RJ Specialist

Restorative Justice Specialist, Orchard Street Academy

NOTE: Before you read on, please read the Commitments to Educational Equity that AVC strives to adopt across our organization. We seek to add employees to our team who can help us make these commitments a reality and influence how we lead, learn, innovate, design, collaborate, and serve our students, families, partners, and communities. Within this role, examples of how we strive for Educational Equity includes ongoing, in depth examination of individual and interpersonal beliefs and how they impact our work within micro and macro systems. Still interested? See below:

Who We Are:

Assabet Valley Collaborative (AVC) is an educational service agency in Metrowest/Central Massachusetts. Our services include school programs, wraparound services, transportation services, professional development, cooperative purchasing and consulting.

AVC's Orchard Street Academy (OSA) is a small public therapeutic school serving grades 6th- 12th.

Job Description:

The Restorative Justice Specialist serves as a leader and as a learner; a team member who is flexible, resourceful, and thrives in a fast-paced, non-traditional, collaborative environment and who understands educational and human service institutions. This person demonstrates a learning mindset and ability to receive feedback, self-reflect, and adapt, as well as an ability to effectively facilitate the learning of others by pushing their thinking, building their skills, and sparking their self-reflection and curiosity.

The primary role of the Restorative Justice Specialist is implementation of school-wide restorative practices, including restorative justice practice to staff, students & families, and to provide coaching and technical support to school staff in the successful implementation and practice of Restorative Justice.

Responsibilities:

• Models a relationship approach to interacting with students and staff
• Works explicitly to build relationships within the school community
• Collaborates with and provides RJ coaching for staff, students, and families
• Coordinates and facilitates ongoing and as needed circles and mediations
• Collaborates with leadership team to assess and further develop implementation of the Restorative Justice (RJ) Program
• Creates metrics to measure RJ implementation and its effectiveness while creating plans to further develop school culture and the RJ Program
• Collaborates with others regarding student discipline referrals by tracking referrals to identify patterns and inform interventions, processes behavioral incidents with students and teachers, and investigates discipline situations
• Collaborates with staff to embed RJ into everyday schoolwide practices
• In collaboration with the leadership team creates a strategic plan, learning outcomes, and assessment strategies rooted in restorative justice practices.
• Identifies, creates and manages student support plans in conjunction with students, classroom teachers, school counselors, BCBAs, and parents/guardians, including re-entry after a significant incident
• Serves as a liaison between parents, staff, and students to design support and intervention plans.
• Co-facilitates RJ Team Meetings
• Provides ongoing consultation and professional development for staff, students, families
• Completes necessary documentation
• Complies with collaborative wide policies and procedures
• Performs all other duties and responsibilities as assigned

Qualifications:

• Has demonstrated the ability to give and receive feedback and have honest and authentic conversations with peers/staff

• Theoretical and practical understanding of Restorative Justice processes within school systems

• Knowledge, training, and practice of equity issues in current education reform

• Demonstrated personal and professional commitment to equity and inclusion and school transformation

• Demonstrated experience and success working with diverse and underrepresented youth and communities

• Ability to facilitate difficult conversation with both youth and adults

• Excellent communication and presentation skills, both written and oral

• Ability to work through conflict with all community members

• Ability to develop and implement short and long range goals

• Ability to work under pressure and effectively diffuse crisis situations

• Ability to handle multiple priorities and complete tasks/projects in accordance with stated deadlines

• Has demonstrated the ability to be a reflective learner through verbalizing self-awareness and seeking to learn and refine your skill set.

• Has demonstrated the skill to model behavior management and effective instructional practices

• Strong interpersonal, communication, and leadership skills.

• At least 3 years experience utilizing and/or leading Restorative Justice practices within a school setting

• Restorative Justice Specialist certification and/or relevant learning and experience

Schedule: 185 day schedule. Operating hours of the program, 8:00am-3:00pm and this position is an 8 hour school day + 1 hour each week for leadership meetings. Summer hours are also available, but not required.

Physical Demands:

This is an active position that requires frequent physical movement to meet the needs of our students. Staff will receive training to physically intervene as needed per AVC Physical Restraint protocol, policy and applicable regulations.

Competitive Benefits Include:

• Compensation competitive within public school employees sector - $72K-$111K
• 3 personal days, 10 sick days
• 75% health insurance premiums covered by AVC
• Participation in MA state pension systems (MTRS or MSERS)
• Voluntary benefits: Flex Spending, Life, Short-term, Long-term Insurance; Dental