Position:College Counselor
The SEED School of Miami

Reports to: Head of School

About SEED:
The mission of SEED schools is to prepare students academically, socially, and emotionally, for success in and
beyond college in a public, college-prep, boarding school setting.
Based on the success of the first two schools in The SEED School network, one in Washington, D.C. and one in
Baltimore, Maryland, The SEED School of Miami opened its doors to 60 students in the sixth grade in August 2014
and now in its eighth year of operations serves over 300 students in grades 6-12, 100 percent of whom will come from underserved communities across South Florida.

As outlined in Florida legislation, an eligible SEED Miami student are all Florida residents, at risk of academic
failure, and come from a family whose income is below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. They must
also meet at least one of the below four additional risk factors:

• The child is served under the child welfare waiver demonstration, (to include foster care) or has been
declared an adjudicated dependent by a court
• The student’s head of household is not the student’s custodial parent
• The student resides in a household that receives a housing voucher or has been determined eligible for
public housing assistance
• A member of the student’s immediate family has been incarcerated
All students live on campus between Sunday afternoon and Friday afternoon and transportation is provided back
and forth to home and school on the weekends.

* More information can be found on the school’s website: www.miami.seedschool.org

Position Overview
College access and completion is core to our work at SEED. Thus, the College Counselor plays a critical role in
supporting students and families with the mechanics of the college process. SEED Miami’s College Counselor must
be highly skilled and able to administer the college exposure, search, fit, application, and selection process with
students, while also educating families about the process. SEED takes a unique and impactful approach to college
matching. Our deliberate and intentional work with college fit is extremely important to SEED’s college completion
goals. The College Counselor is expected to have excellent knowledge of a range of colleges/universities across the
country—especially those that proactively support college completion for low income, first generation students
and have quantitative evidence of success in this area.

The College Counselor will establish effective relationships with all members of the SEED Miami community, while
also working with leadership across all departments. Additionally, the SEED Miami College Counselor will regularly
interact with The SEED Foundation’s College Transition & Success (CTS) department based in Washington, DC. As
part of SEED’s model, College Counselors across the SEED network and the CTS team collaborate to deliver
seamless and high-quality college access and success services to students and families.
The Director of College Counseling will work closely with a core senior leadership team including the Head of
School, High School Director of Academics, High School Director of Student Affairs, and Director of Student Support
Services.

The Director of College Counseling reports directly to the Head of School.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Planning and implementing college counseling programs that are aligned with the SEED College Access and
Success Guide;
• Applying SEED’s approach to college matching throughout the college process and programming for
students and families across all grades;
• Managing the college search, fit, and application process for seniors and their families and educating them
about colleges/universities;
• Providing personalized college counseling to seniors and their families as well as leading one-on-one
college counseling sessions with seniors;
• Making informational presentations to junior and senior parents/families, while also hosting spring
meeting with juniors and their families to prepare for senior year;
• Teaching senior college prep seminar in the fall, supporting CTS with senior college transition classes in the
spring, and overseeing and co-teaching junior college prep seminar in the spring with designated school-
based staff;
• Managing and coordinating the annual College Tour for Juniors;
• Working with the SEED DC and SEED MD college counselor and member of the CTS team to develop a
College Prep Boot Camp for Seniors;
• Using Naviance with all students and managing all weekly and quarterly reporting of Naviance data;
• Managing and maintaining aesthetically pleasing College Center area and bulletin boards that reflect
SEED’s college success culture and approach to college matching;
• Managing the SEED College Data Tracker and weekly uploading accurate data;
• Providing regular reports to the Head of School and supporting data analysis for board of director
meetings;
• Conducting outreach to and meeting with all college admissions representatives and facilitating meetings
between college representatives and students, while also serving as a liaison with college admissions
offices throughout the year;
• Chaperoning SEED-approved national and regional college fairs;
• Writing college recommendation letters and reviewing recommendation letters submitted by staff, while
also completing all school report (mid-year and final) forms requested by colleges, including evaluations of
students;
• Ensuring that information about the college process is reaching families and they are being invited to all
college counseling events and meetings;
• Working with the Head of School, SEED Miami leadership team and Director of College Transition &
Success at the Foundation to compile the annual school profile;

• Partnering with the CTS team to maintain and share information on colleges, college guides, scholarships,
financial aid, and paying for college; providing access to major scholarships;

• Staying aware of issues and trends in college admissions, higher education, testing, as well as keeping up-
to-date with the work and findings from associations, including: The College Board, the National
Association of College Admission Counselors, National College Access Network, Education Trust;
• Overseeing ACT and SAT test prep partnerships, course delivery, test registration; and test data;
• Supporting rituals and traditions associated with senior transition;
• Supporting financial aid/financial education sessions;
• Performing other duties assigned by the Head of School.

Core Competencies
Necessary skills include excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong organizational ability, attention
to details, and the ability to consistently meet deadlines. Experience in college admissions or high school college
counseling, deep understanding of data, and computer skills are important.
The ideal candidate will have strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills; familiarity with the
goals, objectives, and mission of school focused on college readiness and success for low-income, first-generation
students; the ability to respond effectively to the needs of a diverse and student and parent/family population;
knowledge of a vast array of colleges/universities with a reputation for successfully graduating underserved
students within 4-6 years, strong academic programs, clear and fair admissions and financial aid policies and
procedures; very comfortable with SEED’s approach to college fit and match.

Minimum Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree with 3-5 years experience providing college access and success counseling in a school,
and/or in a college’s admission office;
• Understanding financial aid, including the FAFSA completion process;
• General knowledge of college fit and match;
• Extensive and current knowledge of the college application and admission process, the college financial aid
process, and NCAA eligibility and recruitment regulations;
• Ability to counsel students from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds and with varying learning
styles and academic abilities;
• Relationship building experience with the specific ability to forge relationships with faculty, staff, students,
parents, alumni, and the community at large;
• Strong technology/computer skills and comfort with student information/customer relations systems such
as Naviance, CoPilot, and PowerSchool;
• Excellent organizational and time management skills with the flexibility, and willingness to collaborate
with team members;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills including solid public speaking skills;
• Proven success providing services or programs to children and communities and children in need;
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, with creative and positive energy for working with youth;
• Demonstrated knowledge of designing, implementing, and managing a long-cycle process
• Experience with material development
• Commitment to the mission of SEED

Work Conditions
The work involves everyday risks and discomforts, which require normal safety precautions typical of such places
as classrooms, offices, meeting and training rooms, etc. The work area is adequately lighted, heated and ventilated.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential
functions.
This position description may not describe all duties, responsibilities and skills associated with this position. It is
intended to portray the major aspects of the job and is not meant to be all-inclusive. Other duties or skills may be
required.

The SEED School of Miami is committed to the letter and spirit of equality. It does not discriminate on the basis of
race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national and ethnic origin in hiring and employment, nor in the
administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and other programs.