Sr. Coordinator of College Access Programs

Organization Overview

Breakthrough Silicon Valley launches talented but underserved middle school students on the path to college, while at the same time inspiring high school and college students to become educators. While ambitious in our goals, BTSV works: 97% of BTSV graduates are accepted into four-year colleges (through the class of 2019) and 87% of BTSV Teaching Fellows (2017-19) are inspired to pursue a career in education as a result of their summer experience.

Breakthrough Silicon Valley’s tuition-free program provides year-round out-of-school time academic support, advising, and advocacy for a diverse group of talented students, most of whom come from under-resourced communities and are first in their family to go to college. Through our students-teaching-students model, Breakthrough also provides a consummate professional development experience in education by providing talented high school and college students the opportunity to design and teach classes under the direction of seasoned education professionals.

Located in San Jose, California, Breakthrough Silicon Valley is an affiliate of The Breakthrough Collaborative, a leading national service organization that acts as the national voice for 24 Breakthrough sites across the country.

Position Overview

The Sr. Coordinator of College Access Programs (SCCAP) takes charge of planning and implementing Breakthrough SV programs for its 9th and 10th-grade students to ensure they are prepared for academic success in college. The SCCAP works closely with students as they navigate the high school years, and holds students to high academic, social, and emotional learning standards. The SCCAP consistently advises students and families throughout the school year, introducing the ins and outs to college majors and potential careers, and ensures students are on track for college through the high school transition years through workshops, field trips, and engagement activities.

The SCCAP also executes drop-in office hours and 1:1 advising for our 9th and 10th-grade students, maintaining an engaging, dynamic learning community; delivers workshops focusing on college-readiness; and executes community-building events. The SCCAP co-leads our immersive 4-week 9th Grade Summer Program, serving as a primary resource for approx. 70-75 9th grade students and families. The SCCAP co-leads a small summer site team to build community, support academic readiness, and support the transition into high school. The SCCAP serves as the cultural leader, and partners with a Dean of Faculty to ensure that 16 Teaching Fellows are supported to execute our students-teaching-students model throughout the summer. When needed, the SCCAP also co-leads our 2-week Computer Science Academy, introducing 20-25 high school students to another career opportunity in STEAM. 

Responsibilities and Functions

Student Advising

• Perform student grade monitoring and academic advising, and implement necessary interventions (e.g. conferences, tutoring, disciplinary actions) for 9th and 10th-grade students in the San Jose Unified School District or the Franklin-McKinley School District.
• Maintain student performance, attendance, and survey data utilizing Salesforce and other data collection tools such as Excel and Google Sheets.
• Conduct one-on-one conferences with each student throughout the school year, with subsequent follow-up conferences as needed.
• Maintain relationships with students and families throughout the year through phone calls, emails, and in-person interactions to ensure that all students are meeting programmatic goals.
• Coordinate with school partner personnel (counselors and principals) to ensure that resources and academic support are provided to students. The SCCAP will also work with various school personnel to deepen our partnership in ways that benefit Breakthrough, our students, and our school partners.

School-Year Programming

• Assess the need for tutoring for 9th and 10th-grade students and refer them to the BTSV Tutoring Program or external tutoring opportunities.
• Collaborate with other members of the program team to develop and deliver college readiness programs and leadership development opportunities for BTSV high school students.
• Communicate the school year calendar to families via mailings, emails, newsletters, and phone calls.
• Oversee the day-to-day work of intern(s) or volunteer(s).
• Co-coordinate the procurement and delivery of meals for workshops and student events.
• Perform administrative tasks that support a successful program such as scheduling, securing facilities, and arranging transportation as needed.
• Oversee High School Program field trip management, including transportation, alumni volunteer recruitment, and communication with university staff for guided college tours
• Collaborate with the Development Team to execute community volunteer events (i.e. Resume Review Workshop, Mock Interview Workshop, etc.)
• Plan and execute the 9th grade college field trip to educate up to 100 students and parents the importance of college fit and how to research different universities.

Summer Academic Programs

• Co-lead the 9th grade summer program to ensure quality programming, daily operation of the program, and student and family engagement, while maintaining Breakthrough community and culture.
• Collaborate with the Sr. Coordinator of Leadership Development Programs to establish and maintain external partnerships to develop leadership engagement opportunities for students (i.e. Community Service Day, Community Building Day, etc.)
• Co-lead the two-week Computer Science Academy, including involvement in the recruitment and onboarding of instructors with support from the Sr. Director of Programs and Instruction.
• Collaborate with the Development Team to execute Computer Science Academy’s Demo Day.
• Meet weekly with the summer site leadership team to oversee overall success of the 9th Grade Summer Program and student participation.
• Oversee the summer co-curriculum and class schedule assignments, focusing on developing students’ social-emotional learning skills.
• Directly manage the day-to-day work of summer program staff.

Other Responsibilities

• Support the student admissions process by delivering recruitment presentations at local schools, reading applications, and participating in new family interviews.
• Assist as needed with the summer Teaching Fellow recruitment and selection process.
• Assist with the development of data collection tools and take charge of data collection for their cohort of students.
• Produce reports on program quality indicators such as student grades, attendance, GPA, and other summaries and reports, assisting with grant-writing and program evaluation.
• Collaborate with the Development Team and Executive Director with fundraising, marketing, and board-related activities as necessary.
• Assist as needed with other year-round or summer programming.
• Assist with other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Ideal candidates will bring to the position a variety of attributes, knowledge and skills.

• Ability to deliver workshops and engage in families in Spanish or Vietnamese.
• Bachelor’s degree from four-year university.
• Knowledge of and experience in developing social emotional learning skills in high school students.
• Experience with college advising and supporting high school students on the path to college is strongly preferred.
• Experience with curriculum development, student assessment, data-collection, and program evaluation is preferred.
• Three or more years of experience working in youth development, teaching, and/or counseling/advising.*
• Ability to work in environments and communities with people from diverse backgrounds (ethnic, socio-economic, educational, etc.).
• Dynamic, entrepreneurial leader able to focus on program mission and details of program administration and operations.
• Excellent communicator, able to write and speak persuasively.
• Embraces “Breakthrough Spirit.” Is committed to excellence, open-minded, demonstrates a growth-mindset, thinks creatively to solve problems, and works with integrity and a sense of humor.
• Knowledge of and experience in working with public school districts and/or charter schools is preferred.
• As Breakthrough is an “out of school time program,” candidates should anticipate working hours of 11am - 7pm Monday-Friday, plus occasional weekend or evening hours during the school year. Typical summer program hours are 7:30am- 4:30pm in June, July and August.

*Candidates with less program experience will be considered for a coordinator level role.

Location

Under normal circumstances, the SCCAP would work primarily at one of our two Breakthrough offices. Travel between BTSV’s offices and to and from partner school sites are needed regularly. Due to COVID19*, there would be a mixture of primarily virtual engagements with some in-person programming.

• Herbert Hoover Middle School, 1635 Park Ave, San Jose, CA 95126
• Franklin-McKinley School District, 645 Wool Creek Dr, San Jose, CA 95112

*While the Breakthrough team is currently working remote, this is a local position and we are only considering candidates who are or will be local before the start of employment.