IDEA Public Schools Careers

Role Mission: Social Workers work directly with our at-risk scholars to ensure that they graduate from IDEA and go to and through college by providing them individualized emotional, behavioral, and mental health support.  Social Workers manage a caseload of at-risk scholars and provide individual and group interventions to support them independently master coping skills to address and overcome mental, behavioral, and academic challenges. Social workers also support students and families with the removal of barriers to persistence, attendance, and academic success through connections to community resources. 

What We Offer

Compensation: 

Salaries for people entering this role typically fall between $55,000 to $65,000, commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications and in alignment with internal equity. This role is also eligible for a performance bonus based on team performance and goal attainment.

Other Benefits:

We offer a comprehensive benefits plan, covering the majority of the employee premium for the base medical plan and subsidizing the majority of costs for a spouse/domestic partner and children. Some of the special benefits we offer at IDEA include:

• Paid Family Leave: Eligible staff may receive up to 8 weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, based on their tenure with the organization and caregiver designation.
• Tuition Reimbursement: Staff members may apply for up to​ 50% of tuition paid toward a qualifying degree program, up to $5,250 maximum per year subject to manager discretion and budget availability.
• Employer-Paid Mental/Behavioral Health: 5 face-to-face counseling sessions within a year, unlimited 24/7 telephonic counseling, and other work-life services available at no cost.

Other benefits include dental and vision plans, disability, life insurance, parenting benefits, flexible spending account options, generous vacation time, referral bonuses, professional development, and an employer paid 403(b) retirement matching of up to 4% of your annual compensation. IDEA may offer a relocation allowance to defray the cost of moving for this role, if applicable.

What You Bring -- Competencies

Qualifications:

• Education: Master’s degree in Social Work required
• Experience: 1+ year(s) of teaching experience preferred
• Licenses or certification: Social work license required (Clinical Social Worker Intern, LCSW, LCSW-S)

Knowledge and Skills:

• Ability to write and speak Spanish preferred
• Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills
• Ability to adjust and adapt to a multitude of situations in the school environment
• Ability to build solid student and family relationships

What You’ll Do -- Accountabilities

90% Persistence for scholars in caseload  

• Partners with lead team members and teachers to identify at-risk students and create caseload 
• Schedules individualized and group recurring sessions to address mental health needs.  
• Establishes individualized counseling goals for scholars.  
• Uses knowledge and understanding of the reciprocal influences of home, school, and community to intervene for scholar success via such practices as assessment, crisis intervention, home visits, conflict resolution, individual and group counseling, consultation, program development, dropout prevention and coordination of school and community services.  
• Informs Lead Team of potential persistence concerns. Educates lead team on how to identify the caseload and is responsible to assign roles for lead team members for interventions with at-risk students.
• Design and/or lead professional development on crisis, trauma, positive behavioral prevention and intervention techniques and social-emotional skill development for applicable audiences (minimum 1 per quarter) 
• Plan individual school and/or system-wide programs to promote a positive and caring school climate.
• Lead, or coordinate with community partnerships to present parent information sessions on crisis, trauma, parental support, behavioral support, or mental health support for families (minimum 1 per quarter).
• Design, coordinate, and or lead monthly parent training, workshops, or information sessions related to social-emotional, behavior, or community resource support (minimum 1 per quarter).
• Leads staff professional development related to self-care, trauma-informed practices, relevant developmental needs of students, and other SEL-related topics in coordination with other student support team members.

97.5% ADA for scholars in caseload 

• Collaborates with Registrar to get daily list of absences to contact families.
• Contacts families as prescribed in escalation matrix to determine barriers to attendance and any resources needed. 
• Utilizes the Mission List Tracker to communicate with families to figure out root cause of absenteeism and develop solutions to address concerns.
• Conducts home visits as necessary to collaborate with families and support attendance.

