Independent Schools of Saint Louis

School Counselor New City School

Mission Statement

New City School inspires children to engage joyfully in learning and achieve academic excellence while cultivating their personal strengths and passions. We empower our students to build community and advocate for a more just and equitable world.

 

Overview

New City School, a leading, progressive independent school for approximately 345 students ages three - 6th Grade, seeks an inspiring and dedicated school counselor to provide comprehensive school counseling services that align with the American School Counselor Association. The counselor will lead and coordinate the school’s efforts to ensure that all students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. The counselor also plays a key role in the CARE team process: overseeing students with social-emotional support and interventions. The school counselor works closely with the CARE Team, Division Heads, faculty, and families, and is both a strategic coordinator and a hands-on practitioner.The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of child development, progressive pedagogy, and educational research; an understanding of and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; a growth-oriented mindset; and a spirit of collaboration and joyful learning. In addition, an understanding of the Responsive Classroom approach is desired.

 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

  • Provides responsive short-term counseling, consultation, crisis intervention and peer facilitation as needed with students. This may include developmentally appropriate brief counseling, conflict resolution, and social skill building.
  • Builds relationships while understanding and maintaining student confidentiality and boundaries, with knowledge of current laws and ethical standards relevant to providing mental health care to children in a school setting.
  • Collaborates and works as a team with teachers, administrators, the CARE team, and families is a core component of the work, as is participation in student support team meetings, consultation with teachers and parents, and participation in grade-level meetings.
  • Supports student accommodation plans to address social, emotional and behavioral needs, and supporting teaching teams.
  • Assists with program development to support student’s development of social-emotional learning skills, including emotional and behavioral self-regulation and self-awareness, communication with peers and adults, conflict resolution, and application of these skills. 
  • Teaches SEL curricula and helps lead the Human Growth and Development curriculum.
  • Supports the admissions process.
  • Provides family workshops as needed.
  • Establishes strong systems for monitoring, documenting and evaluating the effectiveness of support services and interventions.
  • Coordinates with external specialists, therapists, evaluators, and other providers as needed.
  • Ensures appropriate documentation and compliance with applicable laws and ethical guidelines related to student support.
  • Refers parents to local evaluators for testing and facilitates communication between school, families, and the evaluator and any other outside of school supports.
  • Reviews psychoeducational and neuropsychological evaluations and translates findings into practical strategies for teachers and families.
  • Develops and leads internal professional development for faculty around best practices for creating inclusive classrooms that support student learning and growth. 

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree in school counseling, social work, psychology, counseling, or a related field preferred.
  • Experience with social-emotional teaching/counseling young children and expertise and experience with documentation of child abuse/neglect and any other laws directly affecting the role of the school counselor.
  • Demonstrated commitment to teaching and learning in a progressive, diverse and dynamic school community.
  • Ability to work in a collegial and highly collaborative environment.
  • A growth mindset, active sense of humor, warm personality, and excellent organizational and communication skills.

Start Date: August 2026 with possible meetings and professional development in the summer.

Compensation: New City offers competitive compensation (commensurate with experience and benchmarked with peer independent schools) and excellent benefits including professional development funds, generous medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, bereavement leave, paid parental leave, retirement benefits, and tuition remission for children of faculty and staff members. 

To apply: Please send a letter of interest, resume, and list of three references (with name, relationship, phone number, and email address for each; references will not be contacted without the candidate’s permission) in one PDF to Head of School Alexis Wright (awright@newcityschool.org). Please indicate “School Counselor” in the subject line. Candidates will be considered on a rolling basis. 

This is a full-time position that begins in August of the 2026 academic year. The standard schedule is 8:15am to 3:45pm, with a weekly faculty meeting until 5:00pm, although other meetings may require additional time, either before or after school. Additionally, all faculty members share daily supervision duties at the school. Occasional evening and weekend commitments are required throughout the school year. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a criminal background check.

At New City School, we recognize that a diverse faculty and staff is a strength that impacts and enhances all aspects of our school. We celebrate our inclusive school environment and are eager to accept applications from candidates of all backgrounds and perspectives. New City School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status in any of its activities, hiring practices, or operations.