Position Overview
The Coordinator, Restorative Justice is responsible for developing and implementing proactive and responsive restorative practices in order to foster a safe, supportive, and positive school culture.
As a leader at DCPS, the Coordinator, Restorative Justice will ensure alignment to the mission and vision, while supporting the school community in reflecting on the guiding principles and core values. In addition, this person will develop systems that create strong school culture and train staff on utilizing restorative practices in order to remove barriers and provide the optimal learning experience for all students.
This position is a safety-sensitive position. As a result, throughout employment this position will be subject to the Employee Mandatory Drug and Alcohol Testing Policy.
The Coordinator, Restorative Justice will report to the Assistant Principal, Intervention.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The below statements are intended to describe the general nature and scope of work being performed by this position. This is not a complete listing of all responsibilities, duties, and/or skills required. Other duties may be assigned.
The Coordinator, Restorative Justice role is outlined, more specifically, through the lens of the 5 Essentials: cultural proficiency, teaching and learning, student performance, community relationships, and professional culture.
Essential 1: Cultural Proficiency
Cultural Proficiency is the ability to successfully work with students, families, and community members who come from a culture other than our own. We expect that the Coordinator, Restorative Justice is consistently developing certain personal and interpersonal awarenesses and sensitivities, and understands important bodies of cultural knowledge, etc. in order to fully engage in the work.
- Establishes and executes school systems, routines, and policies in order to create a safe, equitable, and welcoming school environment.
- Supports a school community that reflects and embraces student, family, staff, and community diversity.
- Ensures that all students are safe, welcomed, and able to maximize learning time, by developing/implementing school- wide behavioral expectations and supporting students and staff through restorative practices.
- Communicates regularly and often with students, families, and community members to gain input/insight and share information.
Essential 2: Teaching and Learning
The Coordinator, Restorative Justice supports students and staff by developing strong cultural systems, while also implementing intervention and restorative practices that ensure all students find social, emotional, and academic success. This includes aligning time, resources, and support with the individual and collective needs of students.
- Collaborates with the leadership team to create effective systems that support school-wide culture and promote social, emotional, and academic learning for all students
- Works closely with the leadership team to align restorative justice services and supports with the mission, vision, and core values.
- Collects data, provides progress reports, and participates in program evaluations to determine the efficacy of school- wide cultural systems.
- Provides MTSS supports, interventions, and accommodations to individual students, according to individual students support plans.
- Works closely with teachers to create and implement intervention plans as needed.
Essential 3: Student Performance
At DCPS, we believe that student performance extends beyond academics. Because of that, we expect the Coordinator, Restorative Justice to support students in attaining their academic, social-emotional, and cultural goals. Using restorative justice practices, the Coordinator, Restorative Justice support students, parents, and staff in meeting annual student performance goals.
- Develops own capacity and that of faculty and staff by leading school-wide professional development on positive behavior supports and intervention/restorative practices necessary for optimal learning conditions.
- Supports teachers in implementing the MTSS process, and restorative and intervention practices.
- Builds behavior-centered relationships with students, parents, teachers, and staff in order to aid students academically, socially, and culturally.
Essential 4: Community Relationships
We expect the Coordinator, Restorative Justice to develop strong relationships, not only with students, but also their families and the community. The Coordinator, Restorative Justice is responsible for creating a welcoming environment for all stakeholders and using stakeholder feedback to guide the growth and development of successful, effective relationships.
- Maintains clear alignment to the vision and mission that promotes a welcoming and supportive learning environment for students, families, staff, and all other stakeholders.
- Provides open communication and decision-making opportunities with families tied to practices impacting culture.
- Builds relationships with Social-Emotional-Learning (SEL) teams to ensure students are receiving the appropriate supports.
Essential 5: Professional Culture
In order for the focus to remain on supporting our students, families, community, and staff, it is important that we all maintain a level of professionalism.
- Represents oneself in alignment to school named professional norms.
- Adheres to expectations of timeliness.
- Professionally engages with staff, students, community, funders, and colleagues.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree and at least two years of related work experience.
- Previous exposure to or experience in the education sector a plus.
- Ability to demonstrate cultural sensitivity and work with a diverse group of people, with proven ability to build meaningful relationships with students, staff, and families.
- Demonstrated initiative and skills in the following areas: relationship and community building, communication, conflict resolution, creativity, problem-solving, decision-making, and time management.
- Fundamental belief that all students can meet rigorous cultural and academic expectations.
- Commitment to the DCPS mission, vision, core values, and guiding principles.
- A deep belief that all students can thrive in a challenging, high-quality, nurturing, and supportive learning environment; and a deep commitment to educational equity and serving the needs of students furthest from opportunity.
- Knowledge of, and a commitment to, the community school model.
- Experience in the essential duties of the Coordinator, Restorative Justice outlined above.
- Track record of managing towards and achieving exceptional results for students, particularly those furthest from opportunity.
- Continual learner who has an appetite for new approaches, a willingness to learn from mistakes, and the patience and skill to implement change.
- Demonstrated experience developing resources, tools, systems, and processes to increase school success; and excellent written and oral communication skills.
DCPS Values
- STUDENTS FIRST : We recognize students as whole children and put their needs first in everything we do.
- COURAGE : We have the audacity to learn from our successes and failures, to try new things, and to lead the nation as a proof point of PK-12 success.
- EQUITY : We work proactively to eliminate opportunity gaps by interrupting institutional bias and investing in effective strategies to ensure every student succeeds.
- EXCELLENCE : We work with integrity and hold ourselves accountable for exemplary outcomes, service, and interactions. TEAMWORK : We recognize that our greatest asset is our collective vision and ability to work collaboratively and authentically.
- JOY : We enjoy our collective work and will enthusiastically celebrate our success and each other.