Youth Program Specialist

Position Title:

YOUTH PROGRAM SPECIALIST

FLSA:
Hourly, Full-Time

Compensation Range: $74,000 - $76,000

Schedule:

40 hours/week | Monday - Friday, with some nights and weekends

Location:

100% In-Person, on-site in San Francisco, CA

Start Date:

Until Filled

Booker T. Washington Community Service Center (BTWCSC) is one of the Bay Area’s oldest Black‑led, Black‑serving nonprofit organizations, with 106 years of service to San Francisco. A beacon of Black joy and self‑determination, we have nurtured over five generations of Black San Franciscans. We stand embedded as an anchor institution, fostering intergenerational bonds and working in solidarity with allied communities to reform and reimagine a more inclusive San Francisco.

We prioritize serving the Black community and welcome all individuals from all cultures and ages, from 0 to 99, who walk through our door. We are one of the few urban spaces where anyone in the community can access comprehensive services, ranging from a hot meal to childcare, academic support, and senior services.

The Youth Program Specialist role consists of classroom teachers who play a central role in delivering high‑quality literacy, academic enrichment, and culturally responsive programming rooted in the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom School model. These roles combine classroom teaching, youth development, and family engagement to create a joyful, safe, and culturally affirming environment for K‑8 elementary scholars.

The teacher integrates the CDF Freedom School’s Integrated Reading Curriculum (IRC), leads Harambee activities, cultivates a love of reading, and embeds social‑emotional learning and identity‑affirming instruction into daily practice. The teacher builds strong relationships with scholars and families, practices a trauma‑informed and culturally sustaining approach, and collaborates closely with staff across BTWCSC to support whole‑child and whole‑family well‑being.

This position requires strong classroom management, instructional expertise, creativity, warmth, and a commitment to youth empowerment and literacy justice.

Instruction & Classroom Leadership:

• Deliver daily lessons using the CDF Freedom School Integrated Reading Curriculum, supporting scholars’ literacy growth, social‑emotional development, and cultural identity.
• Facilitate Harambee as a culturally grounded community‑building practice—rooted in the Swahili concept meaning “all pull together” or “let’s work together”—that uses ritual, call‑and‑response, affirmation, and shared reflection to build collective joy, belonging, and accountability while strengthening students’ social‑emotional readiness and engagement in learning.
• Create a safe, structured, and stimulating classroom environment that centers Black joy, belonging, and early childhood development.
• Develop age‑appropriate lesson plans and enrichment activities aligned with Freedom School themes and BTWCSC values.
• Support students’ academic success through one‑on‑one, small‑group, and whole‑group instruction.
• Model positive behavior and foster consistent routines, expectations, and classroom rituals.
• Communicate regularly with parents and caregivers to support scholar progress and deepen family partnership.

Youth Development & Cultural Identity Building:

• Implement culturally sustaining pedagogy that honors scholars’ lived experiences and cultural backgrounds.
• Support identity formation for young children, cultivating confidence, curiosity, and self‑expression.
• Encourage leadership development through voice, choice, and cooperative learning structures.
• Promote emotional regulation, resilience, and healthy peer relationships.

Program Operations:

• Set up and break down the classroom daily; maintain bulletin boards, learning stations, and student work displays.
• Support Level 1 program operations by collecting and documenting basic data, including attendance, participation notes, behavior observations, and supporting the administration of scholar and family surveys as directed.
• Supervise youth during transitions, playtime, field trips, meals, and enrichment blocks.
• Assist with snack distribution, safety protocols, attendance tracking,…