Marin Conservation Corps

Education and Training Program Director

Program Description: The Marin Conservation Corps (MCC) is a local non-profit job training, education and development program serving youth and adults ages 11-30. MCC assists young adults in the development of basic job competencies and qualifying work experience for employment in a wide variety of fields. Participants work on crews implementing projects in natural resource conservation, ecological restoration, recycling, service learning projects with children, and public land beautification in Marin County. MCC helps corpsmembers to enhance their academic and vocational abilities and assists them in formulating and progressing toward their long-term employment and educational goals.

The Education and Training Program Director is responsible for the management and oversight of all of MCC's Education Programs, including the site administration of MCC's Charter School and the implementation of external service-learning programs through the AmeriCorps Environmental Restoration Program . The Director will work under the direction of the Deputy Director and in collaboration with and an ad hoc committee to develop a long-term plan for enhancing and maintaining the quality of MCC's educational and AmeriCorps programs. Committee members will define and implement a long-term plan to provide academically integrated field training and educational programs to corpsmembers. S/he is responsible for day-to-day coordination of all aspects of the Marin Conservation Corps' Education Programs including charter school high school diploma and ESL programs, college level courses, internships, and an Environmental Service and Leadership Academy. Additionally, this position reports to the Muir Charter School Executive Director for implementation of charter school requirements and activities. The Education and Training Program Director hires and supervises teachers and other staff members for the Education Department. Hiring for JMCS teachers is done concurrently with JMCS Executive Director and Nevada County Superintendent of Schools Human Resources Department.

MCC's educational programs are rooted in project-based learning and service-learning methodologies and principles. The Education and Training Program Director will demonstrate knowledge of these principles and a commitment to integrate these principles throughout MCC's educational programs. The Program Director is responsible for enrolling corpsmembers in appropriate educational programs to meet their individual education needs and career goals. Corpsmembers' educational backgrounds range from no high school diploma and/or limited English skills to college graduates.

Job Description:

Job Type: YearRound
Hours: Full time
Program Type: Non-Residential

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Education and Training Program Director is responsible for both long-range program planning and daily oversight of MCC's programs at the operational level. The Director will work with a policy and program development planning committee; s/he will support daily staff and corpsmember needs related to field-based and in-house educational activities.

Overall Planning
The ad hoc committee will include MCC's Deputy Director and some or all of the following: one or more MCC Board members, an external consultant, external advisors and other stakeholders. S/he will facilitate this planning process by working with the Deputy Director and committee members to:

• Schedule meetings and organize notes
• Provide background research and information
• Organize and participate in meetings with outside partners and stakeholders

Daily Activities
In regards to overseeing the day-to-day activities of the existing programs, the Education Program Director has the following responsibilities:

Charter School: The Education Program Director is the main liaison between the Muir Charter School Executive Director and the MCC students and teachers, and˜with support from the Charter School Lead Teacher˜actively engages in understanding, implementing and communicating the charter's educational program to students and personnel at the MCC site. S/He ensures that students are given the instruction necessary to develop the educational competencies for completion of their high school diploma in accordance with the current California State standards and framework. S/he chooses, develops and evaluates educational classes and programs for successful student learning. The Education Program Director will:

• Keep apprised of recent updates and ensure teachers are familiar with, understand and abide by all JMCS adopted and amended policies and procedures.
• Work with teachers and outside resources to develop a curriculum using project-based learning principles, schedule instruction and classes, provide direct instruction as needed and analyze situations to extract potential areas of academic learning.
• Advise and counsel students about educational opportunities, provide appropriate instruction for academic progress and evaluate individual progress toward graduation requirements.
• Understand learning styles, learning disabilities, pedagogies, assessment techniques and intelligences.
• Understand cognitive skills acquisition and how to support this process.
• Develop ongoing evaluation systems for curriculum and student comprehension..
• Proficient in the use of appropriate computer technology as needed to support teacher/student mastery of the school's computer literacy standards.
• Work cooperatively with project personnel in the development of project-based learning opportunities.
• Understand the emotional/social world of the students; develop and incorporate appropriate instructional support systems as needed.
• Complete and submit all required paperwork and documentation for each student as required.
• Attend appropriate LCC/Muir staff meetings, in-services and meetings with Muir's Executive Director.
• Participate in staff/student evaluation and disciplinary procedures.
• Monitor teacher credentials for current status.

