Senior House Parent

Senior House Parent
Reports to: Dean of Residential Life

The Senior House Parent oversees the social, emotional, physical, and educational well-being of the students residing in their residence. They create a safe and happy community within their residence by being a caring and consistent senior advisory presence in the everyday life of their students. The significant level of care and responsibility of this role aligns with the mindset of professional parenting. The Senior House Parent is responsible for setting and maintaining high standards in the contribution to and implementation of a comprehensive student life program, comprised of a thorough system of support, accountability, and education that ensures the well-being of students during their attendance at the school. This role also provides guidance, models best practice and upholds high expectations and standards for the Residential Life Team. The Senior House Parent undertakes all duties and responsibilities of a House Parent with significant additional responsibilities, which are outlined below. Together as a team, the Senior House Parents play a key role in supporting the school’s global mission. We safeguard trust with a real family feel that makes our school a home away from home.

Professional Qualifications and Qualities:

• Bachelor's degree preferred;
• Experience in a residential setting strongly preferred;
• 5+ years of experience working in child development with adolescents in an educational, residential or care-taking setting;
• Desire to work with young people to support their well-being, growth and development;
• Commitment to making a positive impact on the lives of adolescents and willingness to embrace the opportunities of the boarding school environment;
• Superior organizational, communication, and decision-making skills including attention to detail, the ability to manage multiple tasks under pressure, and in a timely manner;
• Prior global or international education and experience with diversity, inclusion, and social and restorative justice initiatives;
• Ability to administer policies fairly and consistently;
• Excellent interpersonal skills including a demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and communicate effectively with diverse constituencies including students, faculty, administrators, and parents;
• Ability and desire to work during hours when students are not in class, including early mornings, evenings and weekends;
• Be a motivated and flexible team player that is ready to work towards the good of the community;

Senior House Parent Key Responsibilities are highlighted in bold.

Key Responsibilities in each domain:

Committed Caretakers
We take our responsibility of ‘in loco parentis’ very seriously. When students are in our care, they are the most important thing in the world. Every interaction with them should come from the heart.

• Be responsible for nurturing a community of approximately 30 boarding students and 5-10 day students in grades 9 – 12.
• Continuously monitor the well-being of students, through checking-in and meeting with students regularly;
• Ensure students are awake each morning, on time for class on school days, encourage participation in

clubs and activities, monitor evening study halls and do all required check ins when on duty;

• Proactively be alert to indicators of potential child protection or well-being issues and report these immediately in accordance with the school’s procedure;
• Help students to reflect on and grow from their decisions and, when necessary, liaise with the Deans and Health Center Team regarding disciplinary issues and well-being concerns;
• Ensure students’ welfare is maintained through regular room checks;
• Collaborate with other faculty and staff as part of each student’s support network.
• Keep up-to-date about students’ academic accomplishments and challenges, as well as changes in mental and physical well-being, through using the student information system. Record regular logs in the system to update parents and other departments as to the well-being and progress of students as community members;
• Ensure that campus is supervised to a safe level and re-assign staff on duty as appropriate, if there is a need for student support in a particular area;
• Take responsibility for student safety and ensure all protocols are adhered to, as stated in the Student Handbook and school policies.
• Support students in healthy living and hygiene routines, ensuring cleanliness, good order and adherence to the student code of conduct, escalating issues as appropriate;
• Collaborate with colleagues, on-call staff and senior leaders to help resolve emergency situations, such as missing students and/or students in distress, both on and off campus; Contribute to supervisory rotations as the Senior House Parent on duty, which includes 24 hour on-call and collaborative crisis management in emergencies;
• Prioritize student safety by checking and approving students’ off-campus travel plans and passes, using the school information system, throughout the academic year;
• Provide care and support for students who are unwell, including accompanying them to medical appointments and assist with all health protocols;
• Create intentional room mate groups by seasonally allocating students to rooms using our student survey. Facilitate student room change requests, maintenance issues, incoming student preparation and other duties related to student accommodation;
• Embrace responsibilities as a trained Mental Health First Aider and Medication Administrator to support student well-being.

Relationship Builders
We offer our students a second home. They join an extended family that cares for them, nurtures them and encourages them to become their best selves.

