International & Off Campus Learning Coordinator

Chinese American International School

seeks a full-time

International & Off Campus Learning Coordinator

to begin August 1, 2019

www.cais.org

OPPORTUNITY         

Bring your passion and experience for travel, education, and Chinese language and culture to lead our International Program, unique among Pre-K through eighth grade schools in the U.S. As a part of the vibrant community at the Chinese American International

School, you will work with students in fifth through eighth grade as a vital member of a team striving to be the world’s most innovative, inspiring, and influential Chinese English dual-language immersion school.

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM DETAILS

As the oldest independent Chinese English dual language immersion school in the U.S., CAIS strives to cultivate a community of people who live the school’s mission: “Embrace Chinese, become your best self, create your place in the world.” An important aspect of the school’s vision is to produce students who will function competently, comfortably and confidently in Greater China. We believe that classroom experiences alone are not enough; in order to achieve this vision, students must spend significant time living and learning in country. Additionally, the school hosts students on short term visits from Greater China who stay with CAIS families and engage in activities at school and in the San Francisco Bay Area. We also send faculty to China for enrichment activities. In January 2014, the CAIS board of trustees launched an ambitious strategic vision stating, “CAIS graduates and families have significant, authentic experiences and connections with people in the Greater China Cultural Region.”

This vision is reflected in the importance we place on our international program, which are integral to the CAIS curriculum. The school’s operating budget and adjusted tuition program allows all students access to the programs regardless of their families’ financial circumstances. At present, the school operates the following international programs:

Fifth Grade Taiwan Exchange

Fifth grade students have the opportunity to participate in exchange trips to Taipei for two weeks during the spring. CAIS students live with their host families for two weeks and their “buddies” also come to San Francisco to live with their American friends from CAIS. Students benefit from a unique immersion experience and form new friendships as they travel, study and relax together, teach one another the differences and similarities between their worlds.

Seventh Grade CAIS Guilin Academy

CAIS Guilin Academy is a structured, three-week academic program for all CAIS seventh grade students that runs in the spring in partnership with the Chinese Language Institute (CLI) in Guilin, Guangxi province. All seventh grade students spend three weeks in Guilin studying Chinese and putting what they learn into practice during the three-week course that includes intensive language in the morning, project based fieldwork in the afternoons, and homestays with local families in the evenings and weekends. This program is fully funded for all seventh graders through CAIS’s operating budget.

Eighth Grade Experiential Learning Adventure

Eighth grade students travel to more remote parts of mainland China to participate in two weeks of service learning opportunities. In spring, 2019 CAIS eighth graders will travel to northern Yunnan Province.

China Faculty Institute

The school has secured funding from the community to send teachers and staff to China each summer. CAIS faculty cohorts have traveled to China’s Yunnan province for two weeks and to Taipei, Taiwan for nine days. Additionally, CAIS awards travel-learning grants to individuals and small groups of faculty who have submitted proposals to a faculty committee for approval.

BENEFITS         

The CAIS Board of Trustees and administration are expressly dedicated to ensuring that CAIS is a great place to work. As a critical component of our strategic vision, the school has committed to attracting, developing, retaining, and rewarding top-tier faculty and excellent educators with a benefits package including:

•   Salary scale benchmarked to the Bay Area’s competitive standards
•   Robust opportunities for professional development, support, and growth
•   Comprehensive insurance package (covering 100% of premiums for individual employee)
•   Consideration for relocation
•   Down payment assistance for home purchase
•   Below-Market Rental process assistance
•   Realtor services provided for rental search

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

The International & Off Campus Learning Coordinator is responsible for the management, coordination, and execution of all areas of CAIS’s International Programs to promote student learning and ensure consistency with the School’s mission, vision, strategies and values. The coordinator will work closely on a team including the Chinese Program Director and the Chinese Content and Technology Specialist to integrate international programs, curriculum and technology in ways that enhance language and cultural learning. The Coordinator will also work with a team to design an alternative curriculum for students choosing not participating in off campus

programs. Additionally, the coordinator will have the support of four part-time assistant coordinators who are Chinese speaking classroom faculty members and also serve as lead chaperones on trips.

The coordinator will be expected to play a limited Middle School faculty role which may include student advisory, club leadership or occasion “passion project” mini-courses. The specific responsibilities will depend upon skills interest and experience.

