Dean of Students

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