DEI Counselor/Assistant Director of DEI

Friends School is a Quaker, co-educational, college preparatory school, Pre-K through Grade 12, in Baltimore City, enrolling 872 students, 35% of whom identify as children of color. We are guided by the Quaker ideals of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship.  We strive for our community to reflect the racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious diversity of our city.

Friends School faculty members teach by example, blending intellectual exploration, enthusiasm, and joy.  Every day in their classrooms, they challenge and encourage students to think deeply, to question, and to seek truth, while instilling in each of them a strong sense of social responsibility, a willingness to embrace challenges, and an awareness of their potential as individuals.

Friends School teachers are expected to model and foster the habits of mind we believe are essential to an outstanding education: creativity, curiosity, empathy, reflection, and resilience.  We seek faculty members whose teaching styles and experiences demonstrate:

• A record of successful collaboration with colleagues
• A commitment to lifelong learning, and ongoing professional development
• The infusion of technology to enhance student learning
• The teaching of research and information literacy skills
• The use of a diversity of assessment techniques that provoke students' critical thinking
• Teaching and learning experiences that enhance students' communication skills
• Experience with and openness to interdisciplinary teaching
• A desire to understand diverse attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and practices and incorporate a global perspective into teaching and learning

Context and Philosophy:

Friends School of Baltimore has an opening for a full-time DEI Counselor/Assistant Director of DEI to begin as soon as possible. Our school believes that all community members are responsible for actively and deeply engaging with the multiple dimensions of diversity. The DEI Counselor/Assistant Director of DEI will focus on the needs of BIPOC students, families, and employees through the DEI Office. The importance we place in this position derives from our belief that an outstanding 21st Century education can only take place within an inclusive school setting characterized by both demographic diversity and a shared valuing, appreciation, and embrace of difference in all its forms. As a Quaker school, we have an explicit and enduring mandate to seek greater equity and justice within and beyond our community.

This full-time position will require approximately 50% counseling work and 50% DEI programmatic work.

Responsibilities:

• Provide short-term counseling to students as needed; refer students and their caregivers to community care as necessary; collaborate with outside providers.               
• Regularly consult with teachers, colleagues, students, and families on mental health issues; share clinical expertise with colleagues through education; advise on individual students’ social-emotional needs.
• Demonstrate high level of ethical standards of profession.
• Attend All-School Professional Days, Health Team and DEI meetings, as well as faculty meetings, as appropriate.
• Help move the initiatives of the School forward by serving on committees; lending expertise and perspective.
• Collaborate with teachers cross-divisionally about social emotional needs, academic opportunities and strategies with a specific lens for BIPOC students and families.
• As needed, provide parents and administrators with written and oral psychosocial reports.
• Co-teach the Diversity Practitioners’ class for Upper School students.
• Partner with the Director of DEI and DEI Coordinators to facilitate the Racial Justice training program for all employees.
• Serve as a resource and sounding-board on issues of inclusion and difference for all members of the school community.
• Partner with the DEI Director and DEI Coordinators to further develop and implement the plan for ongoing cultural competency training for all faculty and staff at Friends School, as well as for the Board of Trustees, the Parents’ Association, and other school groups. 
• Partner with the DEI Director to facilitate affinity and support groups for parents and students, faculty, and staff, and assists in student support services on an individual and programmatic basis as needed. 

Skills:

Friends School of Baltimore seeks an individual who is able to foster sustained and challenging conversation and action on topics such as race, ethnicity, gender identity, family composition, sexuality, socio-economic difference, and ability.  Quaker communities have a long and proud tradition of embracing the tension of complex subjects like these in order to bring about greater understanding and more effective action. The ideal candidate will have strong written and oral expression skills, a comfort with exploration and ambiguity, a compassionate heart, and a curious and open mind.  The ability to develop and oversee multiple programs simultaneously is essential. 

Candidates should demonstrate a willingness to understand and incorporate Quaker Principles and Quaker education into their work

Competitive salary and generous benefits are offered.

Qualifications:

• LCSW-C, LCPC or Licensed Psychologist
• Professional, advanced licensure for State of Maryland required.
• Candidates with experience in independent, public, charter, or parochial schools are encouraged to apply.

Friends School of Baltimore actively promotes equity, diversity, and inclusion in all programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, and hiring. To form a community which strives to reflect the world's diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends School of Baltimore is an equal opportunity employer. Candidates of color and members of other underrepresented groups who might enrich and diversify the sch