REPORTS TO: Executive Director of the BPS Department of Early Childhood.

ACADEMIC/NON-ACADEMIC: Academic

 

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Program Director will oversee Summer Early Focus (SEF) sites as well as provide PD & coaching to other summer programs using the Summer Early Focus curriculum. The role includes supervising up to 8 Site Coordinators (who will oversee academic teachers) to ensure sound instructional and operational programming. The Program Director will be involved with providing instructional support and coaching to teachers and ensure high quality experiences for all children and fidelity to the curriculum.  The Program Director will work from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm. July 8 -August 9, 2024

 

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Summer Early Focus, led by the BPS Department of Early Childhood, will operate 4 sites at Curler Lower, Ellison-Parks EES, East Boston EEC and 2 additional sites to be announced with up to 2  classrooms at each grade level as part of the BPS Summer Learning Academies. Each site will be led by 1 or 2  Site Coordinators (based on the # of students)  who will support 10 teachers and 130 students in 8 classrooms. SEF will serve incoming K1 children, and children completing K1 ,K2, first grade, and second grade, who are currently enrolled in Boston Public Schools. Children might include those who have special needs and/or are English Language Learners. SEF is designed to provide integrated support in literacy, math, science, arts and social emotional development to help prepare children for the following school year.In K0 1 teacher and 2 paraprofessionals will support up to 22 students  In grades K1, K2, G.1, two teachers will support 22 children in each classroom. In grade 2, one teacher will support up to 15 students. Teachers will be supported by high school interns assigned to their classroom through the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC)  Summerworks program. 

 

Students will have an enrichment period each day with a rotating specialist providing Playworks, Zumba, Art, or Science for up to  50 minutes to the students. During this time, the teachers will be able to rotate taking a break or co-plan, but one teacher will remain to supervise students during the Specialty. Teachers will also take students on weekly field trips - either planned by the overall program or discussed with their Site Coordinator and classroom specific, making use of neighborhood opportunities to enhance the Summer Early Focus curriculum.

 

In addition the SEF Program Director will visit other sites run by schools and outside providers within the BPS Summer Learning Academies that are using the Summer Early Focus curriculum. The SEF Program Director will also collaborate with the Office of Special Education (OSE)’s Extended School Year (ESY) summer program and Office of Multilanguage to leverage the Summer Early Focus curriculum.

 

The BPS Summer Learning Academies serve as the primary academic summer offerings for BPS students, consisting of an array of high-quality academic and enrichment programs that provide services for targeted student populations in every grade level across the district. 

 

BPS Summer Learning Academies aim to:

• Stem summer learning loss and increase academic achievement
• Develop student socio-emotional skills and increase student efficacy by building skills and competencies
• Strengthen the effectiveness of school-community partnerships
• Promote student health and wellness

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Building Preparation & Program Coordination

• Meet with Early Childhood Summer Site Coordinators to review expectations and assign tasks and participate in necessary PD.
• Meet with the Building Director to review expectations (emergency procedures, contact information, etc.) and provide support in preparation for the first day of programming.
• Communicate with the Building Coordinator and with other summer programs sharing the space.
• Develop procedures for entry and exit of all children and share with all staff and plan arrival and dismissal
• Attend mandatory central training sessions and online modules.
• Provide guidance and support to Site Coordinator to develop program schedule in advance of summer, including special events (field trips, family events, etc.) 

Professional Development and Program Planning

Student Recruitment, Enrollment & Engagement 

• Support recruitment, enrollment, and engagement efforts for children from partner schools.
• Support Site Coordinator with communication with families and outreach.
• If attendance is low at the beginning of the program, support Site Coordinator to conduct outreach to children from school recruiting partners and neighboring schools.
• Support Site Coordinator and teachers to reach our program attendance goal of at least 80% for each student by reviewing attendance and providing guidance to increase daily attendance.

