Senior Director Student Wellness and Intervention Systems
Ascend Schools, New York, NY, United States
Ascend is Brooklyn’s premier K–12 public charter network, committed to graduating high-achieving students who have access to boundless choice in their futures—not only through college acceptance, but through meaningful preparation for career readiness and thriving adult lives.
Across our schools, we pair rigorous academics with strong systems, supportive adult culture, and a deep belief in students’ brilliance and potential. Our work is grounded in the understanding that preparing students for long-term success requires excellence in instruction, intentional culture-building, and disciplined execution at every level of the organization.
At Ascend, adults are held to high standards because our students deserve nothing less. How we teach, lead, collaborate, and make decisions every day directly shapes the opportunities our students will have tomorrow.
Join us in shaping learning environments where curiosity is nurtured, excellence is the norm, and every student is prepared for a lifetime of boundless choice.
About the Role The Senior Director of Student Wellness and Intervention Systems is a mission-critical leader responsible for ensuring that Ascend’s approach to student wellness, mental health, and tiered intervention is cohesive, data-driven, and aligned to the academic and cultural priorities of our schools. This role merges deep clinical expertise with a systems-level understanding of MTSS, ensuring that academic, behavioral, and social-emotional supports are integrated across Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3.
This leader oversees the full clinical services portfolio and provides direct management and mentorship to the Manager of Clinical Services, as well as clinical supervision to school-based mental health professionals working toward licensure. They design and strengthen network-wide systems for counseling services, crisis intervention, behavioral support, therapeutic practice, progress monitoring, and referral pathways.
In addition to leading the clinical team, the Senior Director is responsible for building and operationalizing network-wide MTSS structures, ensuring that schools deliver strong universal supports, provide timely and effective interventions, and implement high-quality Tier 3 supports for students with the most intensive needs. This includes guiding principals, APs of Student Services, clinicians, and behavioral health partners in using data to identify needs, align interventions, measure progress, and continuously strengthen school-based student support practices.
This role represents a key evolution of the Schools Team, reflecting Ascend’s commitment to whole-child support. The Senior Director ensures that our intervention and wellness systems are proactive, coherent, and effective; ultimately ensuring that every student receives the support necessary to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Key Responsibilities
Provide direct management and supervision to the Manager of Clinical Services, supporting their leadership of the clinical team across schools.
Provide clinical supervision aligned to licensure requirements for school-based mental health professionals.
Conduct school visits to observe counseling practices, support crisis response, and coach clinicians and school leaders in developing strong mental health and behavioral intervention structures.
Design and lead the network’s MTSS vision and implementation plan, ensuring coherence across academic, behavioral, and wellness systems.
Partner with academic and culture teams to ensure MTSS is integrated with curriculum, assessment, school culture, and instructional practice.
Monitor intervention data to identify trends in student needs and support principals and APs of SS in adjusting intervention strategy accordingly.
Develop and facilitate MTSS training for school leaders, student support teams, and clinicians.
Lead high-impact PD sessions for clinicians, APs of SS, and principals on mental health, counseling practice, intervention strategy, de-escalation, and wellness systems.
Build a professional learning community for clinicians that strengthens shared practice, reflective supervision, and continuous improvement.
Manage major network-wide project cycles, including rollout of MTSS tools, SEL/behavioral intervention frameworks, data reviews, and wellness or mental health initiatives.
Partner with external agencies and community-based organizations to strengthen wraparound supports for students.
Advise executive leadership on trends in student wellness, mental health, crisis needs, and intervention systems.
Support crisis response, urgent case management, and multi-stakeholder planning for complex student needs when necessary.
Clinical Expertise & Supervision
Deep knowledge of clinical, counseling, and therapeutic practices within school and child-serving environments
Expertise in crisis intervention, functional assessment, trauma-informed practices, and behavioral support
Demonstrated capacity to provide high-quality supervision aligned to licensure requirements
Ability to translate clinical theory into school-friendly, strengths-based practices
Strong command of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support across academic, behavioral, and wellness domains
Skilled at designing, implementing, and monitoring Tier 1–3 intervention systems
Ability to guide school leaders in analyzing data, identifying student needs, and selecting evidence-based interventions
Experience building coherent systems across multiple schools or a network
Demonstrated experience managing and developing managers and/or senior-level clinicians
Builds capacity through modeling, coaching, and structured performance development
Creates psychologically safe environments that foster reflection, growth, and accountability
Skilled at giving high-quality feedback and supporting professional advancement
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Relationship Building
Strong communication and partnership abilities with principals, APs of SS, clinicians, instructional leaders, and external agencies
Ability to unify academic, behavioral, and mental health perspectives into a coherent approach
Builds trust through clarity, consistency, and thoughtful problem-solving
Staff and Reporting Relationships The Senior Director of Student Wellness and Intervention Systems reports to the Chief of Schools.
