Dean of Students, New York, NY (on-site)
Salary Range: $55,000 - $70,000
Reports to: Director Student Culture
The School
As New York City's only charter high school that is both a transfer school and a fully embedded community school in partnership with The Door. BSA serves over-age, under-credited students who deserve rigorous academic pathways alongside comprehensive wraparound support. The Director of Operations will serve as the strategic architect of our non-academic functions. This leader will design, oversee, and optimize the critical compliance, facility, logistical, financial, and purchasing systems that power BSA, while managing the operations team to ensure a seamless, high-service experience
The Moment
BSA stands at a pivotal inflection point and is focused on resetting academic expectations. We are in an active turnaround phase focused on stabilization, systems-building, and cultural reset. Our Dean of Students will be a vital driver of this cultural transformation, moving our student body away from reactive discipline and toward a proactive, stable environment rooted in high expectations, mutual respect, and reliable daily routines.
The Opportunity
BSA's Dean of Students will have the opportunity to:
- Protect. Establish and uphold a culture where emotional and physical school safety is the absolute priority, ensuring the building remains a secure, predictable sanctuary for learning.
- Restore. Institutionalize transformative restorative practices as the foundational first step in student consequences, shifting the discipline paradigm toward learning, accountability, and community repair.
- Champion. Serve as an unwavering advocate and mentor for youth from historically marginalized backgrounds, ensuring school-wide systems actively honor their lived experiences and address their unique needs.
- Stabilize. Partner closely with the Director of Student Culture to implement clear, reliable, and consistent school-wide behavior trackers and cultural interventions that eliminate daily disruptions.
Core Responsibilities
School Safety & Crisis Response
- Maintain a constant, highly visible presence throughout the building (corridors, cafeteria, entry/dismissal) to proactively ensure physical and emotional safety.
- Lead rapid, de-escalation focused responses to student crises, ensuring all situations are resolved with dignity, speed, and strict adherence to safety protocols.
- Collaborate with the operations team to monitor building security and execute mandatory emergency safety readiness drills.
Restorative Practices & Behavior Interventions
- Design and facilitate restorative circles, mediation sessions, and reentry plans as the mandatory first line of intervention following community infractions.
- Manage a transparent, progressive discipline system that balances clear boundaries with supportive, reflective consequences.
- Maintain accurate, real-time documentation of behavior incidents, interventions, and restorative outcomes within the school's data tracking software.
Youth Mentorship & Family Partnership
- Build deep, trauma-informed relationships with a targeted caseload of students, providing consistent accountability and culturally responsive check-ins.
- Engage families proactively regarding student behavior and cultural growth, treating parents and guardians as vital partners in the restorative process.
- Collaborate with social workers, counselors, and staff from The Door to seamlessly bridge community wraparound supports with school-day behavior plans.
What Success Looks Like in 3 Years
- Cultivated an unshakeable environment of safety across the building, reflected in a drastic, year-over-year reduction in major behavioral disruptions.
- Successfully institutionalized restorative practices so that they are universally understood and respected by staff and students as the standard starting point for accountability.
- Engineered a notable measurable decline in student suspension rates while simultaneously increasing student-led conflict resolution and community repair.
- Built strong, trusting alliances with BSA families, turning historically difficult disciplinary conversations into collaborative, growth-oriented partnerships.
Qualifications and Professional Requirements
Required
- A Bachelor's degree (4-year degree) from an accredited college or university.
- A proven track record of deep success working directly with youth from historically marginalized backgrounds, transfer-school student populations, or court-involved youth.
- A profound, demonstrable understanding of restorative justice principles and experience implementing restorative circles or mediations in a school or community setting.
- Exceptional crisis-management and de-escalation skills, with the ability to maintain a calm, authoritative, and reassuring presence under pressure.
- Strong interpersonal skills, with an organic ability to command respect while maintaining an approachable, empathetic relationship with high school students.
Preferred
Prior experience in a turnaround school model or an urban charter school undergoing a significant cultural reset.
Bilingual communication skills (e.g., Spanish/English) to ensure equitable communication with all families.
Familiarity with trauma-informed care and positive behavioral interventions and supports