Job Description

Description:

Who We Are

Zero Dropouts is dedicated to designing innovative student development opportunities in collaboration with school districts, communities, and students. Our mission is to co-create solutions that recognize, foster, and unleash students' unrealized potential so that their lives are transformed as they thrive in their education and work.


Next GED+ Online is designed to serve highly mobile students and those who face barriers to in-person learning. Highly mobile students include those who frequently move due to housing instability, foster care placement, or family circumstances, as well as students experiencing homelessness, justice engagement, or mental and physical health challenges that make traditional schooling inaccessible. Many of our students balance work, caregiving responsibilities, or other commitments that require a more flexible educational model.


Unlike traditional online programs that can be isolating and entirely self-paced, Next GED+ Online is built to foster community and connection. Through a combination of flexible and personalized learning plans, live instruction, and ongoing support, students engage with teachers, peers, and mentors in meaningful ways. Our relationship-based approach ensures that students receive the academic and personal support they need to persist, complete their education, and transition successfully to postsecondary opportunities.

What We Believe

We Believe Mysteries are Opportunities

We are inspired to solve the deeply complex mysteries that face our world. Our innovative approach drives us to uncover hidden truths and create tailored solutions that address the unique challenges of our clients and communities.


We Believe in Anti-Deficit Ideology

Anti-deficit ideology focuses on recognizing and valuing the strengths, abilities, and potential of individuals and communities, rather than highlighting their shortcomings or deficiencies.


We Believe in a Sociocultural Model for Learning

People develop knowledge and skills through an active learning process that encourages interactions with teachers, peers, and their communities. We meet people where they are in their learning journeys, centering their experiences and identities in the process to foster both independent learning and collaboration.


We Believe in a 'Power With' Approach to Relationships

We use a 'power with' approach that emphasizes collaboration, mutual support, and collective empowerment in our relationships with youth, partners, and each other. Instead of hierarchical or competitive dynamics, it focuses on sharing power, fostering partnerships, and working together to achieve common goals.


We Believe Organizations are Living Systems

We believe that organizations and groups operate as dynamic living systems. This perspective emphasizes interdependence and collaboration, fostering resilience and adaptability. By nurturing supportive relationships and collective growth, we create conditions and environments where all members can thrive.

Who You Are

You are a student-centered, relationship-driven School Social Worker who believes that young people's strengths, stories, and lived experiences are the foundation for meaningful support. You bring a power-with approach to your practice and are grounded in anti-deficit, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive methods.


You hold a current Colorado Special Services Provider (SSP) license with a School Social Worker endorsement and are experienced in supporting adolescents with diverse needs, ideally in alternative, community-based, and/or online learning environments. You are organized, flexible, and able to maintain consistent, high-quality support within a very part-time schedule (5-10 hours/week).


Most importantly, you believe that learning happens in relationship--and you are committed to building trusting, collaborative, strengths-based partnerships with students, families, educators, and districts so that each learner can thrive and meet their IEP goals.

Key Responsibilities

Direct Services & Student Support

Provide IEP-aligned social-emotional services, counseling, and skill-building using trauma-informed, anti-deficit, and strengths-based approaches. Build and maintain supportive, trusting relationships with students through virtual and occasional in-person sessions.

Collaboration & Teaming

Partner closely with Program Administrators, Special Populations Coordinator, teachers, families, and district teams to ensure coordinated, relational support for each student. Participate in IEP meetings, case consultations, and ongoing communication loops to align decisions and services with student goals.

Documentation & Compliance

Maintain accurate IEP documentation, service logs, progress monitoring notes, and updates in accordance with CDE and district requirements. Ensure timely completion of all compliance-related tasks with attention to detail and alignment with student strengths and progress.

Communication & Family Partnership

Communicate clearly, empathetically, and proactively with students and families, centering belonging, agency, and dignity. Support students in navigating challenges, identifying strengths, and developing skills that foster persistence in their educational pathway.

Requirements:

Required Qualifications

Current Colorado Special Services Provider (SSP) license with a School Social Worker endorsement. Experience providing social-emotional services to adolescents, including students with IEPs.
Knowledge of trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and strengths-based practices.
Ability to deliver virtual support effectively and adapt services to student needs. Strong relationship-building and communication skills with students, families, and multidisciplinary teams. Ability to maintain accurate, timely documentation aligned with CDE and district requirements. Organized, reliable, and able to manage a very part-time caseload (5-10 hours/week) with consistency. Belief in anti-deficit ideology and a commitment to centering student agency, identity, and lived experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Bilingual English/Spanish Prior experience in alternative education and online learning environments. Experience supporting highly mobile youth, students experiencing homelessness, or justice-involved adolescents. Familiarity with GED pathways, credit recovery, or flexible learning models. Experience collaborating with multiple districts or navigating varying IEP processes across systems. Training in restorative practices, motivational interviewing, or other relational SEL approaches.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Please submit your application materials through our website.

WORK SCHEDULE & FLEXIBILITY

: This role is very part-time and as-needed. Weekly hours may fluctuate depending on student schedules, IEP service requirements, and individual student availability. Flexibility is essential, as services may need to occur at varying times to align with student school-day or after-school availability.

COMPENSATION

: Starting at $35/hour

BENEFITS:

Paid Time Off (Sick Time, Holidays), 401(k) - Not PERA eligible