Our mission at The Mott Haven Academy Charter School is to empower children in a supportive educational environment while addressing and reducing the barriers to academic success through integrating family support services with a rigorous, college-preparatory academic program.
We believe all children can learn, regardless of their challenges outside of school. At Haven Academy—the nation’s first school designed specifically for children navigating the foster care or child welfare systems—we bring that commitment to life by combining trauma-informed instruction, rigorous academics, and social-emotional curricula to support all our students.
The role of a Special Education Coordinator is an integral part of the school’s educational program. In addition to collaborating with the Committee on Special Education for annual and triennial meetings, the Special Education Coordinator will support teachers with IEP development and progress monitoring. Also, the Special Education Coordinator will co-design lessons, model, and coach differentiated teaching strategies to effectively meet the needs of all students. Additionally, theSchool Special Education Coordinator will be responsible for fulfilling Special Education Teacher Support Services (SETSS) mandates. Responsibilities are detailed below.
Primary Case Manager for Annual, Re-evaluation, and Tri-Annual Review meetings:
- Advocate for and with families to make sure they are aware of their rights and know what to expect of relevant special education processes
- Submit documentation to the CSE in advance of IEP meetings
- Inform classroom teachers and related service providers of due dates for reports and IEP meetings in a timely fashion
- Collaborate with teachers on student reports and IEPs
- Ensure completion of PLOP and goal portions of IEPs for all annual reviews
- Share and clarify individual student goals, accommodations, and modifications with teachers and service providers
- Communicate any proposed changes to a child’s program or services with the family
- Coordinate with other team members to ensure that student observations, assessments, and reports (including FBA, BIPs, naturalistic obs) are completed in preparation to share with the CSE
- Maintain IEP meeting minutes for each IEP review
- Write Myschool on every IEP meeting outcome (include DoSP, Principal, AP, DSS, DOP, and classroom teachers)
- Develop and maintain a strong working relationship with relevant parties of the CSE
Teacher Support:
- Creating Access for Students:
- Develop the capacity of teachers’ abilities to implement accommodations, modifications, and co-teaching models as it relates to individual and class-wide needs
- Provide instructional coaching to teachers on creating access and removing barriers
- Progress Monitoring:
- Meet with teachers to monitor student progress toward IEP goals on a routine basis
- Support teacher in completing Progress Reports for students with IEPs on SESIS
Instruction:
- Special Education Teacher Support Services:
- Develop a specially designed instructional program that supports students in achieving their IEP goals and accessing the general education program
- Progress monitor and document each student’s progress
- At-Risk Instruction (in conjunction with the instructional team)
- Identify students who are academically at-risk
- Observe and assess at-risk students
- Design a personalized academic intervention plan for each area of need
- Set specific, measurable goals for each student
- Monitor the implementation of interventions both in and out of the classroom (LLI, Fundations, Do the Math, etc)
- Progress monitor and document each student’s response to the intervention
- Serve as a resource for teachers on differentiation and modifications
- Meet with families to inform them of their child’s progress
- Connect with medical and/ or mental health providers, if warranted
- Consult with related service providers for initial screenings
- Refer for further evaluations, if founded
Special Education Compliance:
- Ensure student records, files, and delivery of services are according to federal and state laws and regulations
- Keep current of special education research, best practices, education policy
- Update special education database on a weekly basis
Related Services:
- Collaborate with providers on goal setting for students
- Monitor student progress in each service
- Facilitate opportunities for collaboration between classroom teachers and service providers
- Communicate dates for reports due and IEP meetings to all related service providers in a timely fashion
Section 504 Plans:
- Identify students who qualify for accommodations under Section 504
- Participate in 504 Determination Meetings
- Inform families of their rights under Section 504
- Acquire required documents (ie: doctor’s note, teacher reports, assistive technology evaluation, etc)
Other Responsibilities:
- Maintain and enrich expertise in the area of special education services
- Seek grant opportunities to support special education programming
- Attend conferences, workshops, and professional development opportunities
- Network with organizations (local schools, etc)
- Plan with staff developers
- Evaluate students’ progress on an ongoing basis
- Communicate with parents, as needed, to provide information, learn more about students, and share student successes
- Collect, organize, and evaluate key academic data about students
- Respond to parent concerns effectively and in a timely manner
- Encourage students’ positive interactions with other students and adults
- Value and promote peaceful conflict resolution and creative and authentic problem solving; Uphold the school’s System of Logical Consequences; Engage in effective and appropriate classroom management
- Keep an organized workspace
- Support the development of colleagues
- Maintain and communicate high academic and personal expectations for all students with families, support staff, specialty teachers, and leaders
- Stay current with regard to education literature
- Participate in a variety of staff development programs, including a yearly individualized professional development plan, two-week summer PD, and individual PD sessions
- Participate in developing and meeting the goals of an individualized professional development plan
- Uphold and promote the school’s mission and vision
- Perform other duties as needed to support the ongoing development of Haven Academy (e.g. Lunch and/or recess duty, etc)
Qualifications:
- Five or more years of teaching experience strongly preferred
- Bachelor’s and/ or Master’s Degree in Special Education preferred
- NYS Teaching Certification in Special Education preferred
- Unwavering conviction that all students can learn at a high level
- Spanish language proficiency a plus
Benefits
- Competitive Salary
- 401k Contribution Matching
- Medical and Dental Benefits
- Generous Leave Policy
- Professional development
- Family-style community meal program, including healthy breakfast and lunch
- Tuition reimbursement available to qualifying team members