Director of Learning Support

Our School

The International School of San Francisco is a bilingual, multicultural learning community where students in grades learn to navigate the complexities of the world with confidence, empathy, and joy. Our vibrant urban campus is situated in the heart of the city and serves nearly 1,100 students beginning at age 2 and continuing through grade 12. 

Mission

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, The International School of San Francisco offers programs of study in French and English to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to communicate across cultures is of paramount importance. 

Opportunity

Working at The International School of San Francisco opens up a myriad of opportunities both personal and professional. When minds and cultures from around the world come together, boundless curiosity takes hold; faculty and staff benefit from that deep intellectual engagement and joyful discovery as we live out our values of respect, integrity, inclusion, collaboration, and curiosity. Each employee is both teacher and learner in our vibrant, multicultural, multilingual school community.

Position: 

The Director of Learning Support is responsible for ensuring a high-quality, research-based suite of learning support services across our bilingual PK2-grade 12 program. In our diverse community, the Director of Learning Support fosters an understanding of neurodiversity as an important element of identity and of differentiation and accommodations as essential elements of inclusive classrooms, in keeping with our school values. The Director of Learning Support fosters a partnership between faculty and staff, students, and families from the initial identification of students with learning needs, through evaluation and diagnosis, to the implementation and ongoing revision of learning support services that allow every student to reach their maximum potential in our program. Reporting to the Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning, the Director of Learning Support collaborates closely with the principals and section teams and ensures the effectiveness of the Learning Specialists at all levels of the school. 

Focus and  Responsibilities: 

• Caseload of 30%  
• Build and lead a cohesive Learning Support team by clarifying expectations, providing support and accountability, and establishing a cycle of consistent communication and collaborative work
• Ensure consistent, research-based, age-appropriate menu of services across K-12
  • Clarify, document, and communicate accommodations that we can provide as well as school practices to support accommodations
  • Ensure a consistent cycle of communication to students and families about services, especially at transitions between sections
  • Implement an annual cycle of collaborative revision of learning plans involving all stakeholders
  • Implement systems of communication between the learning support team and faculty to ensure timely and thorough implementation of learning plans in the classroom, at the beginning of the school year and in response to new information
  • Monitor developments in learning support services and foster reflective iteration to improve practices and student outcomes
• Facilitate support of faculty, students, families with students’ emerging learning needs PK-12
  • Organize and lead initial Student Support Team meeting or equivalent for students with emerging needs PK-12
  • Implement systems (teacher observation protocols, etc.) and facilitate training of faculty, especially in PK-8, to identify students in need of support 
  • Coordinate communication with families of students with emerging needs
  • Liaise with outside services, including SFUSD, to ensure evaluation and updates to testing and accommodations as appropriate
  • Supervise analysis of evaluation information and documentation of learning plans, including accommodations
  • Serve as primary contact for external diagnosticians and service providers
• Oversee documentation of diagnoses and learning support services for PK-12
  • Communicate and collaborate actively with families during the diagnosis process
  • Ensure regular communication with faculty, families, and students to update testing information and adjust learning plans accordingly, annually at a minimum
  • Support the Learning Specialists in ensuring accommodations for all standardized testing
• Support the admissions team, in collaboration with section teams, to evaluate applicants and communicate with prospective families about services and the expectations of our programs
• Ensure effective communication about learning support processes, services, and accommodations  between newly-admitted students and families and the section teams and faculty to create a smooth transition for new students with learning needs
• Collaborate with the Instructional Leadership Team and others to implement professional learning for faculty and staff regarding neurodiversity 
• Promote an understanding of neurodiversity as a dimension of identity and of learning support as a dimension of inclusion
• Model and foster a culture of offering expertise and support to faculty and staff regarding teaching practices that support all learners in age-appropriate ways
• With the learning support team, serve as a resource to teachers and section teams about specific student needs and appropriate practices

Key qualities:

• Ability to interact productively with members of all stakeholder groups, particularly faculty and staff, students, families, and external providers
• Expertise in research-based learning support methods and a practice of keeping current with new developments in the field
• Skill at liaising with public and private providers of educational evaluations and services
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Strong organizational skills and an interest in implementing effective institutional systems and structures
• Forward-thinking, pragmatic, and diplomatic leadership that is sensitive to the needs of a dynamic and diverse community
• An ability to foster a productive working environment among team members and support employee growth
• Degree in education with specialty in learning support or special education; master’s degree strongly preferred
• At least 5 years’ experience teaching
• Leadership experience preferred
• Proficiency in French a plus but not required

Salary range for this position: $105,000- $135,000 depending upon experience and qualifications.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY POLICY  

The International School of San Francisco is committed to providing an open, fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory environment for all individuals across differences of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, socio-economic status, ethnicity, age, physical ability, or medical condition. We seek to increase the presence, representation, and inclusion of U.S. historically under-represented people of color, international, bilingual, and bicultural students, faculty, and staff; and, to provide an environment that will attract and retain individuals identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and intersex