• Lead in modelling relationship building and committed care-taking with all members of our community;
• Contribute to a caring and student-centered approach to our residential community, working closely with the Residential Life Team to ensure that all students feel known and included;
• Create and implement ways to include Day Students in community building on campus;
• Make our Day Students feel welcome, known and cared for through intentional and authentic interactions;
• Ensure that staff and faculty on duty are focused on supporting students, building relationships and ensuring student safety, and that all required elements of student supervision, support and protocols are adhered to in a consistent way;
• Hold individual meetings with students on a weekly basis and in small groups to check-in on their well-being;
• Get to know and understand students by spending time with them, celebrating their accomplishments, encouraging them through challenges and providing emotional support;
• Act as a liaison to faculty and staff to form an up-to-date picture of student development, progress and wellbeing, and advocate for students as appropriate and when requested;
• Foster positive relationships with the parents/guardians of all students in your assigned community group, updating them and their relevant home offices on a regular basis, communicating any concerns and helping to celebrate successes;
• Implement regular content rich communication to parents which promotes the life of our boarding community and focuses on the individual student;
• Plan and implement regular corridor community activities that create a family feel with students, such as baking cookies, making a meal together, playing games, watching a movie or tv show;
• Plan the effective use of a small budget for student life community-building and activities in the dorm;
• Contribute to community-building through student welcome, arrival and departure days;
• Lead Hall Meetings with students at the allocated times to develop positive and supportive connections with students to create a campus ‘family network’;
• Participate in and attend school events to support students and develop our sense of community;
• Maintain a proactive approach in the retention of students by ensuring they feel supported through collaboration with parents and EF Academy staff;
• Meet with newly admitted students to welcome, evaluate and support their transition to our school;
• Collaborate with faculty and staff across all EF Academy campuses to expand our sense of being a truly global community through our Global House Cup Competition.

Inspiring Educators
Create meaningful and intentional learning opportunities through residential life programming for students to learn how to be proactive and self-reflective in managing their well-being, developing their independence, and engaging in the community.

• Motivate peers to exceed the students’ expectations and provide an optimum student experience;
• Lead on and collaborate with relevant faculty and staff on the creation and implementation of Residential Life wellness programming to create an impactful, supportive learning experience beyond the classroom. This will focus on key competencies in alignment with our competency-based learning approach;
• Be a reliable and consistent trusted adult by setting and maintaining key routines with students, such as supporting them with time management and executive function skills. This includes helping students to manage their homework routine;
• Highlight students’ areas of strength and growth through individual formal written reports at four key points across the academic year around our community values for your cohort of students;
• Educate students regarding self-management and behavior expectations and apply the school discipline policy in a consistent and fair way, focusing on the value of restorative justice practices. Take a proactive approach to conflict resolution to prevent escalation as much as possible;
• Lead the appointment and training of Boarding Student Leaders each year;
• Contribute to induction and orientation training for new Residential Life staff and students as appropriate;
• Lead the training of Residential Faculty and Staff when they are supporting residential duties in the dorm;
• Thoughtfully reflect on practice via the professional portfolio process annually.

Courageous Innovators
Be brave in collaborating with others to implement exciting and creative opportunities for students to develop their cultural competency.

• Build hall spirit through planned hall events, activities and the celebration of different cultures;
• Play a key role in creating a school-wide culture which places the safety, well-being and happiness of its students at the forefront;
• Encourage and incorporate student voice and leadership into hall meetings and decision-making processes;
• Participate in professional learning opportunities offered by the school.

In keeping with the nature of this role in creating a home away from home, other duties may be assigned as required.

Working Hours:
This is an exempt, salaried position and the employee will be required to work outside of and in addition to regular business hours. This may involve covering staff absence, attending and supporting at events, activities and during busy periods. Hours will be mostly early mornings, evenings and will include weekends. Overnight on-call duty will be on rotation. Part of working holidays during the school year is compensated with the long summer break.

This is a residential role, which means accommodation is provided on campus for 12 months of the year. Working and living on campus provides mutual benefit to the employee and the school. In exchange for room and board during the full academic year (including move in, induction, and move out), we expect all team members to be active and flexible participants in our residential community. Please review the details below to ensure that you are willing and able to meet these expectations, understanding that serving the needs of students, immediate or otherwise, is the role of all staff members working as a team:

1. Supervise and assist students and participate in activities during student Welcome Days at the start of the academic year and subsequent student Arrival/Departure Days;
2. Lead, co-ordinate or support at least one after-school club/activity (including sports) during the week as part of the standard working day;
3. Provide support through being on-call on rotation across evenings and weekends;
4. Be available to work on any inclement weather days, which may occur at short notice.

Public Holidays:
Holidays falling within the academic year require staffing to assist and care for our students. You will be expected to be available to work on a minimum of three of the five Public Holidays, which may involve supervision of students on campus and participation in organized activities or excursions. The work expectations across the five holidays are listed below.

• All Hands On Deck for Labor Day (ALL faculty and staff work at least one day on Labor Day weekend);
• At least 2 days across the Thanksgiving 4-day weekend;
• At least two of the following three additional public holidays will be required work days: Indigenous People’s Day; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; and President’s Day.

Exempt Salary: $64,480 / year

About EF Education First