Community School Coordinator

Child First Background

Child First Authority, Inc. (CFA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing youth and strengthening families by providing high-quality community schools, after-school and summer learning programs that promote academic achievement, social and emotional well-being, and parent leadership. Established as a direct result of an organizing campaign led by Baltimoreans United In Leadership Development (BUILD), CFA is rooted in racial equity and grounds its work in a model that builds on the assets of each youth and family. Community organizing and power building is in our DNA!

The Community School Strategy

The Community School Strategy is an evidence-based framework that unites families, educators and community partners to address barriers to student and family success, promote educational excellence for each and every child, and strengthens families and the overall community. A Community School transforms traditional public schools into neighborhood hubs that mobilize students, staff, families and community members to reimagine education and co-construct a shared vision for their school and community.

Community Schools create the conditions students need to thrive through:

• Integrating student supports
• Expanding and enriching learning
• Engaging family and community
• Lead in collaboration

Job Description

The Community School Coordinator (CSC) is a full-time professional employee of Child First Authority working at a partner Community School to implement the community school strategy. The CSC provides leadership for the collaborative process and development of a continuum of services for children, families and community members through these buckets of work: family and community engagement, student and family support, and partnership and resource development.

Together with the school principal and broader school community, the Community School Coordinator (CSC) will assess the needs of the designated school and form strategic partnerships to help eliminate barriers to academic success for students and families.

Successful CSCs come from a variety of professional backgrounds, but possess several key qualities:

• A leader with great relationship & trust building skills and a hunger for developing other leaders.
• STRONG commitment to tracking and recording data
• A go-getter dedicated to finding solutions to intractable obstacles to ensure students and their families are fully supported.
• Flexible in the face of changing community needs and priorities
• Must be able to give and receive feedback from leadership and stakeholders.
• Ability to foster a welcoming environment for students, staff and community.

Ideal candidates will demonstrate strong experience and capacity in the following core competency areas: race equity, planning, asset/resource mapping, stakeholder engagement, partnership development, relationship management, student and family support, family and community engagement, communications, and reporting.

Responsibilities

Family and Community Engagement

 Plans highly effective events and activities that respond to the needs and interests of families, and support the achievement of their family goals;

 Organizes, trains, and develops parent leaders to connect to the school, academic achievement and school decision-making;

 Recruits, trains, and helps to manage volunteers in support of community school efforts;

 Engages with neighborhood associations, residents and community leaders to understand community needs and develop two-way relationships of support.

Student and Family Academic, Attendance & Social Emotional Support

 Serves as a member of the school student support team and attendance team to identify students at risk of chronic absence and disciplinary action, collaborating with the school, families, and community to provide necessary supports;

 Refers students and families to community agencies and organizations to support their health, mental health, and family stability as appropriate.

Partnership and Relationship Development

 Creates a comprehensive, participatory needs/assets assessment of the school and community in partnership with the Principal, school and community stakeholders;

 Develops and coordinates new partnerships guided by needs assessment and School Performance Plan;

 Implements approved action plan by establishing and coordinating partnerships, co-locating resources (within the school), developing the necessary work plans, agreements, MOUs, schedules and connecting families and community residents to those resources.

 Helps to raise funds and in-kind donations to support programming.

 Organizes and staff regular meetings of the steering committee or appropriate leadership team, comprised of school administrators, School Family Council members, students, community representatives and extended service partners, to identify, coordinate, and broker relationships for service delivery at the school;

 Engage local legislators and elected officials.

Administrative Duties

 Aids in the evaluation of the individual community school programs by collecting data on new partners and the use of their services as well as general school climate indicators, i.e. school attendance, school safety and academic achievement;

 Review and analyze data to address the needs of school and the community;

 Collect and input data into Child First database to support and document impact of the work;

 Reports outcomes in a timely manner to CFA and other funders as required;

 Maintain effective communication with all stakeholder groups;

 Represents the initiative publicly, as requested, reporting on program successes and outcomes.

Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Associate degree from an accredited college or institution required; Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• 5 years of relevant experience may be substituted for education

Experience:

• At least two (2) years of successful experience working with urban public school systems, including development and implementation of youth development programs, community organizing, family engagement and/or education policy including:

o Developing and facilitating training, meetings, and/or professional development to expand the capacity of internal and external stakeholder groups;

o Conducting needs assessments and using data to develop, implement, and adapt action plans and strategies;

o Managing multiple projects with competing priorities and ability to coordinate a cadre of staff, partners, and volunteers.

Skills:

• Capacity to develop effective working relationships with people from a variety of different ethnic, socioeconomic, educational, religious, sexual, and generational backgrounds to ensure the success of all children;
• Ability to analyze data to support strategic implementation
• Ability to organize community resources in a school setting to provide opportunities and services;
• Ensuring everybody in the school—youth, teachers, principals, and families and community partners—have a voice, work together, and share accountability for student success;
• Ability to practice inclusive and equitable management;
• Ability to write and communicate clearly and effectively;
• Proficiency with Microsoft office, database systems, data analysis, as well as budget development and implementation.

Knowledge:

• Social services landscape in Baltimore;
• Academic partnerships for powerful learning experiences;
• Social-emotional, and mental and physical health resources and supports;
• Authentic family and community engagement for student and school success;
• Community school principles and national standards for success.

Conditions of Employment

The CSC is a full-time, 12-month, grant-funded position, with funding provided primarily through the State of Maryland’s Concentration of Poverty and Baltimore City Public Schools funds.

Salary: $60,000- $70,000

Benefits Include

• 160 PTO hours (Full amount given at top of year and 40 allowed as carry over – prorated based on start date)
• 24 Personal Hours Prorated by Quarter
• 4% of salary 403B with or without employee contribution after first year
• $75 | $125 per pay for Health/dental/vision insurance (based on household and/or marital status)
• $2500 | $5000 for insurance deductible fully funded by CFA (based on household and/or marital status)
• $1500 for Professional Development

How to Apply: Interested applicants should submit a compelling cover letter, resume and three professional references to cfamain@childfirstauthority.org by 11:59PM on Friday, February 7, 2025.

Applications will be reviewed ongoing, and interviews will be set. Anticipated start date of Monday, March 10, 2025. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.