Program Coordinator, Los Angeles, CA

Location: On-Site at 10th Street Elementary School, Los Angeles, CA.

Position Overview

Read to a Child’s Read Aloud Mentoring Program (RAMP) pairs a volunteer mentor with an elementary school student for a rewarding weekly read aloud experience either during the child’s lunch or other non-instructional time. The Program Coordinator is responsible for the daily operation, including relationships, record keeping and scheduling, of this program at a designated school or alternate program site. Depending on the needs of the school, coordination of the RAMP may be conducted in-person, virtually, or a combination thereof. The Program Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that volunteer mentors, students, and school staff have a positive and meaningful experience.

Specific Job Responsibilities Will Include All or Some of the Following (will vary by Region & School/Site):

• Ensure that the program starts smoothly, including maintaining the partnership with the school/ administration (relationships, space, scheduling, absences, etc.), solicitation of teacher referrals, student permission, re-matching or matching pairs, and other start-up tasks
• Communicate regularly with supervisor
• Notify students, teachers and potentially parents/guardians of volunteer mentor cancellations or schedule changes
• Communicate regularly with volunteer mentors, including regular program updates, and notification of student absences or changes in schedule
• Provide ongoing support and guidance to volunteer mentors on a general and case by case basis to address specific challenges as need arises (with input from supervisor)
• Provide volunteers with book ideas.  If program is on site (i.e. not virtual), maintain an organized and inviting book cart for volunteers
• Potentially provide logistical support to parents/guardians with respect to virtual sessions
• Facilitate and monitor reading sessions, which may be in-person and/or virtual, to ensure smooth operation of program
• If coordinating on-site, ensure that state and school guidelines for hygiene and safety are followed carefully and that rooms are left clean and orderly
• Document reading session attendance and participant information changes in the database
• Collect mid-year volunteer mentor surveys, and year-end surveys and assessments from volunteer mentors, students and teachers, as applicable
• Plan and implement year-end celebration (in person or adapted for virtual setting), as applicable.  Assist students in making Thank You cards for their mentors.
• Attend required Program Coordinator training sessions and meetings
• Support volunteer recruitment efforts
• Facilitate other activities or tasks as requested. Interested Program Coordinators may be able to take on some Program Assistant roles (virtually or in person) at other schools
• Submit timesheets accurately and on time
• Participate in the Performance Evaluation and goal setting process 

Essential Job Duties For In-Person Positions

• This person working in this position will be in a school setting. It involves constant movement throughout the building and designated session areas guiding students to their reading session. Depending on the school, this may require occasionally ascending/descending stairs. It also requires frequent positioning of books and/or program materials of various weights and sizes on a rolling book cart, as well as rolling the book cart to/from various locations within the school. 

Key Qualifications:

• Commitment to Read to a Child’s mission, viability and growth
• Experience working with young children
•  Enthusiastic about children’s books, willingness to become familiar with the Read to a Child book collection
• Preferred – Experience managing volunteers
•  Communicates well in person, virtually, on the telephone & via email
• Preferred – Bilingual in English/Spanish
• Commitment to actively and continuously working toward achieving the organization’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion goals
• Extremely organized and adept at successfully managing multiple projects simultaneously and prioritizing according to the organization’s strategic plan — with flexibility and a positive attitude
•  Comfortable working with and hosting group video conference platforms (eg: Zoom and/or Google Meets)
• Proficiency working with various technological platforms:  E-mail, Google Drive, word processing, spreadsheets, E-book sources, and some data entry
• Access to transportation

Hourly Rate:  $17.50/hr

Benefits:  Employee Leave, 401k, flexibility and countless non-monetary rewards

Desired Start: April 2024

Interested Applicants Contact Information

Please email infola@readtoachild.org with a resume and cover letter explaining why you are a good fit for this position, as well as how the hours work for your schedule.