OVERVIEW
Brooklyn Friends School (BFS), a thriving PreK-12 Quaker school located in vibrant Downtown Brooklyn, seeks a visionary leader to serve as Director of Well-Being to guide a vibrant community of eager-to-learn and engage students as well as highly committed and talented colleagues (BFS uses the all-inclusive term, colleagues, to refer to all rather than one that delineates faculty/staff). Founded in 1867, Brooklyn Friends School’s pillars of social justice, service learning/civic engagement, and Quakerism, serve as guideposts for our action-oriented collective work. Our school’s history has been illustrious and reflective of the expansive nature of human experiences. Guided by our mission, BFS provides a dynamic, diverse, and robust social/emotional environment and academic program that cultivates compassionate, intellectually curious, and confident changemakers. As a school, we affirm that human diversity includes, but is not limited to: race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic class, family structure and physical ability, as well as diversity of thought, talents, and learning style. 

This short video gives you a glimpse into our contemporary experience.

THE LEADER
Brooklyn Friends School is in search of a Director of Well-Being, who will serve in an all-school capacity. Primarily reporting to the Assistant Head of School, the Director of Well-Being is an important leader in our community. This position involves serving as a resource and working with multiple school constituents to continue to cultivate and further expand a prioritized focus on the social/emotional, mental health, and academic well-being of students. The Director will also lead the professional development initiatives in this area for the entire colleague body. 

This leader will serve as a creative and collaborative resource, working individually and with groups of students, colleagues, and families to continue to expand upon a school culture focused on the healthy, joyful, and mindful development of students. Reporting to this leader are the school psychologists/counselors and the learning specialists.

WHO WE ARE SEEKING

We seek a leader with creativity and courage, empathy and thoughtfulness, strength and wisdom, who can envision institutional focus on this critical realm at the policy, cultural, interpersonal, and individual levels. We seek a leader willing to pose the challenging questions and dilemmas present as related to the balanced support of students’ experiences. The Director of Well-Being is charged with envisioning the ways to create an effective well-being strategy and action plan and lead its implementation in the school. The Well-Being Program will be based on evidence-based research and provide appropriate interventions and services that build resilience and confidence in students. The Director of Well-Being is a member of the Senior Leadership Team, and as such will, together with the other members of this team, contribute to and implement the school’s strategic plan, vision, mission, and values.

High School-Specific Responsibilities 

• Partners with the grade deans to develop programming that supports a
  healthy and balanced experience for all students
• Reviews and considers the HS foundational 9th grade experience, taking into account
  all elements of transitions between MS and HS, designing curricular possibilities, and teaching 9th graders 
• Carries a small caseload of HS students as a partnering learning specialist/professional
• Partners with divisional leaders in the design of the advisory program and ensures a consistently positive and engaging experience for all of our students
• Has significant engagement in the HS Student Support Team, listening and assisting in guiding conversations about student needs, how we support them, and considering how to best approach this work
  
  

All-School Professional Responsibilities

• Identifies opportunities to generate balance, care, support, healthy relationships, and joy in the context of the day-to-day experience for all community members
• Cultivates relationships with families and designs and delivers programming meant to foster the partnership between school and home in order to support students’ social emotional and mental health
• Partners with other student life colleagues such as deans, counselors/psychologists, learning specialists, and health team to shape a strategic vision for our school in support of an increasingly positive and balanced student experience
• Visits classes on a regular basis and serves as a resource and support to faculty
• Keeps abreast of current research and practices within Pre-K-12 schools as well as colleges and universities nationwide and makes time to visit various school environments. Incorporates strong ideas into our own program
• Uses expertise and voice to spread global awareness and model examples of BFS’s work in these areas
• In partnership with our Director of Global Civic Engagement and Service Learning and Director of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging, considers and plans (both local and international) student travel experiences focused on relationship building, service learning, self-awareness, and empathy for others’ lives
• Works in partnership with school leaders (Chairs included) to envision program possibilities
• Develops and implements student well-being policies and procedures
• Researches, designs, and implements evidence-based well-being initiatives
• Leads the ongoing review and enhancement of well-being policies and programs
• Develops strategic and sustainable partnerships with organizations and agencies that support the school community’s well-being strategy
• Recommends an appropriate student support structure (roles, professional learning, communication channels and team procedures) to ensure that the goals and objectives of the student well-being program and agreed practices are achieved
• Leads in clearly articulating the role expectations and key performance indicators for implementation and outcomes of well-being initiatives

Vision and Program Development

• Create and implement school wide vision of well-being based on a positive and joy-based educational model
• Create and manage initiatives and interventions that respond to student needs
• Develop effective collaboration and communication between colleagues, students and families to realize our school vision/mission and well-being program objectives
• Mentor teachers and deans to support students’ academic and behavior management skills
• Use statistical data to propose, explain and implement well-being policies and practices
• Identify and track student and family needs by conducting student, colleague, and parent surveys
• In partnership with other leadership team members, establish and maintain informative and community engagement initiatives that promote well-being

Leadership

• Set the vision and tone of well-being in the school
• Lead the team of school psychologists, counselors, and learning specialists
• Participate in the colleague review and coaching processes for direct reports
• Meet regularly with individual teachers to consider ways in which well-being practices can be an immersive part of the curriculum
• In partnership with student support team members across divisions, assist colleagues in addressing student well-being issues
• Design and lead a strong community well-being education program
• In time, envision and develop a well-being committee comprised of families, students, and colleagues
• Assist in the development of peer support programs
• Support transition programs for new students

Facilitation 

• Coordinate and deliver stewardship care programs including resilience groups, conflict resolution, and peer mentoring programs 
• Facilitate and coordinate professional development for colleagues (pertaining to Child Safe, Positive Education, Positive Behavior Management Strategies, Restitution)
• Present at conferences, staff professional learning, parent events, information evenings, assemblies, homeroom as required
• Contribute to school publications and peer reviewed educational journals
• Model exemplary teaching practice in the classroom