Associate, Learning & Practice

Arlington, VA • Student Supports • Posted 05/04/2023

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WHO WE ARE

Rooted in community for more than 40 years, Communities In Schools (CIS) strives to bring community resources inside public schools, where they are accessible, coordinated, and accountable. Founder Bill Milliken said, “It’s relationships, not programs, that change children. A great program simply creates the environment for healthy relationships to form between adults and children. Young people thrive when adults care about them on a one-to-one level, and when they also have a sense of belonging to a caring community.” 

CIS programs are conducted annually throughout the United States, serving 3,270 schools; 1.8M students with over 15,000 community volunteers and 114 CIS affiliate organizations across the country. Their programs for students include providing needs assessments, support teams with corresponding plans to address academic and non-academic needs, delivery of multiple tiers of support for both students and families, progress monitoring and evaluation and assessment with parents and student support systems.

MISSION AND VALUES

Communities In Schools (CIS) is “all-in” for kids. It is our passion—it is our mission. At the National Office, CIS collaborates with local affiliate organizations to provide resources and create communities of caring adults who work hand-in-hand with educators to make sure young people have the tools they need to stay in school and achieve in life. We are the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization, and we achieve our mission by hiring bright, creative, and innovative team members who demonstrate a passion for what they do. 

CIS also holds the following talent beliefs: 

• Every staff member is passionate and committed to the mission.
• As a National Office, CIS employees have a responsibility to live our values and integrate principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion across the organization and lead by example.
• In turn, CIS is committed to continuously improving decision making, incentivizing creativity, and building engagement. We do this by building a diverse workforce, fostering a climate of inclusion, and shaping business practices and policies that promote equity.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Learning & Practice Associate will support the Learning & Practice team in the systems, communications, and events logistics function. This role supports the creation of relevant resources, curates experiences, and drives access to resources, which is critical to advancing the L&P program mission to strengthen the fidelity and quality implementation of the CIS Model across the Communities In Schools network. The Learning & Practice Associate will provide support for the maintenance of the CIS Community, including the LMS, National Resource Center, user-experience, and support Learning & Practice team members in implementing learning events. This role will report directly to the Principal, Learning & Practice, in the Student Supports Department.

PRIMARY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work with L&P team members to support learning experiences for CIS network site coordinators and program managers including in-person and virtual event logistics and communications with learners.
• Create and maintain up-to-date inventory resources and events on National Resource Center and CIS University (Path LMS) including reviewing and removing old resources and uploading new resources taking into account user experience.
• Work with L&P team to maintain CIS Community system (Fonteva and Salesforce), support CIS Community users as help desk agent and email inbox customer service, and pull reports and data on user interactions and experience. 
• Support L&P team with project tracking on Monday.com, communications, and facilitation logistics for training programs on integrated student supports and developmental relationships.
• Support L&P team with scheduling and communication logistics for bi-monthly virtual and annual in person meeting with Learning & Practice Steering Committee.
• Additional L&P team support as needed.

SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE THE FOLLOWING SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES

• Bachelor’s degree and three years of relevant experience, or a combination of education and relevant experience.
• Demonstrated facilitation of virtual meetings through Zoom, MS Teams, and other platforms.
• Demonstrated experience working and communicating with remote staff.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail and willingness to scope out errors and fix mistakes.
• Collaboration and teamwork including ability to build positive relationships with colleagues and help others.
• Ability to consistently follow through with projects, assignments, and meet deadlines.
• Excellent customer service and communication skills in dealing with internal and external constituents and vendors.
• Adaptable to change, problem solving ability, and forward thinker.
• Intellectual curiosity, motivation, and a desire to learn on the job.
• Time management including the ability to manage multiple tasks and projects at once.
• Innovative and creative thinking, willingness to voice your opinions, and a strong work ethic are essential.
• Excited to work with people who have different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
• Interest in the education landscape, and mission driven work.
• Experience with common learning and development methods such as adult learning practices and theories (ADDIE model or other) preferred.
• Understanding of knowledge management practices and processes preferred.
• Demonstrated technological proficiency with computer applications such as: Microsoft Office Suite, Monday.com, association management system (AMS), learning management system (LMS), and spreadsheets and database applications preferred.

TRAVEL

Up to 15%

ABOUT US

CIS staff continue to work in a virtual environment; however, the national office is open and available for staff to use as appropriate. 

To ensure the health and safety of staff and job applicants, all interviews will be conducted by phone and/or video conference.

BENEFITS & PERKS

Work that makes a difference—the opportunity to contribute to an important mission!

Competitive and comprehensive compensation and benefits package, including:

• Five weeks of Paid Time Off
• Generous 403b Retirement Savings Plan contribution
• 10 Paid Holidays
• 90% of employee health care premiums paid by the organization
• Summer Work Schedule and Winter Break
• Employer-paid short-term and long-term income replacement programs, and much, much more!

Communities In Schools is committed to a workforce that is representative of the varied communities we are privileged to serve. We provide a work environment that does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, mental or physical disability, genetic information or any other basis protected by applicable law. CIS prohibits harassment of applicants or employees based on any of these protected categories. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

For more information on Communities In Schools please visit our website.