Indiana Connections Academy - Assistant Manager of Counseling, 2023-2024 School Year

Indiana Connections Academy (INCA) is a tuition-free, virtual public charter school for students in grades K-12 throughout Indiana. INCA is authorized by Ball State University and governed by an independent Board of Directors. The school is operated by Indiana Connections Academy, a nonprofit corporation, through a contract with Connections Academy of Indiana, LLC, to provide its educational program and other services. The school was founded in 2010, as part of the Indiana Department of Education Virtual School Pilot Program, and became a charter school in the fall of 2011. INCA is accredited by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement, an accrediting division of AdvancED.

Indiana Connections Academy strives to create an inclusive environment that welcomes and values the diversity of the people we serve. We foster fairness, equity, and inclusion to create a workplace environment where everyone is treated with respect and dignity. 

Position Summary and Responsibilities

Working from your home office in Indiana, the Assistant Manager of Counseling Services will establish processes and procedures to implement a high quality school counseling program in the virtual school. The Assistant Manager of Counseling Services will provide support to all level school counselors with an emphasis on counseling best practices, pupil progression and student success in grades K-8. The Assistant Manager of School Counseling will ensure that there is strong understanding of college and career education standards, social-emotional learning strategies, course selection, scheduling and crisis intervention. This role will support both Indiana Connections Academy and Indiana Connections Career Academy.

The job responsibilities include but are not limited to providing leadership and support in the following areas:

• Support the work of school counselors at all levels;
• Plan and supervise the secondary school course selection process according to specific state credit, graduation requirements and student needs and interests;
• Support counselors with issues related to dropping courses and changing schedules;
• Support counselors with the review of student transcripts and the entry of credits into the online transcript system;
• Support and implement procedures to ensure that transcripts are accurate and up-to-date;
• Support efforts to secure complete and accurate records for all students;
• Support and counsel families through the school withdrawal process, assisting with data collection regarding withdrawal;
• Support and implement counseling programs for students and families related to interpersonal adjustment issues;
• Implement and support crisis prevention and management plans for the school and provide leadership;
• Report and refer critical incidents that jeopardize student well-being as obligated by law, administrative regulations, or ethical standards;
• Support school teams in identifying school and community resources and maintain an up-to-date list of those resources, making them available to school teams and to families;
• Support and implement processes to regularly and frequently review the status of each secondary school student related to attendance, participation, and performance;
• Support the counseling staff to assist teachers when students enroll mid-semester, making sure that teachers receive guidance on integrating the students into their coursework, and ensure that previous grades, credits, and evaluations are handled appropriately;
• Work in collaboration with counselors to identify students who are at risk or in crisis;
• Plan professional development activities for the department and staff and completes and submit appropriate forms;
• Support counselors in making information about post-high school opportunities available to students through mini-college fairs, individual appointments, print documents, audio-visual materials;
• Assist counselors who oversee the application process (for post-high school education, armed services, scholarships, etc.) and ensures the timely submission of high quality documents;
• Manage counseling department communication; and
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Experience in school administration and leadership desired
• Master’s Degree in School Counseling
• Minimum 5 years of counseling experience in a secondary school setting preferred
• Minimum 3 years teaching, counseling, or administrative experience in a virtual setting preferred
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written
• Customer focused approach
• High degree of flexibility
• Occasional travel
• Demonstrated ability to work well in fast-paced environment
• Prove