High School Program Manager POSITION DESCRIPTION

Horizons for Youth is a community committed to helping children recognize and achieve their full potential. In partnership with dedicated families, we provide need-based scholarships, one-on-one mentoring, and enrichment programs.

The mission of our High School Program is to assist each student to graduate from high school and attend college or trade school. The High School Program Manager will be responsible for the delivery of all program services to our 9th-12th grade students, their parents, and their mentors, as well as hold primary relationships with our partnership high schools. For the 2016-2017 school year we will be serving 53 high school students. We work closely with dedicated parents and mentors in support of our students.

Specific Job Skills Needed:

Given the demands of this role, the Program Manager must possess considerable organization skills, time management skills, communication skills, personal initiative, interpersonal skills and sensitivity. The Program Manager will report directly to the Director of Postsecondary Programs. The Program Manager position is full-time with a flexible work schedule of 40 hours per week.

Some evenings and weekends are required.

Requirements:

1. Bachelor’s degree. 2. A minimum of three to five years of work experience in high school programming. 3. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 4. Experience and knowledge base of the Chicago area educational system. 5. Understanding of and commitment to the empowerment of families from low-resource areas and experience working with diverse communities. 6. Conversational Spanish preferred.

Responsibilities:

Academic Support

A. Performance goals and tracking 1. Work with students to set individualized GPA and academic goals that will push them toward their full potential. 2. Conduct quarterly academic assessment meetings for students that are on academic probation to assist them make progress toward individualized academic success 3. Maintain ongoing communication with high schools by inviting staff to events and keeping in contact about students’ academics and discipline. 4. Create positive relationships with other high school scholarship organizations (i.e. LINK Unlimited, Daniel Murphy, HFS)

1 5. Update student IEP’s and learning plans with schools

B. Tutoring 1. Identify student needs for tutoring and help arrange with Volunteer Coordinator one-on- one tutoring at the office for students. 2. Mandate that students who do not meet their GPA goal attend tutoring. 3. Be available to fill in for the Volunteer Coordinator during evening tutoring hours. 4. Communicate with all high school tutors and Volunteer Coordinator to ensure tutors share student progress. 5. Attend academic meetings for special needs students. 6. Communicate with the Volunteer Coordinator to discuss students’ tutoring needs and progress

C. High School Summer Program 1. Identify student needs for the summer and meet with students individually to discuss summer scheduling. 2. Forge organization partnerships for the high school summer program 3. Arrange group and one-on-one tutoring for students. 4. Encourage and manage travel opportunities and internships for qualified students (i.e, sports and academic camps). 5. Track student performance and make plans for tutoring in the fall. 6. Assist teachers with developing curriculum and activities for the summer program 7. Facilitate teacher orientation before the start of the summer programs

Enrichment Outings High School Outings are opportunities for students and their one-on-one Big Sibling mentors to interact and partake in an enriching experience. They take place 9 times a year starting in August. August (Back to School Picnic), September (College Visit) and June (Graduation) are outings combined with the elementary program. Outings range from college visits to community service and other cultural activities. .

A. Plan all outings at least 2 months in advance, including finding a variety of outings that focus on the following: education, culture, physical fitness, community involvement, career/future goals and recreation.

B. Execute all outing logistics 1. Organize food/ drink/ check-in set-up. 3. Ensure the safety and proper behavior of students during the outing. 4. Track outing attendance 5. Assist and attend Elementary outings as needed

Mentoring Horizons for Youth “Big Sibling” mentors are volunteers who commit to one-on-one mentoring for each high school student until their high school graduation. Mentors are expected to see their Little Sibling in person once a month and communicate via text, phone, or email at least two other times a month.

2 1. Manage the big sibling matching process in partnership with the Volunteer Coordinator to insure that all students are matched in a timely manner and the parents are involved in the decision making process. 2. Conduct big sibling contract renewals Conduct regular follow-up with new big siblings via phone or in person at least 4 times a year. 3. Supervise all assigned big siblings. 4. Initiate regular contact with Big Siblings to insure quality of matches. Address issues that arise as necessary through additional training, contact with parents, etc. 5. Send outing notification one month in advance via email and a reminder email the Tuesday before each outing. 6. Track outing attendance and outside outing attendance; collect anecdotal information for student profiles.

Family Relations 1. Hold annual contract renewals with parents, mentors, and high school students, soliciting their feedback in every aspect of Horizons for Youth, reviewing program performance through scorecards, and signing contracts for the upcoming school year. 2. Manage 8th graders High School Program Interviews 3. Assist parents in addressing issues in their home life through customized support and referrals. 4. Communicate with each parent at least once a month via phone, email, or in person 5. Pass on opportunities and donations to our families as they are made available.

Miscellaneous 1. Attend Board of Directors meetings as necessary according to agenda items. 1. Manage partnership events including but not limited to Chicago Scholars and Chicago Ideas Week 2. Help manage On Cloud Nine Gala and No Ordinary Evening as needed. 3. Aid Development Director in producing student profiles for donors. 4. Develop program budget and tuition payments with staff accountant

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