Secondary Student Services Specialist

About Spring Lake Park Schools:
Welcome to Spring Lake Park Schools! We are a vibrant school community serving about 6,200 students from the suburbs of Blaine, Fridley and Spring Lake Park, in the northern Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Our district purpose -- "High expectations, high achievement for all. No excuses" - provides our focus to meet the unique and varied needs of each student.

Spring Lake Park Schools is recognized for our commitment to personalized learning, creating a culture of innovation and creativity through human-centered design thinking. We are working to create a system - a culture with a methodology and set of processes - where teachers and staff have the freedom, flexibility and invitation to design new ways of learning centered around deepening student engagement to continuously improve student success.

Position Overview:
The Secondary Student Services Specialist partners with the Associate Principals for student services at Westwood and Spring Lake Park High School in the implementation of key components of student services at the secondary school level, such as new student enrollment and placement, alignment of transition activities and services across settings, and implementation of IEP processes and services.
The successful candidate will be an individual who firmly believes:

• that by focusing the efforts and instructional strategies of staff members on quality, evidence-based practices all students can and will learn at high levels;

• in the need to work interdependently with teachers, school, and district leaders throughout the system, aligning the work of adults around improving student learning by meeting the needs, interests, and aspirations of students;

• in the need to work in partnership with staff to continuously improve practices to enhance student and family engagement, creating the conditions for equity, excellence, and student success; and

• in personalizing learning for students, meeting academic, social, and emotional needs and aspirations so that each student feels valued and has a sense of belonging, leading to academic success.

Primary Responsibilities:
Responsibilities of this job include, but are not limited to...

• supports the coordination of all school special education services, including, but not limited to: scheduling staff (teachers and paras), ensuring due process compliance, effectively managing special education data, and collaborating on student transitions between settings to ensure they are smooth and appropriate;

• collaborates with the building CIIC/IPL specialists to implement and monitor a tiered system of supports that provides targeted intervention for students who demonstrate a need for accelerated growth in academic, social, emotional, or behavior development

• leads the school's key special education processes; child find, pit crew, department meetings and professional learning communities;

• provides informal coaching to special education teachers and service providers;

• actively collaborates with the school leadership teams with the design and implementation of high-quality professional learning at the school level;

• aligns the work of adults at the school level and creates the conditions to continuously improve personalized instruction and responsiveness to meet our students' unique and varied needs;

• addresses barriers to learning through data analysis, critical thinking, and the use of group processing skills that are student centered, solution based, and culturally responsive; and

• ensures alignment across schools and deep implementation of transition assessments, activities, services, and experiences to support students in achieving their post-secondary goals.

Preferences:
We strongly prefer candidates who have exhibited...

• excellence in collaboration with colleagues and an enthusiasm to work with and support staff serving students with disabilities;

• a demonstrated commitment to ongoing learning, as evidenced by graduate-level work or an earned degree

Qualifications:

• The successful candidate must have earned a B.A. or B.S. degree, current Minnesota State Teaching Licensure in special education, such as; EBD, DCD, ABS, ASD, SLD, or school psychology.

• Candidates must have a minimum of 3 years of experience working in special education at the secondary level.

• Experience must include due process and transition program planning.

• Possessing, or working toward an administrative and/or director of special education license is preferred. Position pairs well with completing administrative internship.

Additional demonstrated qualifications include: commitment to the equitable education of all students; effective planning and organizational skills, highly effective interpersonal skills, recognized as a model teacher with knowledge of effective instructional strategies, content pedagogy and evidence based practice; recognized as a teacher leader whose work is aligned with district core values and vision.

Salary:
Please see the teacher contract.

Application Deadline:
An email expressing interest in the position must be sent to Jaclyn Lawson, Coordinator for IEP Practices and services. Position will remain open until filled.

Interviews:
Interviews will be scheduled with team members from the Learning & Innovation team and building principals. Please refer any questions to Jaclyn Lawson or Human Resources.

Equity is a priority for Spring Lake Park Schools and is essential to our goal of putting children first to ensure college and career readiness. A diverse workforce fuels innovation and allows us to better understand, communicate with, and educate our students. Spring Lake Park Schools will not deny anyone the opportunity for training or employment because of sex, race, religion, color, creed, national origin, marital status, age, sexual preference, disability, or status with regard to public assistance.