There is also the opportunity, depending upon skills, experience and interest, to play a leading role in the Middle School’s outdoor education programs.

SPECIFIC DUTIES         

Specific Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Program Design and Implementation

•   Overall responsibility for maintaining and improving existing outbound and inbound programs
•   Pre departure education and orientation for students, parents and faculty
•   Coordination with partner organizations to arrange home stays for both outbound and inbound students
•   Coordination of all program calendars and schedules with partners
•   Transportation arrangements
•   Obtaining visas for all outbound program participants
•   Coordination with partner organizations on arrangement of accommodations for faculty and trip leaders
•   Recruitment of summer inbound program staff; ensuring quality of curriculum, instruction and activities
•   Trip leadership, recruitment and training of leaders for programs in which you do not participate
•   Development, maintenance and improvement of safety, health and emergency guidelines and protocols
•   Supervision of and collaboration with the part-time assistant program coordinators in administering the above responsibilities
•   Annual debriefing and assessing program effectiveness

Curriculum

•   Periodic review and revision of international program objectives, including language objectives; ensuring programs are consistent with mission, vision and objective
•   Remaining current in the field of global education
•   Collection, analysis and application of post trip data from students and parents for program improvement
•   Collaboration with team including Chinese Program Director, Chinese Content and Technology Specialist and, from time to time, other faculty and administration to ensure integration of international programs, technology and curriculum to achieve language, cultural and other learning objectives
•   Collaborate with a team of faculty and administrators to provide an alternative curriculum for students choosing not to participate in an international program

Safety and Risk Management

•   Working with Director of Finance and Operations and outside experts to ensure best safety practices; occasional safety audits
•   Ensuring students meet guidelines for participation in off-campus programs
•   Maintenance of manuals, handbooks, waivers, releases and other forms
•   Ensuring all program participants are properly insured
•   Training assistant program coordinators leaders, coordination with divisions and HR

 

Communication

•   Maintaining appropriate communication with parents and school during trips
•   Collaboration with the Director of Communication to ensure understanding of program opportunities and benefits among parent and external community

Finance

•   Creation and management of program budgets with the assistance of Director of Finance and Operations
•   Determination program fee and payment schedules
•   Coordination of adjusted tuition cases with Head of School and DFO

 

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

•   Native or near native English language proficiency
•   High level of proficiency in Mandarin Chinese (reading, writing, and speaking)
•   Significant experience in developing and coordinating educational travel programs
•   Ability to develop and maintain program budgets
•   Ability to collaborate with a diverse population
•   Excellent presentational, interpersonal and written communication skills
•   Computer proficiency in MS Office and G Suite
•   Living and/or extensive travel experience in Greater China
•   Bachelor’s degree or higher in related field (e.g., Education, Chinese, East Asian Studies, etc.)
•   Active support of the school’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion

 

VALUED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

•   Ability to develop relationships with overseas education and travel organizations
•   Ability to organize and manage multiple projects simultaneously
•   Goal oriented – drive to see projects through to successful execution
•   Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
•   Ability to think ahead and plan over a 1-2 year span
•   Commitment to CAIS mission, values and vision
•   Ability to work closely with and collaborate with others
•   Ability to remain calm and rational while under stress

 

ABOUT CAIS         

As the nation’s first dual language Chinese and English Pre-K through 8th grade school, CAIS embodies the mission by working continuously to maintain our role as a leader in immersion education. At CAIS we value honest self assessment, thoughtful self reflection, intentional planning and focused implementation. We are known as an ambitious school, and in recent years we have introduced and implemented a number of significant initiatives in the areas of overseas programing, student support services, systematic assessment in Chinese, reading and writing workshop across languages, educational technology, integrated curriculum units across subjects and languages, the arts, diversity equity and inclusion, and daily scheduled team collaboration time as a part of a professional learning community, to name a few.

Our three campuses are located in the heart of San Francisco and accessible by public transportation in San Francisco. The lively neighborhood echoes the school’s vital energy and provides ready access to cultural treasures such as the Asian Art Museum, SF Jazz, the San Francisco Symphony and more. For more information, visit https://www.cais.org/about-us/employment

TO APPLY         

CAIS’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is central to our mission. People of color and LGBT candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Email cover letter, resume, and list of references to jobs@cais.org. In subject line please indicate “International and Off Campus Learning Coordinator.” Please no calls.