Family Engagement Coordinator
Description
Founded in 1999, Tenacity’s mission is to improve the scholastic, character, and physical development of urban youth through a combination of academic instruction and tennis instruction/competition, with a focus on life skills and character development. Over the last ten years Tenacity has evolved from its original after-school model to become an active participant in school reform. Tenacity’s programs offer a “Pathway to Excellence” and together serve 5500 youth annually. In 2012, Tenacity will launch an Elementary School Program to extend the pathway by two years, starting in 4th grade. This program will help identify “right fit” youth as we extend our reach into the city’s middle and K-8 schools for Tenacity’s pathway programs, introducing college success as a goal while providing academic and tennis instruction. The Middle School Academy (MSA) is an intensive three year program geared toward high school readiness, and consists of academic enrichment, homework help, study/life skills development and tennis programming. The MSA currently serves more than 200 at-risk middle school students approximately 4 days/week for 3 hours/day, with program time equally split between academics and tennis. The pathway continues with the College Prep and Alumni Programs. The College Prep program serves 220 high school students (graduates of the MSA), first collaborating with MSA staff to guide students through a “right-fit” high school selection process during their final year in the MSA. Once students enter high school, the College Prep program offers academic support, mentorship, and comprehensive college prep programming to ensure success in high school and in post-secondary education. Our Alumni Services Program extends its support to youth who have enrolled in college to promote successful completion of undergraduate education. The Summer Reading & Tennis Program serves 5000 youth ages 6-16, providing literacy, tennis and wellness programming in July and August, preventing summer reading level loss. Tenacity’s three school-year pathway programs work in concert to engage youth and their families year-round for nine or more years of their lives, literally changing the trajectory of their futures. Over its ten+ year history, Tenacity has maintained a 95% high school graduation rate among students who have completed the MSA, with 78% going on to higher education (compared to the overall Boston Public School graduation rate of 60% with 35% going on to higher education).
Tenacity currently employs a full-time staff of 28, with more than 200 seasonal employees and 250 volunteers, including 18 AmeriCorps members. Tenacity’s 2011 operating budget is over $3 million and is expected to grow to an operating budget of $6 million+ by 2016.
The Middle School Academy: Working in partnership with the Boston Public Schools, Tenacity’s School Year Academy currently delivers an intensive three-year experience for middle school students at five partner schools (Irving, Jackson-Mann (K-8), Frederick, Dever-McCormack (K-8), and the Umana Barnes Middle School Academy (K-8). As mentioned above, beginning in 2012, we will be expanding our pathway programming at additional K-8 and middle schools.
The MSA integrates academic programming and supervised tennis activities in a structured, supportive environment. The activities focus not only on building academic and tennis skills but promoting resilience and 21st century skills among young people facing challenges on the path to adulthood. Academic tutoring is guided by Tenacity’s MSA Site Coordinators, who work closely with the teachers at the partner schools to help identify the needs and strengths of each student. The curriculum is closely aligned with state and city English Language Arts Frameworks and aims to prepare Tenacity students for future academic success. We have been able to achieve an annual average reading comprehension gain of over 2 years for our students.
Each MSA student makes a three-year commitment to attend the program three or four afternoons per week (depending upon site structure) for 30 weeks, each of their sixth, seventh, and eighth grade school years. In addition we have an Extended Learning Time model where the program is fully integrated into the school day. At well run sites Tenacity’s MSA student attendance rate is currently between 90 and 95%.
DESIRED RESPONSIBILITIES, QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES:
As Tenacity grows to meet the critical needs of Boston’s children, it offers a unique opportunity for a talented professional who understands the development of the whole child. The successful candidates will be entrepreneurial, collaborative, “willing to go the extra mile”, have a strong desire to lead, possess a willingness to accept full responsibility for a site and be deeply committed to enabling Boston’s youth to achieve excellence in the classroom and on-court while imparting life skills and promoting character development to lay the foundation for their pathway to college.
This Tenacity Family Engagement Coordinator Position is at the Mario Umana K-8 School in East Boston, MA.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
The primary function of the MSA Family Engagement Coordinator is to promote and increase parent and family involvement in all aspects of our programming; thereby strengthening support for the MSA and ultimately contributing to increased success for all students.
• Build trusting relationships between parents, Tenacity staff and the partner school.
• Structure and conduct a minimum of two family visits per year with Tenacity students and their families to assure continued participation and success in the MSA. As well these visits should be used to engage families in the overall academic achievement of their student.
• Develop and lead or identify outside resources to deliver workshops that strengthen the ability of the parents to participate and support their children’s success in school and our program. Topics will range from creating conducive learning environments to healthy family routines as well as numerous other topics.
• Act as a resource with the families to help identify additional services or support that may be helpful to the families’ success in supporting their children.
• Facilitate necessary discussions between parents and partner schools. This task may include helping to assist the parents in bridging language or removing cultural barriers.
• Maintain student enrollment records and assure that data is up to date in the Tenacity information system.
• Relay and interpret to parents formal and informal policies of the school and other institutional factors that may affect student’s behavior and learning.
• Engage families of 8th grade students in high school selection process.
• Identify best practices for engaging parents and families in ways to support learning and develop a strategy for sharing these practices across MSA Sites.
• Ensure parent participation at Tenacity and school activities (open houses, conferences, events, performances, etc).
• Assist in transitioning students from MSA segment of pathway to College Prep program.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES:
• Masters in Social Work preferred
• Must be fluent in Spanish
• Significant experience working with low income families whose children are at risk both academically and socially
• Be a dedicated highly motivated professional with a strong work ethic that is willing to strive for performance at an increasingly high level
• Experience working with urban pre-teens
• Successful experience in a school or non-profit setting
• Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communications skills
• Successful experience working effectively in partnership and collaboration with a broad range of individuals and constituencies of diverse backgrounds
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Reliable transportation and valid Massachusetts Driver’s License required
More / LessHow to apply
Send resume and cover letter to msafamilyengagement@tenacity.org. Please include “#5 – family engagement coordinator” in the subject line of your email.
