School Nurse, New Liberty Innovation School/Salem Prep High School: 1.0 FTE, Salem Public Schools SY2024-2025

About Salem Public Schools, where belonging leads to opportunity.

Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history.  Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district enrolling nearly 4,000 students across our 11 schools. Our vision is to ensure that all students will be locally engaged, globally connected, and fully prepared to thrive in a diverse and changing world. We hold dear our core values of belonging, equity, and opportunity in everything we do. Over the next three years (2023-2026), we are committed to the work outlined by the four core priorities in our strategic plan: 1) Elevate Learning; 2) Empower Educators; 3) Center Belonging; and 4) Strengthen Our Foundation. We seek individuals who are passionate about urban education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement for all students, regardless of ability, economic status, gender/gender identity, language, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or other backgrounds. Applicants who have experience working in urban schools and settings and are bilingual are strongly encouraged to apply.

New Liberty Innovation School is a small high school within the Salem Public School district. Our program works beyond the scope of traditional high school education by providing students with small class sizes, real-world learning opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom, and the ability to focus on topics and projects of interest to each student. In addition to academic opportunities, the New Liberty staff provides students with wrap-around support and coaching, which enables students to fully engage in their learning and make academic and social-emotional progress.

Salem Prep High School is a therapeutic special education day school with a mission to ensure that all students feel welcomed, cared for, connected, and valued as members of the community. Our superb therapeutic teaching staff is passionate, highly qualified professionals who work tirelessly to create and implement excellent academic, and social-emotional learning opportunities for students to acquire and practice vital skills. We aim to challenge students to stretch themselves in the classroom, the community, and other therapeutic environments.

What You’ll Do:

The School Nurse is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the school health office during the school year. This candidate must be passionate about improving health services for all learners, be self-directed, be an innovative thinker, and continually look for ways to improve processes, programs, and outcomes.

The School Nurse at New Liberty Innovation School and Salem Prep High School will:

• Provide trauma-informed, student-centered medical care to students with a range of social-emotional needs
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to ensure comprehensive care
• Use strong verbal communication skills and the ability to de-escalate students effectively
• Maintain a safe and therapeutic environment
• Provide education for students and families on a range of health topics
• Provide direct care and case management for all students.

The general nursing duties of the School Nurse are to:

• Administer prescription and non-prescription medications according to school policy and in compliance with 105 CMR 210 
• Provide first aid and emergency care
• Chart all immunizations, physicals, vision and hearing screening results, postural screenings, and heights and weights
• Maintain health records, document the activities of the school health office, and perform other related nursing duties in the school setting. 

The School Nurse will perform additional tasks/assignments as delegated by the Director of Nursing and Health Services.

Job Requirements:

• Current license by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing (MABORN) as a Registered Nurse (RN)
• DESE certification or DESE-eligible as a School Nurse in Massachusetts
• Current Certification in CPR/AED and First Aid
• Bachelor’s degree
• 2 Years of nursing experience in pediatrics, community health, or other relevant settings
• Prior nursing experience in a school setting a plus

What You’ll Bring:

We are looking for candidates who have diverse backgrounds and experiences, are inspired by our mission and are highly motivated to change children’s lives through education. You’ll be right at home here if you are a reflective practitioner who values collaboration with colleagues and pushes yourself, your work, and the people around you to the next level.  We expect our SPS employees to:

• Hold a deep commitment to students and families and value diversity - The SPS community is vibrant, diverse in background, ethnicity, language, and perspective. You embrace and affirm the backgrounds of all members of the SPS community and view our diversity as a powerful resource that supports us each in learning and doing our best work.
• Hold high expectations for yourself, students, and colleagues – You see potential in all, especially our SPS students, and maintain high expectations for achievement, while providing the support necessary to meet that bar. You hold yourself to high expectations, modeling SPS values and seeking opportunities to continuously improve.
• Build authentic, caring relationships with colleagues, students, and families – You build strong relationships across students, families, and colleagues that are collaborative in nature and contribute to the individual and collective success of SPS.  You partner with families and colleagues to make decisions in the best interest of students and learning.
• Embrace feedback – You are a reflective practitioner who learns from failure, using mistakes and challenges as opportunities for growth. You model persistence and growth mindset and thrive in a culture of feedback.

Salary/Pay Rate:

This is a school-year position with additional days for professional development. Salary is determined by the Salem Teachers Union collective bargaining agreement Step and Column with differential for added days/hours, per union contract. The School Nurse reports to the Director of Nursing and Health Services and the School Principal.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Salem Public School District is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws. Additionally, we prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose such discrimination and harassment or who participate in an equal opportunity investigation.