Curriculum & Coaching

• Learn the Department of Early Childhood’s supported curriculum (Focus on K0, K1,K2 First and Second) and/or instructional practices. Work with site staff to implement Math and Literacy curricula to target BPS academic standards and deliver engaging, educational programming for students.
• Co-plan and co-facilitate a Professional Development and Site Orientation for summer teachers on June 27th.
• Serve as lead for curriculum development and implementation. Connect lesson plans with the theme of activities during program day (both academic and enrichment portion). Observe classes/activities, provide feedback, lead staff meetings, and model practices to improve instruction.
• Visit classrooms daily to ensure successful curriculum implementation. Provide support as needed via classroom setup, materials, coaching, etc, with additional support from Site Coordinator.
• Deliver coaching with multi-pronged goals of BPS Summer Learning in mind: academics, skill development, & program quality and direct Site Coordinator to do so, where appropriate.
• Maintain consistent communication and follow-through with the SEF Site Coordinators, SEF teachers, Project Manager of the Department of Early Childhood.

Operations and Program Management

• Support the Site Coordinators to smoothly and safely transition children, ensuring that all children are accounted for. 
• Support the Site Coordinators to implement a program wide evaluation with an outside observer to measure quality and compare to other summer programs.
• Oversee the Site Coordinators who will handle all operational and administrative duties (e.g., ensuring all curriculum materials are on site, student and teacher attendance, permission forms for field trips, payroll, grade reports, parent contacts, supporting children with challenging behavior, emergencies etc.).
• Support Site Coordinators to arrange for coverage in the event of teaching staff absence and provide coverage if necessary.

• Coordinate emergency response procedures in the event of an emergency.
• Establish and co-facilitate regular meeting schedules between various summer programs to share feedback, discuss progress of programming (suggested frequency: at least 1X per week).

 

QUALIFICATIONS - REQUIRED:

• Experience with teaching or coordinating a summer program, such as Summer Early Focus.
• Completion of Equitable Literacy Training 
• Knowledge of (required) and experience with (preferred) the Department of Early Childhood’s supported curriculum  (Focus on K0, K1,K2 First and Second) and/or instructional practices.
• At least 3 years of teaching experience, preferably in Early Childhood (K0-2nd grade).
• Knowledge of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks in Math & Literacy.
• Master’s Degree. Early Childhood Certification preferred.
• Experience with technology, zoom, google classroom
• Experience with children with special needs (e.g, inclusion setting).
• ESL Certified and/or Special Ed Certified preferred.
• Able and willing to supervise other academic teachers in summer setting (providing constructive feedback, developing collaborative effort) and able/willing to work closely with a lead contact from partners.
• Experience collaborating with nonprofits, and open to exploring student learning through project-based, experiential learning
• Technology-savy and able to share daily attendance with BPS Early Childhood Summer Directors through Cityspan and make recommendations to act upon that data.

• BPS values linguistic diversity and believes that candidates who speak another language bring added value to the classroom, school, and district culture and diversity. BPS is particularly interested in candidates who are fluent in one of BPS' official languages: Spanish, Creole (Cape Verdean), Creole (Haitian), Chinese, Vietnamese, Portuguese, & Somali.

COMPENSATION RANGE: 

Anticipated total of 210 hours including professional development, on-site program time, and additional duties, for an estimated total amount of up to $10,000.

 

TERMS:

• Compensation is set based on hours of work, including professional development, on-site program time, and additional duties. Staff will not be paid for time not worked. 
• All employees must read and agree to the BPS 2023 Summer Program Terms of Employment. See BPS terms of employment for stipend dissemination guidelines (stipend includes pre-summer training and PD, on-site planning, summer programming, and any “wrap up” duties).  

• Payroll will be processed on a biweekly basis after receipt of completed timesheets in accordance with BPS summer payroll schedule.

 

• HR/payment overseen by Sila Rosario  BPS Department of Early Childhood. Human resource-related questions should be directed to srosario@bostonpublicschools.org.

 

 

NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY

The Boston Public Schools, in accordance with its nondiscrimination policies, does not discriminate in its programs, facilities, or 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.