Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech in Jacksonville Florida seeks two Speech Language Pathologists to join its educational team.

The team includes speech language pathologists, teachers of the deaf among other professionals serving children in toddler and preschool programs and clinic.

Clarke teaches children who are deaf and hard of hearing to learn to listen and talk using technology such as cochlear implants or hearing aids.

These are full-time position that includes benefits and professional development opportunities. The hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• Create an environment which fosters independence, confidence, creativity, respect for materials and the people in the environment and is conducive to enjoyment in learning.
• Provide a comfortable, supportive environment for parents in which they are respected, encouraged to observe their children, and supported in their efforts to parent their child who is deaf or hard of hearing.
• Facilitate children’s communication in individualized sessions and help ensure carryover of activities in the classroom and home environments.
• Observe children in the classroom and record information related to all aspects of the child’s developmental profile to be used later in reports, as needed.
• Work collaboratively with the classroom teacher to maximize opportunities for auditory and language learning in the classroom.
• Participate in general staff meetings and SLP team meetings. Work collaboratively with teachers who will provide input regarding the progress of students, curriculum issues, concerns, reinforcement of skills, etc. in the classroom. Provide teachers with lesson plans/goals created for individual weekly files and review classroom lesson plans to understand expectations and needs of the student in the classroom.
• Contributions to the children’s Individualized Educational Plans (IEP’s) or Personalized Education Plan (PEP) will be in the form of supplying present levels of performance, goals and objectives in the areas of speech perception functioning, speech production and oral vocabulary/ language development. Additionally, communication plans for every student will be completed at the time of IEP development. Monthly IEP updates and/or quarterly PEP updates will be required for every student.
• Semi-annual reports following comprehensive assessment will be written for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and submitted on a timely basis on dates provided at the beginning of the school year (in November and June) to the lead speech pathologist and/or the Director for editing and modifications.
• Ongoing data collection on daily performance with auditory/speech/language goals as written in their speech file. Entries in the student’s communication notebook/parent communication platform will be one way of informing parents about audition, speech, and language skills development that occurred in the therapy sessions daily.
• Ongoing documentation of sessions, material dissemination, and consultations will be gathered for grant funding reports. Additionally, student information (i.e. background information, assessment results, outside services, etc) will be collected twice a year for research and record keeping purposes.

Other Duties:

• Provide diagnostic information about auditory, speech, and spoken language skills of hearing-impaired students using formal and informal assessments, diagnostic teaching and observation.
• Educate parents and provide them with follow-up activities which will enhance the development of their child’s communication skills. To develop speech notebooks or other appropriate forms of communication for reinforcement of skills by the caretakers.
• Discuss concerns regarding individual children’s needs, abilities, etc. with the students’ team including the director, teaching staff, audiologist, and outside service providers to ensure consistent and accurate communication with parents, thereby best serving the children.
• Attend other professional meetings, conventions, and conferences for hearing loss, schedule permitting (e.g., cochlear implant workshops) and as needed for personal professional growth and in maintaining appropriate continuing education hours for certifications. If seeking listening and spoken language certification, appropriate continuing education, observations, session supervision will be tracked and maintained throughout the certification process.
• Other requested duties when needed by the Director.

Physical demands:

• ability to lift up to 50 lbs. occasionally
• regularly squat, kneel and sit on the floor
• sit for long periods of time as needed

Education, licenses, certifications, skills and experience:

• An educational background with a master’s level degree in Speech-Language Pathology
• A Florida Speech-Language Department of Health License
• Experience in developing spoken language skills in children who are deaf and hard of hearing using cochlear implants or hearing aids is highly desired.
• Certification as a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist (LSLS) and Early Intervention experience with the birth-3 population preferred and encouraged

*Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

**Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

*** Title IX Notice of Nondiscrimination: Clarke Schools does not discriminate on the basis of sex in admission, administration of its educational programs or activities or employment. Clarke Schools is required by Title IX and its implementing regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 106 not to discriminate on the basis of sex in admission, administration of its educational programs or activities or employment. The Human Director, Andrea Harkins, MBA, BS, SHRM-CP, 45 Round Hill Road, Northampton, MA 01060, telephone number 413-582-1155, has been designated as the employee responsible for coordinating Clarke Schools efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under Title IX. Inquiries concerning the application of Title IX and its implementing regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 106 to Clarke Schools may be referred to Andrea Harkins or to the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, at 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202-1100, telephone number 800-421-3481.

EOE