Middle School Student Success Specialist

Middle School Student Success Specialist

Mitchell Middle School, Mitchell, South Dakota

The Student Success Specialist serves as the vital bridge between Mitchell Middle School, our students' families, and the broader community. The primary focus of this role is to champion student success by maximizing daily attendance, easing critical grade-level transitions, and fostering an inclusive, communicative, and positive school culture. Regular school attendance is up to eight times more predictive of failing core classes than standardized tests.

Chronic absenteeism in middle and high school strongly correlates with lower graduation and college completion rates. Working directly with building administrators, this advocate ensures every family feels connected, informed, and partnered in their child’s education.

• Attendance Intervention & Truancy Prevention
  • Monitor & Manage: Actively track daily attendance data to identify patterns and flag students at risk of falling onto the chronically absent list.
  • Proactive Outreach: Conduct home visits, phone calls, and parent meetings to understand and resolve barriers to regular school attendance.
  • Support Plans: Collaborate with administration, counselors, and families to create personalized attendance improvement plans.
• Transition Support/Academic or Behavior Intervention (5th to 6th & 8th to 9th Grade)
  • Middle School Entry: Bridge the gap for incoming 5th graders, creating welcoming orientation experiences that ease the anxiety of moving to Mitchell Middle School.
  • High School Readiness: Partner with the high school team to ensure 8th graders have a smooth, confident transition into 9th grade.
  • Family Guidance: Host targeted informational sessions to help parents navigate the shifting academic and social expectations of these milestone years.
• School-to-Home Communication & Relationship Building
  • Open Lines: Act as an accessible, trusted point of contact for parents, overcoming language, cultural, or historical barriers to school engagement.
  • Two-Way Dialogue: Improve existing communication channels (newsletters, digital apps, feedback loops) to ensure families are not just informed, but heard.
  • Conflict Resolution: Assist in mediating misunderstandings or disconnects between home and school with empathy and neutrality.
• Student Culture & Community Engagement
  • In-Building Culture: Work alongside staff to cultivate a positive, inclusive student culture where every child feels a sense of belonging and pride.
  • Event Coordination: Plan, promote, and execute school-community events (e.g., family nights, open houses, cultural celebrations) that bring learning and community together.
  • Stakeholder Partnerships: Foster relationships with local businesses, non-profits, and community leaders to bring external resources and support into the school.
• Administrative Collaboration
  • Direct Reporting: Work hand-in-hand with building administrators to align outreach efforts with the school’s strategic improvement goals.
  • Data-Driven Decisions: Maintain accurate logs of family contacts, attendance interventions, and event participation to report on the efficacy of liaison programs.

• Education/
  
  Experience:
  
  Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Education, Human Services, Communications, or a related field preferred. Equivalent experience in community outreach or youth advocacy will be highly valued.
• Communication: Exceptional interpersonal skills; ability to communicate effectively and non-judgmentally with diverse populations.
• Problem-Solving: Strong conflict resolution skills and the ability to think creatively when addressing complex family or attendance issues.
• Logistics & Tech: Proficient with student information systems (for tracking attendance) and communication platforms. Ability to coordinate event logistics.
• Flexibility: Willingness to work occasional evenings or mornings to accommodate family schedules for events and home visits.

• A measurable decrease in the building's chronic absenteeism rate.
• An increase in family attendance at school-wide events and transition nights.
• A palpable lift in student culture, characterized by stronger student-staff trust and fewer transition-related behavioral spikes at the start of the year.

Full-Time, Academic Year

• Citizenship, residency or work visa required.

• John Tyler , Principal
• Mitchell Middle School
• Phone:
• Email:
  John.
  
  Tyler.us