AmeriCorps Environmental Restoration Program:
The mission of the AmeriCorps Environmental Restoration Program (ER Program) is to help youth and adults develop an ethic of environmental stewardship and appreciation for Marin's local parks and public lands through environmental education in schools and service-learning projects that restore habitat, while providing meaningful training opportunities to AmeriCorps members. A continuing goal of the Environmental Restoration Program will be to assist community partners in developing strategies for successfully engaging the interest and participation of the Bay Area's diverse, multi-cultural community in caring for our various sensitive urban and open space ecosystems.

The Education and Training Program Director oversees an AmeriCorps Coordinator and two Supervisory staff who recruit and train 20 AmeriCorps members each year serving on either the Restoration and Environmental Management (REM) crew or the Youth in Environmental Service (YES) crew. Members are placed at sites ranging from agencies with wide responsibilities for land management such as the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, to grassroots youth and environmental groups such as Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed (STRAW), and to middle and high schools in underserved areas of Marin County. All members will have roles aimed at generating volunteers for their placement sites. In the summer, 8 YES members play a leadership role in Project ReGeneration, a summer environmental service-learning program of the Marin Conservation Corps. The Education and Training Program Director:

• Provides direction to the training coordinator of MCC's Leadership in Environmental Service Academy and to the AmeriCorps staff to ensure a high quality training experience for the 20+ corpsmembers enrolled in this training opportunity.
• Supervises the AmeriCorps Coordinator to ensure that program performance measures are achieved and reported upon by the AmeriCorps deadlines.
• Works with the AmeriCorps staff to ensure that sound pedagogy and teaching methodologies are employed by AmeriCorps members serving in Marin's K-12 Schools.
• Facilitates the sharing of best-practices and program elements between MCC's AmeriCorps program and the JMCS program

English-as-a-Second-Language: The Education Program Director oversees educational programs for all English Language Learner (ELL) corpsmembers.. English acquisition must be incorporated into all subjects for ELL students who are enrolled in the charter school. S/he ensures ELL corpsmembers are provided with educational programs designed to enable them to progress toward high school graduation and/or their career and educational goals. The Education Program Director:

• Identifies and develops ESL curriculum maximizing the students' English acquisition.
• Hires, supervises and evaluates qualified ESL teachers.
• Works with teachers and field supervisors ensuring that English acquisition is integrated into field projects.
• Monitors the progress of ELL students using a standardized tool to assess the student's English level.

Post High School Curriculum: Formal education is a required part of every corpsmember's experience at Marin Conservation Corps. The Education Program Director is responsible for making sure that all corpsmembers have an educational program appropriate for their level of education and career goals. Some of these programs are provided by MCC; in some cases, other educational institutions provide the best program for certain corpsmembers. S/He builds relationships with other education providers to ensure the best program for MCC's corpsmembers. The Education Program Director:

• Develops an individual education plan for post high school corpsmembers.
• Designs and implements educational programs related to the students' field experience, ensuring these programs are at an appropriate post-high school level.
• Monitors and assists corpsmembers and staff members who, as part of their field experience, are developing educational curriculum that they will deliver to schools or other groups.
• Forges strong relationships with other education providers such as colleges, universities and trade schools in order to facilitate MCC's corpsmembers admission and successful completion of classes.
• Develops appropriate internships for corpsmembers giving them exposure and experience in fields related to their career goals.

Qualifications:
EXPERIENCE:
The successful candidate for the Education and Training Program Director will have:

• Experience supervising and leading staff in educational and/or environmental programming
• At least 5 years teaching and/or administrative experience in an educational environment, and a proven ability to devise and implement innovative educational programs.
• A strong background in curriculum development and implementation and be familiar with current trends and reliable methods for teaching basic skills and ESL.
• Demonstrated skills and successful experience working with young adults from a wide variety of social, economic and educational backgrounds.
• A background in environmental and/or scientific curriculum content or coordinating environmental or outdoor education programs
• A CA driver's license with a clean DMV record, and the ability to pass a drug screen, TB test and fingerprint clearance.

EDUCATION
A valid California K-12 teaching credential including ELD authorization, or have an application in process with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), or meet the requirements as listed by the CTC including a baccalaureate degree or higher (education, environmental science/studies, community studies, other social science field) from an accredited college/university, passage of CBEST, subject matter competence (exam or appropriate units) and be prepared to obtain a valid California teaching credential.

Salary: DOE
Benefits: Full
Medical: yes
Dental: yes
Vision: yes

Deadline: Open until filled
Available: Start date negotiable, but prefer ASAP
Procedure: See website, or submit a resume and cover letter either by fax, direct mail, or e-mail

Contact Name: Recruiter
Contact Address: 27 Larkspur Street, San Rafael, CA 94901
Contact Telephone: (415) 454-4554
Contact Fax: (415) 454-4595
Contact Email:
Contact Website: www.marincc.org