Website San Francisco Waldorf School
College Admission
Waldorf Education is the fastest growing independent school movement in the world. This dynamic, 100-year-old approach to child development and education—based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner—is continually reinventing itself to meet the needs of current students. Waldorf education inspires life-long learning in students and enables them to fully develop their unique capacities.
The San Francisco Waldorf School (SFWS) was founded in 1979 and serves more than 475 students across a parent-child program, a nursery program, kindergarten, and the first through twelfth grades. Our grade school campus (nursery through eighth grade) is located in a quiet residential area of Pacific Heights. The high school campus is located across town in the West Portal neighborhood.
The San Francisco Waldorf School hires dedicated and highly capable faculty and staff; many are current or former parents of students in the school, and all develop a deep connection to Waldorf education and our unique school in San Francisco. SFWS employees are a committed group of free, responsible adults who bring our best individual selves to our work. We invest in our learning and growth to best serve the needs of our students, our teachers, and each other.
Summary:
We seek an inspiring, committed, and organized counselor to lead and expand our program. The College Counselor independently directs and executes the work of the office. The counselor reports to the High School Chair, and collaborates closely with the Chair, registrar, and many faculty members. The counselor is solely responsible for administering all aspects of the college search and admissions process, including the following:
Key responsibilities:
● Educating students and parents about colleges, the college admissions process, trends, procedures, and testing; advising and supporting classes of approximately 40 seniors and families as they go through the process; and helping students and families aspire realistically and choose wisely.
● Facilitating student and parent engagement with the SCOIR college application system.
● Meeting with juniors and seniors, individually and in groups, to talk about processes and individual college choices. The College Counselor also is available to advise 9th and 10th graders on curricular choices, as needed.
● Setting up meetings for our students with college admissions representatives who visit our campus in person and virtually and facilitating meetings between college representatives and our students. The College Counselor also serves as a liaison with College admissions offices throughout the year.
● Compiling an annual Profile of the School in collaboration with the Registrar, as well as information on grade distributions in junior and senior courses and other courses offered at our school[1] .
● Working with the Registrar to maintain records on seniors, including GPAs and transcripts, as well as submitting new courses and updating existing courses for University of California approval when needed.
● Conducting workshops for students on the University of California and California State University applications as well as the Common Application.
● Holding evening informational meetings for parents of sophomores, juniors, and seniors, including a Financial Aid Night.
● Writing an official school recommendation for each senior. To do so, the Counselor gathers information from parents, teachers, school records, and students themselves. The College Counselor also completes, via Scoir, all School Report and Mid-year Report forms requested by colleges, including evaluations of students if needed.
● Administering the College Counseling Office budget and purchasing, maintaining, and sharing information on colleges, college guides, scholarships, financial aid, and paying for college.
● Keeping track of college admission news, decisions, statistics, and reporting the information via the weekly newsletter and to the Board of Trustees.
● Being aware of issues and trends in college admissions, higher education, testing, as well as keeping up-to-date about specific colleges and maintaining membership in professional organizations: The Western Association for College Admission Counseling (WACAC), the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), BAISCC (the Bay Area Independent School College Counselors). Attending BAISCC meetings, WACAC and NACAC conferences, and UC, CSU and other workshops and events as well as visiting college campuses to stay current on trends and new developments in the field.
● Maintaining and disseminating information about standardized tests such as SAT, ACT, organizing the administration of PSAT, Pre-ACT exams, and any AP exams.
● Collaborating with the Educational Support Coordinator regarding students who should apply for accommodations to the College Board and ACT.
● Advising the High School Admissions Director, as needed, regarding the academic qualifications or deficits of students applying for admission to the high school. Supporting the HS Admissions process by attending information sessions and Open House events to discuss the College Counseling program.
Qualifications and Experience:
Necessary skills include excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong organizational ability, database, and other computer skills, the ability to meet deadlines and experience in college admissions and/or high school college counseling. The ideal candidate will have strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills; familiarity with the goals, objectives, and mission of an independent high school; the ability to respond effectively to the needs of a diverse and demanding student and parent population; knowledge of colleges, their academic programs, admission policies, and financial policies and procedures.
Benefits and Compensation:
This is a 1 FTE position, with full benefits including medical, dental, flexible spending plans, retirement plan (employer contributions and matching after one year), and tuition remission for eligible dependents in our N-12 program. Salaries are paid on a 12-month schedule.
Physical Requirements and Work Environment:
· Ability to read information on a computer screen or laptop for extended periods of time
· Ability to sit, stand and/or move around the applicable working environment as needed
FLSA Classification: Staff; Exempt
Reports to: High School Chair
Date Revised: March 2022
San Francisco Waldorf School is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, or any protected class. We recognize that the range of ethnicities, nationalities, languages, socio-economic backgrounds, sexual orientation, learning differences, and life experiences within our community enhance the school’s learning environment, and we are committed to fostering equity and inclusion.
Please send resume and letter of interest to jobs@sfwaldorf.org
