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Job Description

Title: Baltimore Arts Education Initiative Manager

Classification: Full Time, will require occasional nights and weekends

Type: Manager

Salary: Commensurate with experience

Reports to: Executive Director

Start Date: January 2019

Job Purpose: This position is responsible for the implementation of the Baltimore Arts Education Initiative (BAEI) activities in Baltimore City Public School District (the District) including 1) management of and communication with committees, district offices, and community partners; 2) management of data collection, data analysis, and reporting; 3) management of the Arts Challenge Fund. Candidates should bring creativity, intuition, and energy to problem solving techniques under changing conditions.

Management of Committees and Partnerships: The success of this initiative is dependent upon the engagement, leadership, and support of a diverse group of individuals representing district office, educators, communities, students, arts partners, and city leadership:

• Consistent communication, scheduling and documentation of meetings, and engagement of individual members;
• Coordination and collaboration with multiple school district offices to advance progress on the plan including the Office of Teaching and Learning, Human Capital, Office of Achievement and Accountability, School Board of Commissioners and more;
• Ability to identify, establish, build, and maintain partnerships within multiple stakeholder groups.
• Frequent attendance at School Board of Commissioners meetings, district-hosted presentations, and other events hosted by community, parent, and student groups;
• Coordination of initiative-specific tasks and community events.

Data Collection, Data Analysis, Reporting and Engagement: Data will be used to implement and monitor progress on the arts plan, engage parent and students in school-based advocacy, and inform future work.

• Coordination of data requests and analysis with district offices;
• Drafting of data and narrative reports, dissemination of drafts to committees for feedback, dissemination of reports for public use;
• Development of advocacy tools and data presentations;
• Engagement of parent and student groups to use data and advocacy tools.

Management of the Arts Challenge Fund: This fund will be used to match principal spending on arts materials for instruction and limited to: consumable arts supplies, musical instruments, instrument repair, arts-specific equipment and tools.

• Management of application process and collaborative review with district partners;
• Management of awards including processing invoices for payment, tracking award and overall spending, communication with school partners;
• Management of school reporting and reporting on overall award;
• Communication of award to press, district, and schools.

Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree required in relevant field (art, education, social justice) and 3-5 years of PK-12 education sector or non-profit experience. Minimum of 2-5 years management experience is required. Knowledge of Collective Impact work, systems change, experience and knowledge navigating the Baltimore City Public Schools district office or comprable urban education system is a plus.

Skill Requirements:

• Demonstrates excellent organizational and project management skills;
• Attention to detail and ability to juggle many tasks at once is imperative;
• Excellent oral, written, communication, public speaking and presentation skills;
• Ability to work well with others, including members of the AED staff
• Ability to manage and navigate multiple delicate relationships;
• Convene and organize events;
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, MailChimp, EventBrite, and Google Drive (Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc);
• Friendly and positive demeanor.

Application Procedure:

Please submit a cover letter and resume to info@artseveryday.org with the subject line “BAEI Manager”. Applications received by December 14, 2018 will receive priority consideration.

About the Baltimore Arts Education Initiative:

The Baltimore Arts Education Initiative (BAEI) was launched in Fall 2017 in response to the ongoing inequitable access to arts education in Baltimore City Schools. The initiative is a Collective Impact project with Arts Every Day serving as the backbone organization.

The long-term goal of the initiative is to build, align, and operationalize arts education policies, procedures and resources in Baltimore so that all students in Baltimore City Public Schools will experience and benefit from a “sequential standards-based arts curriculum, deep expertise and professional experience, and standards-based connections between the arts and other content areas” (Americans for the Arts, 2014). BAEI sought to take advantage of unprecedented policy changes and conversations happening at the federal, state, and local levels to re-incorporate arts education as a core education discipline in preK-12 education. Under the leadership of Superintendent Dr. Sonja Santelises, BCPS has also adopted a whole child initiative called the “Blueprint for Success.” The Blueprint articulated three areas that the school district would focus its resources and attention: student wholeness, literacy, and staff leadership. By leveraging federal, state, and local statutes, regulations and policies, BAEI has endeavored to be the standard-bearer for modeling the policies, processes, and procedures for revitalizing arts education back into preK-12 education across the state. To achieve this long-term goal, BAEI organized over 100 individuals representing students, parents, district leaders, educators, arts partners, and city leaders into working committees to formulate the BAEI strategic plan.

In May 2018, the superintendent presented the complete Arts Plan as part of the Blueprint for Success, a districtwide initiative to support student wholeness, literacy, and staff leadership. School Year (SY) 2022 is the first major benchmark of the Arts Plan with the goals: 1) Grades Pre-K-5 enrolled every year in visual art and music classes, dance and theater units taught within physical education and language arts, 2) Grades 6-8 enrolled in 1 or more arts classes every year with option for continuous discipline-specific instruction. 3) Grades 9-12 choose from all arts subjects to complete the art graduation requirement. Students can enroll in 1 or more arts discipline each year to specialize and prepare for college/career in the arts. The full Arts Education Strategic Plan may be found on the Baltimore City Public Schools website under the ‘Students and Families’ tab.