Director of Student Support

Background Public Prep is the nation’s first non-profit network that exclusively develops exceptional, tuition-free PreK and single sex elementary and middle public schools.

Public Prep is determined to graduate 8th grade scholars who thrive in “right-fit,” high-performing public, private, or parochial high schools, and ultimately earn a degree, on-time, from a four-year college or university.

Public Prep consists of 4 tuition-free single-sex public charter schools across 5 campuses that are open enrollment and can only be entered via a random lottery.

Public Prep’s unique approach places equal emphasis on character development, college knowledge, and academic excellence through an integrated curriculum to ensure all students are on a path to college completion and beyond.

Public Prep schools establish a culture of joy weaved in with the expectation of learning and critical thinking.

Scholars are recognized for academic achievement in equal measures to their representation of the organization’s core values.

Public Prep offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience, qualifications, internal equity, and budgeted amount for the role.

The salary for this position starts at $95,000.

We offer a comprehensive benefits package.

It includes Oxford Medical, United Dental/Vision, life insurance, parenting benefits, flexible spending account, generous paid time off, commuter benefits, referral bonuses, professional development, and a 403(b) package with a 5% employer match.

Primary Function & Position Overview At Public Prep, we believe all means all, and we have a deep commitment to serving students who need us most.

The school-based Director of Student Support (DSS) leads our implementation of our all means all belief within the school.

The DSS serves as a member of the School Leadership Team (SLT) and reports to the Principal with coaching from the Network Director of Student Supports department, ensuring that our scholars receive a diverse range of instructional and socio-emotional supports to meet the highest of academic expectations.

This role is responsible for designing, implementing, and managing a robust, compliant, and effective vision and strategy for serving scholars with diverse learning backgrounds - and ensuring that staff members have the training and development necessary to ensure all scholars have a rigorous and differentiated learning experience.

Who You Are

Our ideal candidate for Director of Student Support has an unwavering belief that our scholars can achieve at an exceptionally high level. Beyond that, they are:

Deeply committed to serving our kids. You have elected to work with historically underserved scholars, and do this work because you believe that all scholars, regardless of background, are capable of excellence - and that it’s on us as adults to get our kids there. You can speak knowledgeably about our mission, and demonstrate a commitment to our educational model. You understand that the challenges faced by scholars in New York City are unique and specific, and you’re excited to work within the communities we serve.

… and a champion of the All Means All mindset. You believe passionately that all students can and will achieve the highest academic outcomes, and you never tolerate the lowering of the bar for specific subgroups of scholars. You get excited thinking about how to think differently about supporting students, and you have a proven toolkit achieving outcomes for a diverse range of scholars.

A driver of results. You've demonstrated the ability to drive results in the pursuit of an ambitious vision and strategy, and you combine your exceptional strategic, analytical, and critical-thinking skills with your use of data to drive decision-making to achieve ambitious outcomes. You’ve got a background in instructional excellence, and have achieved your own impressive results in the classroom.

A masterful executor. You appreciate the big picture, but you know it's all in the details. Your organizational systems ensure you get things done. You prioritize your time and fervently plan to maximize the time each day you spend moving adult practice. You do the things you say you’ll do, and you communicate when you won’t. You delegate when needed, set deadlines, and hold others accountable to get across important finish lines.

A Knowledge Guru. You understand the complexities of implementing and managing a student supports program, and you are deeply knowledgeable about IEP, ILPs, and compliance in the state of New York.

… and a Stickler for Details. You have a fine attention to detail, and you are capable of ensuring that the Student Supports program is in 100% compliance with state and federal guidelines. You are excited to take the time to review IEP files, and you can implement systems to streamline and support the compliance side of Student Supports.

An A+ Communicator. You’ve got a knack for speaking and writing clearly, succinctly and persuasively. You think about time, place, and format to share a message that will resonate to accomplish your goals.

A gritty problem-solver. You keep it cool when facing challenges, approach problems with viable solutions, and know when you need to roll up your sleeves to support your team.

School Leadership Team Responsibilities

Serve as the leader of the school's Multi Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) team by facilitating evidence-based decision making by guiding teams in the consistent use of data within all meetings for students who are identified for services within the continuum of MTSS as well as all students with IEP-mandated services and MLL-learning needs

Collaborate with leadership and Student & Family Affairs (SFA) team on all disciplinary referrals, suspensions, FBAs, BIPs, expulsions, and MDRs for students with IEPs, 504s, MLL needs, and those in referral

Serve as a whole-school leader through contributions to SLT meetings, IL walkthroughs, network collaborations, and supervision of school-wide culture moments

Additional responsibilities as assigned by your manager and coach

Special Education Instructional Leadership

Collaborate closely with the Network Director of Student Support in serving as the leader of the Special Education Department and directly supervising Interventionists, ICT Sped Teachers, MLL Interventionists, related service providers, and paraprofessionals

Supervise and coach Student Supports teachers around best practices for specially designed instruction, co-teaching, and mandate-driven differentiation

Train all teachers to be effective special education teachers. Support teachers in using student IEPs consistently to guide instruction

In collaboration with the SLT and the Network Director of Student Support, deliver a year-long series of professional development sessions on topics related to compliance, instruction, intervention and advocacy

Work closely with the Network Director of Student Support and Network Assistant Director of Student Support to select and implement high-quality intervention programs and materials

Compliance Management

Collaborate closely with the Network Assistant Director of Student Support in serving as the primary liaison for the Committees for Special Education (CSE) for all students and families with IEPs

Maintain Special Education student files and calendar appointments, 504s, IEPs, FBAs, BIPs, resources, progress monitoring reports, teacher and provider reports, related services and testing accommodations documents and the school’s Special Education database

Serve as point person for all aspects of Section 504 including conducting meetings for new and returning students and developing and implementing 504 plans

Manage ongoing accurate maintenance of SpEd and MLL databases

Serve as point person for initial referrals and new incoming students with IEPs and MLL needs

Ensure appropriate accommodations during assessments and in-class instruction

Work with Director of Operations and Network Operations Staff to create and prepare invoice for per pupil billing, New York state testing, NYSITELL, and NYSESLAT

Communicate IEP-mandated busing needs to operations

Coaching & Performance Targets

The DSS will lead implementation of specially designed instruction (SDI) in Tier 1, provision of all IEP services in core classes and interventions, and effective Tier 2 & 3 interventions that lead to students with disabilities achieving within the target range of their General Education peers on IAs and annual state assessments.

The DSS will also manage the school’s caseload of special populations, and ensure that the school is in full compliance with IEPs, 504s and MLL needs.

The DSS will work with the NDSS and Operations Leaders to submit accurate billing invoices that maximize revenue for 100% of eligible students. Although vacancies might still be a factor out of our control, we will continue to work toward 100%.

In partnership between the DSS, School Principals & SLT members, school teams will be evaluated formally on a quarterly basis using the PPN Compliance Rubric (Appendix A) and will use the rubric and associated audit systems to identify progress on a biweekly basis

Additional Qualifications

A Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university

An M.A., Ed.M or Master’s degree in Special Education or related field preferred

New York State Certification in Special Education; additional certification a plus

A minimum of three (3) years of demonstrated success as a full-time special education teacher

A minimum of one (1) year of experience coaching teachers in a school leadership role

Fluency in Spanish is a plus

Full-time

Public Preparatory Network is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against candidates on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, or veteran status.