Earns an “A” on Social Work report card

• Collaborates with key stakeholders on campus to support implementation of mental health, social emotional learning, and counseling supports.
• Creates referral, intake, and termination campus protocol.
• Meets direct service requirements for both individuals and groups.
• Creates Quarterly Reports to demonstrate impact
• Campus meets student participation in both beginning and end of year Social Emotional Learning Survey
• Creates analysis report and presentation of bi-annual SEL Survey Data
• Facilitates 2 staff trainings (1 per semester)
• Facilitates 4 parent workshops (1 per quarter)

90% compliance: Documents 4 direct service hours a day in Apricot 360

• Documents all interventions and crises/critical incidents in district-wide documentation system.
• Collaborates with community agencies to coordinate services within the school system.
• Utilize Panorama Survey data twice a year to assess campus climate and culture.
• Member of crisis response team on the campus to provide and ensure student or family social/emotional needs are being met.
• Connects student and families to community resources to get the support needed. Is the liaison between community support person and campus to share information to wrap services around the student.

90% of assigned teachers use MTW curriculum with fidelity (as defined by students interact with video program 3 days a week) 

• Co-Lead teacher and campus training on Move This World curriculum and implementation expectations with School Counselor/Student Success Advisor. 
• Identify and utilize best practice strategies to invest and create a culture of excitement around the integration of an SEL curriculum in the daily schedule. 
• Conduct regularly rotating observations of Move This World blocks using observation rubric. Provide teachers feedback on observation rubric at least 1x/month.  
• Track curriculum progress and send campus weekly PTG MTW update with glows and grows.
• Conduct BOY and EOY assessment on SEL competencies, school climate, safety, and sense of belonging. Review data and create action steps to address campus needs.

We look for Team and Family who embody the following values and characteristics: 

• Believes and is committed to our mission and being an agent of change: that all students are capable of getting to and through college  
• Has demonstrated effective outcomes and results, and wants to be held accountable for them 
• Has a propensity for action, willing to make mistakes by doing in order to learn and improve quickly 
• Works with urgency and purpose to drive student outcomes 
• Thrives in an entrepreneurial, high-growth environment; is comfortable with ambiguity and change 
• Seeks and responds well to feedback, which is shared often and freely across all levels of the organization 
• Works through silos and forges strong cross-departmental relationships in order to achieve outcomes 
• We believe in education as a profession and hold ourselves to high level of conduct, professionalism and behaviors as models for our colleagues and students 

About IDEA Public Schools 

At IDEA Public Schools, we believe each and every child can go to college. Since 2000, IDEA Public Schools has grown from a small school with 150 students to a multi-state network of tuition-free, Pre-K-12 public charter schools.   

IDEA Public Schools boasts national rankings on The Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report’s top high schools lists. IDEA serves over 80,000 college-bound students in 143 schools across Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Ohio, and is on-track to maintain its legacy of sending 100% of its graduates to college.    

When you choose to work at IDEA, you are part of our IDEA Team and Family. You will work alongside team members who set and reach ambitious goals every day, are excited to continue to grow with IDEA, and work relentlessly to make college for all a reality.

Staff Culture and Belonging

At IDEA the Staff Culture and Belonging Team uses our Core Values to promote human connection and a culture of integrity, respect, and belonging for all Team and Family members.  Learn more about our Commitment to Core Values here!

To Apply

Please submit your application online through Jobvite. It’s in your best interest to apply as soon as possible.

IDEA Public Schools in Florida intends to promote and establish a Drug-Free Workplace Program to maximize safety and productivity in the workplace, enhance our competitive position in the marketplace, without experiencing the costs, delays, and tragedies associated with accidents that result from drug or alcohol abuse by employees. A Drug-Free Workplace means that of our employees must remain Drug-Free both on and off the job, and free from alcohol on the job. In holding to this policy, all staff members will undergo drug testing prior to starting in their new role with us.

To read our full policy, please click the following link: https://ideapublicschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/FL-Drug-Free-Workplace-Policy.pdf