Counseling Services resides in the Office of College, Career, and Life Readiness (CCLR) within the Academic & Professional Learning Division of Boston Public Schools, reporting to the Assistant Superintendent of CCLR. The Executive Director of School Counseling Services is responsible for creating a vision and establishing a district-wide comprehensive school counseling program plan to equitably support the needs of every student across Boston Public Schools. In alignment with the district's mission, the Executive Director of School Counseling Services will develop, implement, evaluate, and improve city-wide systems of school counseling functions; work collaboratively with counselors, site-based administrators, district staff, and community partners to ensure every child receives support in their journey towards academic achievement, social and emotional well-being, and postsecondary readiness; and serve as an advocate and modern visionary for the profession and current school counselors.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Comprehensive School Counseling Leadership

• Collaborate with various stakeholders including (but not limited to) school counselors, special education professionals, Multilingual lLearner (MLL) professionals, and other student support partners to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate a comprehensive, data-driven district plan for equitable school counseling services that support every student's academic achievement, social-emotional well-being, and post-secondary readiness.
  
• Oversee the creation of district metrics and tools for monitoring successful outcomes of comprehensive school counseling program implementation.
  
• Provide leadership and direction for implementing Mass Core Graduation Requirements and related policies.
  
• Lead creation of Registrar Handbook to clearly articulate accurate processes for scheduling and transcript maintenance.
  
• Train and Support Registrars and Welcome Center, and REC., to ensure that all registrars appropriately code student coursework
  
• Analyze critical needs in counseling across BPS and work collaboratively to design, implement, refine, and evaluate programs and services in order to continuously improve.
  
• Ensure that the school counselor voice is represented in the development of district policies, procedures, and initiatives.
  
• Oversee the development and training of districtwide counseling curriculum and interventions to support student success.
  
• Prepare and present school board documents highlighting comprehensive, equitable, data-driven counseling services across BPS.
  
• Support the recruitment, hiring, placement, retention, and continuous development of highly qualified, diverse counseling team members across BPS.
  
• Implement measurement tools to ensure that all state requirements for counseling are met by counselors and students.
  
• Prepare annual operating budget recommendations for the department, alongside implementing and monitoring assigned budgets.
  
• Seek ways to promote and advocate for equitable counseling services across BPS.

Team Management and Leadership

• Oversee the growth and development of districtwide comprehensive school counseling services, including directly supervising and evaluating district team members and indirectly supporting site-based counselors.
  
• Provide leadership and administrative direction to assigned staff for the operations, financial, and personnel resources to effectively support counseling and district goals.
  
• Facilitate communication and collaboration among assigned departmental personnel and school and district administrators to enhance program development, service delivery, and student/family engagement.
  
• Participate on a cross-functional team, including internal and external partners, to advance the districts' vision of a graduate and aligned college, career, and life readiness strategies.
  
• Lead a central office counseling team consisting of the Director of Guidance and Staff Assistant.

Professional Growth and Development

• Support the creation and delivery of a professional development scope and sequence, differentiated by school level, that increases counseling staff effectiveness and improves student outcomes.
  
• Utilize tools to assess counselor skill levels, knowledge of the needs of adult learners, and characteristics of effective professional development.
  
• Provide professional learning to site- and district-based administrators to support the appropriate use of counseling staff in alignment with site-based goals.
  
• Support school leaders to provide effective supervision and evaluative feedback to school counselors
  
• Increase the quality and scope of the district's counseling program by staying current in best practices and pedagogy at the state and national levels.
  
• Work with the district's Postsecondary team to design and execute annual My Career & Academic Plan (MyCAP) professional learning for school counselors.

Partnership Support

• Build relationships with university pre-service counseling programs to attract, onboard and support graduate student interns across all BPS schools and diploma granting programs.
  
• Build and support relationships with transition support services such as STRIVE, Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, and Easter Seals College Navigator.
  
• In partnership with district colleagues, support counselors' roles in MTSS.
  
• Participate on internal and external cross-functional teams to drive the district's college and career readiness strategies, including New Skills Boston, Success Boston and others.

QUALIFICATIONS - REQUIRED:

• Master's degree in counseling, education, or a related field.
  
• MA DESE School Counselor or School Adjustment Counselor license.
  
• Minimum five to seven (5-7) years working as a school/school adjustment counselor and/or counseling director (or another form of counseling leadership).
  
• Evidence of commitment to equity-focused work and support for the role of comprehensive counseling services to close opportunity gaps and eliminate inequitable student outcomes.
  
• Knowledge of K-12 school counseling best practices related to academic advising, social-emotional well-being, and postsecondary planning and evidence of a commitment to stay current on relevant research.
  
• Evidence of a strong understanding of MassCore, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model, MA Model 3.0 (MASCA), data-driven school counseling, and MyCAP.
  
• Knowledge and experience with systems-level work and antiracist school counseling practices.
  
• Understanding of data-driven school counseling practices.
  
• Evidence of exceptional leadership and collaboration skills - ability to hold multiple perspectives and make connections between ideas and concepts.
  
• Current authorization to work in the United States
  
• An understanding of and commitment to gaining a greater understanding of what is necessary for an urban school system to enjoy a continuous improvement in an increasingly complex and competitive environment.
  
• A deeply held and unyielding belief in the overarching mission of public education.

QUALIFICATIONS - PREFERRED:

• Master's degree in School Counseling and/or School Adjustment Counseling
  
• Familiarity with Boston and Boston Public Schools

TERMS: Managerial, D71.

The Boston Public Schools, in accordance with its nondiscrimination policies, does not discriminate in its programs, facilities, employment, or educational opportunities on the basis of race, color, age, criminal record (inquiries only), disability, homelessness, sex/gender, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, genetics or military status and does not tolerate any form of retaliation, or bias-based intimidation, threat or harassment that demeans individuals' dignity or interferes with their ability to learn or work.

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