Job description

About us

Higher Ground Resource Center is branching into Phoenix, AZ. We are supportive, rewarding, innovative and our goal is to Empower one person at a time to reach, transform, and elevate their community through love and character building.

How does it work?

Our team is deployed at each school site to partner with the school. We address all the non-academic needs of the school allowing the principal and the teachers to focus on high-quality education, curriculum, and other academic needs of their school. The school is then allowed to thrive as all the needs of the students and families are addressed allowing them to focus on learning while the classroom.

Restart SMART: Empowering Communities through the school

Is a healthy child a direct reflection of a healthy community? Yes! When we improve the health of a child, so follows our community. By creating community connections in our schools, we can create positive and life-altering outcomes, for both children and families.

Restart SMART is an initiative to create a community school hub system in Tucson through a multi-generational framework. Community school systems have existed in the US for decades with proven results in community empowerment, lower chronic and situational poverty, lower dropout rates, higher attendance, higher rates of attainment for students, and healthier community economic metrics.

Through Restart SMART we can support, streamline, expand, and create systems for schools' existing efforts around:

• Family and Community Engagement
• Trauma-Informed Care
• 2-generation approach
• Social and Emotional Skill Development
• Workforce & Career skills
• Addressing the Eight dimensions of wellness
• Executive Functions
• Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS)
• Enriched learning time opportunities
• After-school and summer enrichment programs

Our work environment includes:

• Wellness programs
• Growth opportunities
• On-the-job training
• Lively atmosphere
• Safe work environment

JOB SUMMARY:

S.M.A.R.T. Site Director - Phoenix

Higher Ground S.M.A.R.T. Site Directors increase the social, emotional, and academic achievement of students participating in S.M.A.R.T. Sites by improving the overall health of the school and surrounding community. This Site Director will be responsible for working with school administration at a selected pilot site and community leadership within the 85225 zip code in Maricopa County, Arizona to assess the needs of the community and connect outside businesses and organizations with the school to address those identified needs. This site will be Higher Ground’s first Restart S.M.A.R.T. Site outside of Pima County and will serve as the tourable site for Phoenix-based legislators and stakeholders to understand Higher Ground’s implementation of Community Schools.

REPORTS TO:

This position reports to the Restart S.M.A.R.T. Director of Quality.

OUTCOMES:
1) Steering Committee: Within three months, recruit, onboard, and support a steering

committee with the following characteristics:

• Representation from three generations.
• Composition of steering committee matches demographics of school site.
• Members include:
• At least three non-educators who do not work or identify with the same field.
• At least one person who does not currently have a child attending the school site.

2) Community Partnerships

• By the end of the first academic year, create partnerships with at least 20 organizations that support the needs assessment and outcomes set by local steering committee.
• By the end of the first academic year, members of the school community affirm thatS.M.A.R.T. Site Director is ‘woven into the tapestry’ of the school community.
• 80% of partner organizations:
• Continue to support families beyond year 1, and
• Provide at least one additional school contact beyond the original partnership concept.

3) Family and Student Outcomes

• By the end of the first academic year, make personal contact with each family enrolled at the school.
• By the end of the first academic year, generate and maintain mapping processes for a minimum 5% of enrolled families per assigned school.
• Ensure that all participating families engage in stabilization services consistent with their maps.
• Reduce the percentage of chronically absent students (absent more than 2 days per quarter, cumulatively) by 25%.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree and/or 5 years of relevant experience required. Master’s Degree preferred. Degree related to public health, social work, behavioral health, or education preferred.
• Knowledge of the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and ability to work with the multi-sector community.
• Knowledge of the minority experience in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler MSA and ability to work with minority communities.
• Knowledge of the Gila River Indian Community is preferred.
• Four or more years working with children or youth is preferred.
• Proven experience with community organizing.
• Proven experience being a self-starter and leading a team, with strong project management and problem-solving skills. Must be able to take a given framework and implement in a new city.
• Excellent interpersonal skills are required.
• Bilingual (English and Spanish, verbal and written) is highly preferred.
• Must have ability to manage time, be highly organized, and prioritize tasks.
• Competent with digital literacy skills.
• Strong strategic thinker.
• Committed to the mission of Higher Ground and passionate about the CommunitySchools model.
• Knowledge and belief in Higher Ground’s mission, vision and purpose.
• Must have strong relationship building qualities. Must be able to effectively communicate with all ages, races, culture, background, and beliefs. Must be comfortable with public speaking and a proactive, consistent communicator.

THIS POSITION IS IDEAL FOR SOMEONE WHO DEMONSTRATES:

• Balance: “I understand how different priorities may compete for my attention and how they all fit towards the S.M.A.R.T. Site Director’s mission.”
• Purpose: “I understand and can explain to others what the full S.M.A.R.T. Site system is meant to accomplish for communities, and how my work and the work of those I supervise supports our purpose.”
• Macro Focus: “Even while solving the small day-to-day issues that may arise, I view my work from the systems level, working to create change for communities so that each day, positive outcomes for individual families become easier to achieve.”
• Strategic Thinking: “I achieve positive outcomes for my assigned school sites by taking actions that reduce crisis thinking and increase access to supports and resources.”
• Mindfulness: “I consistently honor the time necessary to stop, pause, and be present in my work.”
• Agility: “I create systems that allow me and my assigned sites to respond to unexpected problems. I identify risks to our systems, and plan ahead.”
• Resilience: “I expect and accept that setbacks beyond my control will occur. When this happens, I identify the problem and take effective action to resolve the issue. While the work happens daily, the outcomes I am working to achieve are multigenerational.”
• Trauma Responsiveness: “I know, understand, and can explain to others how trauma affects how students engage learning and how families engage schools. I look for opportunities to move beyond trauma-responsiveness to create learning spaces that heal and to prevent trauma from occurring.”

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Commitment to a minimum of three years at the S.M.A.R.T. Site location.
• High energy environment located mostly indoor with some outdoor, faced with constant interruptions and regularly scheduled and unscheduled meetings, phone calls, and interactions.
• Constant travel in between sites and partner organizations.
• Rapid changes, with the need to be flexible and responsive to changes in workplace environment and accessibility, as well as outcome priorities based on site and school calendar.
• A number of mental and emotional stressors associated, with consistent exposure to emotional and traumatic situations of families.
• Hours of intense concentration, analyzing data and connecting resources.
• Willing to travel occasionally to Tucson to Higher Ground main offices.
• Willing to receive direction and feedback virtually.

Salary: $50,000 - $60,000
Job Type: Full-time, benefits eligible

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $50,000.00 - $60,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Application Question(s):

• Please provide 3 references: Name, Position, Email, and Contact #
• Do you live in the Phoenix/Mesa/Chandler/Metropolitan area, and how familiar are you with the surrounding community?

License/Certification:

• Driver's License (Preferred)

Work Location: One location

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