Anticipated SY 26-27 School Culture Coordinator

OVERVIEW

As a vital part of CPS’s overall goal of reducing violence against school-aged children in Chicago, the School Culture Coordinator will play a critical role within schools, spearheading the implementation, oversight and assessment of a holistic culture transformation. The
School Culture Coordinator will work in close collaboration with key school and community stakeholders to integrate new culture programs, trainings and resources that focus on leadership and staff development, an enhanced discipline and behavior framework, student socio-emotional support, conflict resolution, and attendance improvement. Pivotal to the success of these initiatives will be a rigid performance management structure to assess the impact of the various programs against set goals.

The School Culture Coordinator will also work closely with their school’s Principal, Chief Area Officer and Project Manager, and the Central Office Safety and Security team to ensure culture programs and resources are meeting expectations and that outcomes are consistently tracked. The overarching goals of the initiative will be to demonstrate a decrease in behavioral incidents, an increase in student attendance and improved academic achievement in the school by creating a safe, stable, supportive environment in which students can excel.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work closely with respective high school principals, the Safety and Security team, Performance Management staff, and Area Office to oversee and assess programs dedicated to creating a calm school environment
• Develop strong relationships with administration, teachers, staff and community to generate a collective and comprehensive commitment to the Culture of Calm initiative

• Develop and manage a clear and consistent behavior and discipline framework, establish a clearly defined role for every adult in the school, and ensure faithful compliance and enforcement among all staff
• Drive conversations with staff and administration aimed at achieving grassroots support and individual ownership
• Generate consensus about core culture values, rules and consequences and publicize them throughout the school (Non-Negotiables)
• Establish and lead a culture committee comprised of teachers, administrators, and students with the goal of promoting Culture of Calm at the grassroots level
• Ensure every student feels a strong sense of connectedness to and advocacy from adults in the school building
• Establish school-wide ownership of each student having a “go to” adult in the building
• Align behavior and discipline programs with the school’s culture values and ensure they have a restorative approach. Elements to address include, but will not be limited to:
  1) Incident referral process;
  2) Passing period, lunch and dismissal monitoring;
  3) In-school suspension curriculum;
  4) Student re-entry into school;
  5) Suspension alternatives;
  6) Security guard best practices

• Oversee internal and third-party professional development training, tying specific needs to specific staff areas (teachers, security staff, administrators, etc). Components of this include, but are not limited to:
  1) Classroom management;
  2) De-escalation training;
  3) Conflict resolution;
  4) Socio-emotional training
• Ensure all staff slated for professional development activities successfully take part in their sessions

• Integrate new programs and resources, and reinvigorate existing ones, that support positive school culture, including but not limited to:
  1) Anger Management;
  2) Conflict Resolution;
  3) Advisory / Check In/Check Out;
  4) School Connectedness;
  5) Positive Décor;
  6) Public Speakers;
  7) Peer Juries and Advisors
• Ensure program objectives are closely aligned with specific results and that metrics are established to track them
• Drive communication and publicity efforts within the school including, but not limited to:
  1) Culture of Calm kick-off and follow-up assemblies;
  2) Positive hallway messaging and goals;
  3) Parent and community updates

• Develop and maintain systems and processes that ensure performance data is accurately,…