Dean of Students (Academy South)

About the role

The Dean of Students is a highly visible, student-facing leadership position responsible for supporting school culture, student behavior, safety, restorative practices, and compliance within UCAN Academies. This role is designed for a therapeutic school environment serving students with complex emotional, behavioral, social, and academic needs.

Essential Responsibilities

• Provide consistent, direct, student-facing support throughout the school day, including classrooms, hallways, transitions, arrival, dismissal, lunch, and other unstructured times.
• Build strong, consistent, and trusting relationships with students to support regulation, engagement, accountability, and school connectedness.
• Respond to student behavioral escalations using trauma-informed, therapeutic, and de-escalation strategies.
• Support students in identifying triggers, reflecting on behavior, repairing harm, and successfully reintegrating into the classroom or school community.
• Provide proactive support to students who require additional structure, coaching, redirection, or emotional regulation.
• Facilitate restorative conversations, circles, mediation, and conferences with students, families, and staff.
• Collaborate with clinical staff to ensure behavioral responses and interventions align with therapeutic goals, treatment needs, IEPs, and student support plans.
• Maintain a calm, firm, and supportive presence during crisis situations.
• Support students in developing replacement behaviors, coping skills, conflict resolution strategies, and accountability practices.
• Lead and support implementation of schoolwide behavior systems aligned with PBIS, trauma-informed care, therapeutic education, and restorative practices.
• Monitor student behavior patterns and school climate trends using incident data, staff feedback, student observations, and team input.
• Aid in identifying students who may need increased behavioral, clinical, or administrative support.
• Support the development, implementation, and monitoring of individual student behavior plans.
• Provide coaching and guidance to staff on behavior management, classroom structure, de-escalation, relationship-building, and restorative responses.
• Maintain a highly visible presence throughout the school day to support safety, structure, and consistent expectations.
• Help ensure schoolwide expectations are clearly communicated, consistently reinforced, and developmentally appropriate.
• Partner with administration to address recurring behavior concerns and improve school climate.
• Support efforts to reduce suspensions, crisis episodes, classroom removals, and restrictive interventions whenever possible.
• Lead and model Restorative Justice practices with students, staff, and families.
• Facilitate restorative circles, mediation sessions, re-entry meetings, and accountability conferences following behavioral incidents, suspensions, peer conflict, or classroom disruption.
• Support staff in using restorative language, restorative questions, and classroom-based repair strategies.
• Ensure restorative practices are implemented consistently and embedded across classrooms.
• Engage families and guardians in restorative processes when appropriate to strengthen communication, accountability, and partnership.
• Partner with clinical and administrative teams to ensure restorative responses are developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed, and aligned with student needs.
• Ensure compliance with ISBE Restraint and Time Out regulations, including appropriate use, documentation, review, parent/guardian notification, and follow-up.
• Monitor RTO incidents to ensure interventions are used only when necessary and in accordance with legal, ethical, and organizational standards.
• Review incident trends and support reduction strategies related to restraint, time out, crisis episodes, and behavioral escalations.
• Provide staff guidance related to crisis prevention, de-escalation, safe intervention, documentation, and post-incident processing.
• Support post-crisis debriefings with students and staff.
• Assist leadership in identifying training needs related to crisis response, student safety, and compliance.
• Successfully complete Therapeutic Crisis Intervention training and maintain active certification.
• Help ensure staff understand when interventions are appropriate, when they are not, and how to document accurately and timely.
• Collaborate with teachers, Behavioral Intervention Specialists, clinicians, school administrators, case managers, and related service providers.
• Serve as a key point of contact for student behavior, restorative processes, crisis response, and school climate concerns.
• Communicate regularly with families regarding student behavior, progress, restorative interventions, and support strategies.
• Participate in team meetings, IEP meetings, manifestation determination meetings, re-entry meetings, student support meetings, and problem-solving meetings as needed.
• Provide clear and timely communication to leadership regarding serious incidents, safety concerns, behavior trends, and staff support needs.
• Support alignment between behavioral interventions, IEP goals, clinical recommendations, and classroom expectations.
• Maintain accurate documentation related to student behavior, restorative interventions, family communication, RTO incidents, and follow-up actions.

Education/Job Experience/Certification

• Illinois Professional Educator License required.
• Master’s degree preferred; bachelor’s degree in education, special education, social work, counseling, psychology, educational leadership, or other related field required.
• 5-7 years of experience working in a therapeutic day school, special education setting, alternative school, residential treatment setting, or other high-needs youth-serving environment preferred.
• Strong background in behavior management, trauma-informed practices, crisis de-escalation, restorative practices, and student support.
• Knowledge of ISBE Restraint and Time Out regulations and compliance expectations.
• Must successfully complete Therapeutic Crisis Intervention training and maintain active certification.
• Must be willing and able to become a certified TCI Trainer through Train-the-Trainer certification within a designated timeframe.
• Experience supporting students with emotional disabilities, behavioral challenges, trauma histories, learning differences, and/or complex social-emotional needs preferred.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with school leadership, clinical staff, teachers, families, and external partners.

Special Knowledge and Qualifications

• Strong relationship-building skills with students who have complex behavioral, emotional, and therapeutic needs.
• Ability to remain calm, grounded, and solution-focused in high-stress situations.
• Ability to balance accountability with empathy, consistency, and student dignity.
• Strong skills in de-escalation, conflict resolution, restorative practices, and crisis prevention.
• Hightly visible, proactive, and responsive presence throughout the school day.
• Clear understanding of trauma-informed care and therapeutic education.
• Ability to coach adults while maintaining professional credibility and calm authority.
• Strong documentation, follow-through, and compliance orientation.
• Commitment to equity, dignity, student voice, and student-centered decision-making.
• Ability to support a school culture rooted in safety, structure, restoration, and growth.

Work Environment

• Ability to move throughout the school building consistently during the school day.
• Ability to respond quickly to student crises or behavioral incidents.
• Ability to support students during transitions, classroom disruptions, and crisis situations.
• Ability to participate in approved crisis intervention procedures consistent with TCI and UCAN policy.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced therapeutic school environment with students who may display emotional, behavioral, or physical escalation.

Benefits

UCAN offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Voluntary Life Insurance
• Voluntary Short-Term Disability
• Voluntary Critical Illness Insurance
• Voluntary Accident Coverage
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
• Retail Plan (401k)
• Tuition Reimbursement

Additionally, we provide:

• Group Life and AD&D Insurance
• Group Long-Term Disability
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Equal Opportunity Employer

UCAN is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages candidates with lived experience and diverse backgrounds to apply.