College Counselor

Position Details

Job Title: College Counselor
Department: High School
Job Category: School or Instructional Leader

The Opportunity

Harlem Village Academies is a K-12 charter network committed to the ideals of progressive education. Based in Harlem, HVA is also the demonstration site for the Progressive Education Institute.

HVA High has a solid track record of success, with 95% of students accepted to college every year since inception. The College Counselor will manage the college admissions process and systems at HVA High. S/he will join a dynamic team of educators and will take our work to the next level, continually improving the quality of colleges to which our students are accepted.

Responsibilities

College Process

Create, execute, and monitor systems that ensure an efficient and effective college application process.
Provide one-on-one college counseling to a caseload of seniors through the admissions cycle including, but not limited to, creating a college list, writing and revising the personal statement, advising on financial aid, and making final matriculation decisions.
Arrange strategic college representative visits to HVA.
Collaborate with HVA marketing to promote HVA to national colleges and universities.
Build and maintain relationships with colleges and universities to create partnerships benefiting both the school and students.
Build strong relationships with teacher teams.
Create communication systems to work effectively with students and parents.
Track and ensure progress of all college initiatives.
Accountable for accomplishing goals including but not limited to 95%+ of students accepted to four-year colleges as well as goals related to college matriculation and college selectivity.

College Readiness 9-12 Curriculum and Courses

Collaborate with the team to teach and/or co-teach College Readiness courses, working directly with students.
Collaborate with teachers and advisors to implement college and career curriculum.

College Admissions Testing & Reporting

Maintain relationships and manage college testing processes for PSAT, SAT, ACT and IB, including but not limited to test dates and score reporting.
Oversee ACT or SAT prep programs, both in-house and external, to meet goals.
Ensure timely uploading and sharing of test data to inform college and school practices.
Evaluate test results to identify possible school-wide intervention strategies.

College Culture

Use data-driven practices to inform yearly benchmarks calendar, college lists, and financial aid timeline.
Coordinate with advisors and grade level leaders to ensure collaboration and support of college initiatives in the school.
Ensure operations and academic teams are informed, aligned and supporting the needs of the college team, e.g. transcripts, data imports from student information systems.
Plan and execute strategic college visits aligned to the 9-12th grade scope and sequence.
Develop strategic events that celebrate the success of HVA Seniors and build a school-wide college going culture.

Qualifications

Masters in higher education, school counseling, or related field preferred
At least three years of demonstrated success in advising low-income, first generation college applicants and their families in all phases of the college and financial aid application processes including student admissions to selective colleges and favorable financial packages.
Experience developing early college awareness programs resulting in student motivation.
Wide knowledge of east coast and national colleges including degree programs, opportunity programs, diversity programs, admissions criteria, defining fit for first-generation low-income students, as well as familiarity with admissions personnel.
Effective participation in local, state, and national college admissions counseling events and professional organizations leading to increased results for student admissions
Experience with college prep and/or college readiness curriculum development
Teaching or training experience preferred
Excellent organizational skills and acute attention to detail
Strong analytical and writing skills
Focus on results and the flexibility and willingness to do “whatever it takes”
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment
Solid technical skills and experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

Organizational Culture

All team members are passionately and deeply committed to the mission, vision, and values of Harlem Village Academies; have a positive and professional attitude; exhibit a very strong work ethic; and possess an inner drive for personal and professional excellence. The ideal candidate will thrive working within an entrepreneurial and results-driven environment.

Harlem Village Academies is an Equal Opportunity Employer and committed to diversity among our staff. Applicants of diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

Apply Now

*required

First Name*

Last Name*

Email*

Phone*

Resume/CV*

Cover Letter*

Provide the address to your LinkedIn profile if you have one.

How did you hear about this job?*

If you responded with "Referral" or "Other" to the previous question, please elaborate.

Indicate if you have an affiliation with Harlem Village Academies.

If you answered the previous question, please elaborate.

At the time of this application, have you completed an undergraduate program and been awarded a bachelor's degree?*

Please provide your salary expectations range.*

Provide three professional references, at least one of whom has supervised your work. We will not contact any of these references without notifying you ahead of time. Provide: Name, Title, Organization, Email, Phone, Years Acquainted.*

Will you now or in the future require sponsorship for an immigration-related employment benefit?*

Will you now or in the future require sponsorship for an employment visa? If you have a visa, how much time remains on your current visa?*

U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Information (Completion is voluntary)

Individuals seeking employment at this company are considered without regards to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, or sexual orientation. You are being given the opportunity to provide the following information in order to help us comply with federal and state Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action record keeping, reporting, and other legal requirements.

Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

Gender

Race

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

VeteranStatus

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

Because we do business with the government, we must reach out to, hire, and provide equal opportunity to qualified people with disabilities¹. To help us measure how well we are doing, we are asking you to tell us if you have a disability or if you ever had a disability. Completing this form is voluntary, but we hope that you will choose to fill it out. If you are applying for a job, any answer you give will be kept private and will not be used against you in any way.

If you already work for us, your answer will not be used against you in any way. Because a person may become disabled at any time, we are required to ask all of our employees to update their information every five years. You may voluntarily self-identify as having a disability on this form without fear of any punishment because you did not identify as having a disability earlier.

How do I know if I have a disability?

You are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition.

Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

Blindness
Deafness
Cancer
Diabetes
Epilepsy
Autism
Cerebral palsy
HIV/AIDS
Schizophrenia
Muscular dystrophy
Bipolar disorder
Major depression
Multiple sclerosis (MS)
Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Impairments requiring the use of a wheelchair
Intellectual disability (previously called mental retardation)

DisabilityStatus