Part-time Mentoring and Literacy Program Coordinator

Location: Betances Learning Lab Magnet School, 42 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106

Schedule and Hours: Up to 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. Hours will vary between approximately 10:30 am and 1:30 pm from September through June. Some availability is required outside of these times for data entry, communications, and meetings as needed. Up to 15 hours per week.

Position Overview

Are you passionate about helping children discover the joy of reading? Do you enjoy connecting with others, staying organized, and supporting a program that truly makes a difference in students’ lives? This role offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to Read to a Child’s mission by helping our Read Aloud Mentoring Program (RAMP) run smoothly each day. If you enjoy a dynamic work environment, are adaptable to changing situations, approach daily tasks with a positive attitude, and are enthusiastic about supporting children in a school setting, then this role may be a great fit for you!

Read to a Child’s Read Aloud Mentoring Program (RAMP) pairs a volunteer mentor with an elementary school student for a rewarding weekly read aloud experience either during the child’s lunch or other non-instructional time. The Program Coordinator is responsible for the daily operation of the program, including managing relationships, record keeping, and scheduling of this program at a designated school or alternate program site. The Program Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that volunteer mentors, students, and school staff have a positive and meaningful experience.

The current open Program Coordinator role is an on-site position working in schools directly with students. Successful candidates must be comfortable working in an in-school environment and in keeping with all safety protocols required by the school.

This role is extremely important to the program’s function and success and will be an integral part of a fun and collaborative team! Our Program Coordinators are truly the face of our program and make a real difference in the lives of our students every year.

Specific Job Responsibilities Will Include All or Some of the Following (will vary by Region & School/Site)

1. Program Operations & Coordination
   • Ensure smooth program start-up, including school partnership logistics (relationships, space, scheduling, absences, referrals, permissions, matching pairs)
   • Facilitate and monitor reading sessions to ensure smooth operation of the program
   • If coordinating on-site, ensure hygiene/safety guidelines are followed and rooms are left clean and orderly
   • Provide volunteers with book ideas; maintain an organized and inviting book cart (on-site programs only)
   • Facilitate other activities or tasks as requested (e.g., supporting other schools)
2. Communication & Relationship Management
   • Communicate regularly with supervisor
   • Communicate with volunteer mentors: provide program updates, notify of student absences, and share schedule changes
   • Notify students, teachers, and potentially parents/guardians of volunteer mentor cancellations or schedule changes
   • Provide ongoing support and guidance to volunteer mentors, including general and case-specific advice (with supervisor input)
3. Data Management & Administrative Tasks
   • Document reading session attendance and participant information changes in the database
   • Collect mid-year and year-end surveys/assessments from mentors, students, and teachers
   • Submit timesheets accurately and on time
4. Volunteer Engagement & Support
   • Support volunteer recruitment efforts
   • Assist students in making thank-you cards for mentors
   • Plan and implement year-end celebration (as applicable)
5. Training & Professional Development
   • Attend required Program Coordinator training sessions and meetings
   • Participate in performance evaluation and goal-setting process
   • Interested Program Coordinators may be able to take on some Program Assistant roles (virtually or in person) at other schools

Essential Job Duties For In-Person Positions

This person working in this position will be in a school setting. It involves constant movement throughout the building and designated session areas, guiding students to their reading session. Depending on the school, this may require occasionally ascending/descending stairs. It also requires frequent positioning of books and/or program materials of various weights and sizes on a rolling book cart, as well as rolling the book cart to/from various locations within the school.

Key Qualifications

• Commitment to Read to a Child’s mission, viability and growth
• Experience working with young children
• Enthusiastic about children’s books, willingness to become familiar with the Read to a Child book collection
• Preferred - Experience managing volunteers
• Communicates well in person, virtually, on the telephone & via email
• Commitment to actively and continuously working toward achieving the organization’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion goals
• Extremely organized and adept at successfully managing multiple projects simultaneously and prioritizing according to the organization’s strategic plan -- with flexibility and a positive attitude
• Comfortable working with and hosting group video conference platforms (eg: Zoom and/or Google Meets)
• Proficiency working with various technological platforms: E-mail, Google Drive, word processing, spreadsheets, E-book sources, and some data entry
• Access to transportation

Read to a Child is committed to providing resources to children most impacted by systemic inequalities. We have faith in our students’ ability to thrive when they are provided with equitable resources and choose to focus on their strengths rather than the barriers they face. We are motivated to continuously act on our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion among reading mentors, staff, and board members so as to best reflect and support the students we serve.

Employee Leave, 401k, flexibility and countless non-monetary rewards