• School Social Worker (halftime)

    Saydel Community School District (Des Moines, IA)


    School Social Worker (halftime) JobID: 520

     

    + Position Type:

     

    Student Support Services/ Social Worker

     

    + Date Posted:

     

    1/14/2026

     

    + Location:

     

    District Wide

     

    + Date Available:

     

    7/1/26

     

    TITLE: District Social Worker

     

    BASIC FUNCTION: The School Social Worker promotes and enhances the overall academic

     

    mission by providing services that strengthen home/school/community partnerships and alleviates barriers to learning. The School Social Worker significantly contributes to the development of a healthy, safe, and caring environment by advancing the understanding of:

     

    + social and emotional learning and needs of students

    + the influences of family, community, and societal differences on student success

    + the identification and application of effective intervention and support strategies in collaboration with building administrators and student assistance teams.

     

    REPORTS TO: Director of Programs and Services

    RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS:

    + Presents a positive image of the school to families, and conveys to them the school’s genuine concern with the education, growth and development of each student.

    + Keeps documentation and data for use by school staff and outside agencies when appropriate.

    + Shares appropriate family, culture, social, economic, and developmental information with staff.

    + Assists in the development of intervention strategies to meet individual social, emotional learning needs.

    + Participates in appropriate professional development activities to improve knowledge and skills.

    + Uses knowledge and understanding of the reciprocal influences of home, school, and community to intervene for student success via such practices as assessment, crisis intervention, home visits, conflict resolution, individual and group counseling, consultation, program development, dropout prevention, and coordination of school and community services.

    + Provides services to students on site at district facilities, in the community and at homes of students.

    + Serves as a liaison between the school, families, and community services, including:

    + Connecting students identified in need by building student assistance teams to community resources appropriate to their needs.

    + Organizes opportunities for family learning.

    + Works with building leaders to intervene with students experiencing attendance or learning/credit deficiency.

    + Works with families in need to gather necessary documents for school enrollment and transition.

    + Identifies and develops special programs to address school and community needs.

    + Maintains collaboration with external services provided to students during the school day.

    + Consults on such issues as attendance, confidentiality, diversity, mental health, behavior management, crisis intervention, and child abuse and neglect.

    ABILITY TO:

    + Advocate for appropriate services for students and their families.

    + Assist students and their families to gain access to formal and informal community resources.

    + Effectively plan, implement and evaluate programs that promote student and family success.

    + Plan school and/or system-wide programs to promote a safe, healthy, caring school climate that fosters academic and emotional health.

    + Advocate, facilitate, and contribute to School Social Work accountability for outcomes aligned with local, state, and federal policies and guidelines.

    + Serve on multidisciplinary teams to address needs of students with or without disabilities to assure implementation of appropriate services, programming and/or placement.

    + Consult with stakeholders to facilitate an understanding of factors in the home, local education agency, and community that affect students’ educational experience.

    + Promote collaboration among community health and mental health service providers and facilitates student access to these services.

    + Use extensive knowledge of community resources, enabling the school social worker to play a critical role in facilitating the provision of community services.

    + Help to build effective school-community teams and orient community providers to school climate, culture, and structure and to the laws and regulations governing practice in educational settings.

    LICENSES AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

    + Master’s degree in school social work and five years successful experience working with adolescents and in social service delivery.

    + A valid Iowa teaching license in school social work.

    + Valid mandatory reporter training and other District trainings as required.

    + Successful completion of criminal background investigation.