Elementary Academic Support (School Day)

About U. S Dream Academy

U.S. Dream Academy has a 24- year history of academic skill-building, character development, and dream building through mentoring, trained staff, and local/national partnerships to uplift youth experiencing adverse childhood experiences (ACES) with a special focus on children of incarcerated parents (COIP). These youths often live in under-invested communities with high rates of crime, high rates of poverty, and limited high-quality educational opportunities.

We currently operate in seven cities in partnership with schools and churches located in high-poverty communities in Philadelphia, PA; Baltimore, MD; Houston, TX; Orlando, FL; Salt Lake City, UT; San Bernardino, CA; and Washington, DC; and this past year we expanded our mentoring program to reach more children impacted by incarceration to include Chicago and Atlanta through our partnership with Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Basic Function

Under the direction of the Center Director, School Day Support Interns are responsible for assisting with the academic enrichment school day program, and social values building program.  To perform this job successfully, the School Day Intern must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the competencies, knowledge, skills, abilities, and education required.

Principle Duties and Responsibilities

• Assist 2nd - 6th grade students in understanding their curriculum
• Assist in delivering the daily curriculum, which encompasses the Dream Academy’s three core elements of student enrichment; skill-building, character-building, and dream-building.
• Maintain accurate record of school day attendance and sessions completed

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Must have a pleasant attitude;
• Ability to communicate effectively with both children and adults;
• Understand issues surrounding incarceration and the impact on families;
• Excellent organizational skills;
• Ability to manage multiple tasks/projects to meet simultaneous deadlines; and

Internship Requirements

• Must be passionate about youth development; and support and work with youth in high-risk communities and their families.
• Must have personal transportation with a non-suspended driver’s license
• Exceptional ability to write clearly, effectively, and informatively; demonstrating accuracy and thoroughness.
• Understand issues surrounding incarceration and the impact on families.
• Be available to offer support for one hour sessions from Monday - Thursday from 9am - 2pm

Education and Experience

• High School diploma or equivalent;
• 2 – 3 years of experience working with elementary-aged children in an academic setting;
• Previous experience working with children who live in at-risk communities; and

Work Environment and Physical Demands

The work environment and physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the job's essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, sit, lift, use hands to finger dexterity, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls, reach with hands and arms, climb stairs, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl, talk, and hear.

• Required to sit and/or stand for long periods of time.
• Intermittent physical activity includes bending, reaching, standing, climbing stairs, kneeling, and/or stooping.

Internship Details

• This is typically an unpaid internship, with opportunity to be paid depending on hours
• This position is intended to serve as an internship position to fulfill credit through your college or university

Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. Lifting twenty-five (25) pounds or greater is standard for this position.

Employer’s Rights
This position description provides a general overview and may not list all the duties of the job. You may be asked by your supervisor to perform other duties related to your position and based upon organization priorities. You will be evaluated in large part based upon your performance of the deliverables and tasks listed in this position description._

The employer retains the right to revise this position description at any time. The position description is not a contract for employment; either you or the employer may terminate employment at any time, for any reason. The purpose of this position description is to provide you with a clear idea of the role and responsibilities for this position.