Singapore American School
Job Description
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST (TEMPORARY)
Our vision at SAS explains why we exist. We aspire to be a world leader in education, cultivating exceptional thinkers prepared for the future. We are committed to our mission that has been at the heart of our 65-year history: to provide each student an exemplary American educational experience with an international perspective.
If there is one thing we know about the future, it is that our students will graduate into a rapidly changing, increasingly global world where their success will depend to a large degree on their ability to learn new skills, take on new challenges, and work with a diverse range of people. We aim to build a strong sense of joy and purpose in learning among our students to enable them to do so.
We know that our students’ future success will depend on their ability to develop skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and cultural competence. And, it will depend on the quality of the moral character they develop. We seek to personalize learning for every child to meet their unique learning needs. We know that supporting them in their social-emotional growth is as important as their academic growth. And, we seek to stimulate that growth in a community as rich in equity and inclusion as it is in the extraordinary diversity of our students. Our ability to attract, retain, and develop diverse talented educators, working collaboratively in teams, is vital to our success.
We welcome your application if you would like to join us on this meaningful culturally responsive journey in cultivating exceptional thinkers prepared for the future.
Minimum Position Qualifications:
- Education Specialist (Ed.S), advanced certification, and/or Doctorate Degree as a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, clinical psychologist, or licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) or equivalent
- State and/or national certification as a school psychologist (National School Psychology Certification Board - NCSP - or equivalent) and/or licensure in clinical social work
- Successful experience as a school psychologist, clinical psychologist or social worker, and/or mental health professional
- Minimum 3 years successful professional experience working in complex, high achieving public or private high school(s).
SAS is committed to providing each student with an exemplary American education with an international perspective. We are seeking faculty and staff who wish to collaborate, innovate, and make a caring, positive difference within the SAS community.
Specific Roles and Responsibilities:
Social Emotional
- Collaborate and lead, when applicable, on crisis management across a range of scenarios from individual to whole school with school leadership and/or school counselors
- Collaborate with teachers, parents, counselors and administrators to support student social-emotional learning.
- Identify resources and coordinate services with other professionals and/or agencies to address students’ behavioral, academic, or social needs.
Learning
- Aid in determination of eligibility for support services including administering and interpreting psychological-educational evaluations as needed for the purpose of identifying specific learning needs, including areas of strength and weakness that may be linked to targeted intervention strategies.
- Clearly communicate, both orally and in evaluation reports, assessment results to parents, students and faculty.
- Collaborate with teachers, parents, counselors and administrators to find effective strategies to support student learning, behavior, and mental health.
- Assist in the design and implementation of interventions linked to a wide variety of student needs.
- Become familiar with the SAS curricular benchmarks and academic expectations to evaluate student concerns in context of the learning environment and expectations.
- Collaborate with teachers and counselors to conduct functional behavior assessments and link to targeted behavioral supports for students.
- Promote data-driven procedures and evidence based practices to evaluate effectiveness of programs and services.
- Lead progress monitoring of individual and division-wide student progress in academics and behavior.
- Generate, interpret and share useful student and school outcome (learning and behavior) data and evidence.
- Contribute to school-wide initiatives to analyze, improve, and streamline support services procedures. This includes leadership and participation in developing an MTSS process.
- Participate in a Professional Learning Community with SAS psychologists and/or learning support teachers.
Professional
- Adhere to standards of professional practice in the delivery of school psychological services.
- Uphold ethical standards in the absence of relevant laws and policies that govern practice as evidenced in the National Association of School Psychologists Practice Model.
- Participate in professional organizations and maintain credentials.
- Continually seek to improve professional knowledge and skill and remain current in best practice procedures in the field of school psychology.
Other Responsibilities
- Engage with the administration in a committed effort to improve one’s own skills
- Openly support and abide by all school policies and procedures
- Model the ‘Core Values’ in your interactions with the school community
- Liaise with the Principal, taking on tasks as assigned, including all school goals
Personal
- Demonstrate commitment to personal continuous professional growth and development
- Continue involvement with students in various capacities
- Develop and maintain effective working relationships
- Represent SAS with students, parents, staff, and broader school community in a professional manner
- Exhibit a professional attitude toward criticism
- Recognize and strengthen personal performance through self analysis of actions, participating in professional development activities, exploring educational research, participating in professional organizations, and through formal renewal programs
In addition to the above school-wide expectations, SAS has developed division faculty profiles to provide the greatest opportunity for the best match between our school needs and faculty strengths in order to be able to deliver an exemplary educational program for all students at each division. We encourage your thoughtful reflection on the following faculty profile for the High School in determining whether your strengths provide a good match with the SAS division programs and expectations.
- Collaborate with other teachers in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) that are focused on the four questions of PLC work, building clarity, consistency and coherence among team members for improved learning for ALL students
- Contribute to our commitment to Extraordinary Care by acting as an advisor for a small group of students and by teaching our advisory program
- Actively contribute to our house system
- Positively contribute to school culture through support and sponsorship of school activities
- Demonstrate an understanding of multi-tiered systems of support and other high-impact intervention strategies
- Differentiate instruction and assessment based on student abilities, interests, learning styles, and diverse cultural backgrounds
- Demonstrate a passion for learning and actively strive for self improvement as a life-long learner
- Integrate technology in innovative ways in daily instruction/intervention
Terms of Employment
Salary and benefits shall be paid consistent with the SAS approved compensation plan for Teachers.
