School Counselor/School Social Worker 1.0 FTE (One year only position)
DeKalb CUSD 428 
Job Description
Position Title:
School Counselor/School Social Worker (one year position)
Department:
Student Services
Supervisor:
Director of Student Services/Building Principals
Calendar:
180 Days
FLSA Status:
Exempt
Date:
July 22, 2021
Objective
Utilizing leadership, advocacy, and collaboration, school counselors improve students social and emotional development, promote student success, provide preventive services, and respond to identified students needs by implementing a comprehensive school counseling program that addresses academic, career, and personal/social development for all students.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- Ensures that all actions are compliant with established Board policies as well as the mission, vision and values defined by the district and Board of Education.
- Carries out such additional duties as required or as conditions necessitate.
- Participates in job training and professional growth opportunities in order to enhance ability to perform the essential functions of the job.
- Through an Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) Framework, School Counselors will assist in the delivery of tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 social,emotional and behavioral supports for all students.
- Providing crisis prevention and intervention programs and responding to crisis situations swiftly and appropriately.
- Provide evidence-based interventions to students at risk of being suspended or expelled from school.
- Conduct structured goal-oriented counseling sessions in systematic response to identified needs of groups of children. Themes could include academic skill building, social skill development, emotional de-escalation, attendance/engagement, career awareness, conflict resolution, family issues and making healthy choices.
- Provide individual and group counseling to meet the needs of the student population.
- Stay current on research and best practices in social-emotional learning.
- Provide information and skills to parents, faculty, administration and the community to assist them in helping students in academic, career and social development.
- Assist with designing staff professional development and training to support effective implementation of social-emotional learning in schools.
- Consult with principals, school counselors, school psychologists, teachers, and administrators regarding the social and emotional needs of students.
- Collaborate with community based mental health agencies as needed.
- Develop educational workshops for parents and the community to build investment in SEL.
- Assist parents in addressing and supporting student problems and issues.
- Refer students and their parents, as needed, to appropriate specialists, special programs and/or outside agencies.
- Advocate for equal access to programs and services for all students and families.
- Cooperate and collaborate with other professionals in enhancing the education of students. Communicate with the administrators, teachers and staff, parents and students as to the role of the school counseling program in the overall educational process of the school.
- Maintains accurate records and reports.
- Measures student academic performance, behavior and attendance and assists with appropriate interventions.
Qualifications
- Must hold an Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL) with an endorsement in assigned field (i.e. School Counselor and/or School Social Worker)
- Three years of school based experience, preferred
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- The ability to understand social and cultural diversity
- Effective oral and written communication skill
- A passion for social and emotional learning
- Knowledge of Illinois Social and Emotional Learning Standards
- The ability to comprehend and follow written and verbal instructions;
- Appropriate technological skills coupled with the willingness to learn required skills;
- The ability to maintain appropriate confidentiality of employee, student, and other sensitive District information;
- The ability to understand ethical and legal procedures and to act accordingly;
- The ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community;
- The ability to consult, collaborate and to pursue professional development opportunities
Supervisory Responsibility
None
Position TRS Eligible
Yes
Work Environment
General school/office area environment
Travel
Travel is primarily local during the business day, although some out-of-area and overnight travel may be expected.
Education and Experience
- Master’s degree in school counseling, school social work or related field
- Current ISBE Professional Educator License
- Minimum of three years experience in School Counseling, Social Work or related field, preferred
Other Duties
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.