Qualifications
Master’s degree or higher in Social Work, Counseling, School Psychology, or related clinical field
Licensure that permits providing clinical supervision (e.g., LCSW, LMHC, Psychologist)
Certification or documented experience in clinical supervision, trauma-informed practice, or MTSS implementation preferred.
Minimum 3 years of experience in school-based mental health, clinical leadership, or intervention systems
Demonstrated expertise in MTSS, counseling systems, crisis intervention, and behavioral supports
Compensation The salary will range from $115,000 to $160,000 annually, commensurate with the level of experience.
Location & Work Arrangement
Based in our Brooklyn, NY office
Hybrid work schedule requiring in-office presence at least three days per week
In-person work expectations include network office time, stakeholder meetings, school visits, special events, and other role-specific responsibilities as determined by management.
Benefits
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
403(b) retirement plan with employer matching
Generous paid time off and additional employee benefits
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Across our schools, we pair rigorous academics with strong systems, supportive adult culture, and a deep belief in students’ brilliance and potential. Our work is grounded in the understanding that preparing students for long-term success requires excellence in instruction, intentional culture-building, and disciplined execution at every level of the organization.
At Ascend, adults are held to high standards because our students deserve nothing less. How we teach, lead, collaborate, and make decisions every day directly shapes the opportunities our students will have tomorrow.
Join us in shaping learning environments where curiosity is nurtured, excellence is the norm, and every student is prepared for a lifetime of boundless choice.
About the Role The Senior Director of Student Wellness and Intervention Systems is a mission-critical leader responsible for ensuring that Ascend’s approach to student wellness, mental health, and tiered intervention is cohesive, data-driven, and aligned to the academic and cultural priorities of our schools. This role merges deep clinical expertise with a systems-level understanding of MTSS, ensuring that academic, behavioral, and social-emotional supports are integrated across Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3.
This leader oversees the full clinical services portfolio and provides direct management and mentorship to the Manager of Clinical Services, as well as clinical supervision to school-based mental health professionals working toward licensure. They design and strengthen network-wide systems for counseling services, crisis intervention, behavioral support, therapeutic practice, progress monitoring, and referral pathways.
In addition to leading the clinical team, the Senior Director is responsible for building and operationalizing network-wide MTSS structures, ensuring that schools deliver strong universal supports, provide timely and effective interventions, and implement high-quality Tier 3 supports for students with the most intensive needs. This includes guiding principals, APs of Student Services, clinicians, and behavioral health partners in using data to identify needs, align interventions, measure progress, and continuously strengthen school-based student support practices.
This role represents a key evolution of the Schools Team, reflecting Ascend’s commitment to whole-child support. The Senior Director ensures that our intervention and wellness systems are proactive, coherent, and effective; ultimately ensuring that every student receives the support necessary to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Key Responsibilities
Provide direct management and supervision to the Manager of Clinical Services, supporting their leadership of the clinical team across schools.
Provide clinical supervision aligned to licensure requirements for school-based mental health professionals.
Conduct school visits to observe counseling practices, support crisis response, and coach clinicians and school leaders in developing strong mental health and behavioral intervention structures.
Design and lead the network’s MTSS vision and implementation plan, ensuring coherence across academic, behavioral, and wellness systems.
Partner with academic and culture teams to ensure MTSS is integrated with curriculum, assessment, school culture, and instructional practice.
Monitor intervention data to identify trends in student needs and support principals and APs of SS in adjusting intervention strategy accordingly.
Develop and facilitate MTSS training for school leaders, student support teams, and clinicians.
Lead high-impact PD sessions for clinicians, APs of SS, and principals on mental health, counseling practice, intervention strategy, de-escalation, and wellness systems.
Build a professional learning community for clinicians that strengthens shared practice, reflective supervision, and continuous improvement.
Manage major network-wide project cycles, including rollout of MTSS tools, SEL/behavioral intervention frameworks, data reviews, and wellness or mental health initiatives.
Partner with external agencies and community-based organizations to strengthen wraparound supports for students.
Advise executive leadership on trends in student wellness, mental health, crisis needs, and intervention systems.
Support crisis response, urgent case management, and multi-stakeholder planning for complex student needs when necessary.
Clinical Expertise & Supervision
Deep knowledge of clinical, counseling, and therapeutic practices within school and child-serving environments
Expertise in crisis intervention, functional assessment, trauma-informed practices, and behavioral support
Demonstrated capacity to provide high-quality supervision aligned to licensure requirements
Ability to translate clinical theory into school-friendly, strengths-based practices
Strong command of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support across academic, behavioral, and wellness domains
Skilled at designing, implementing, and monitoring Tier 1–3 intervention systems
Ability to guide school leaders in analyzing data, identifying student needs, and selecting evidence-based interventions
Experience building coherent systems across multiple schools or a network
Demonstrated experience managing and developing managers and/or senior-level clinicians
Builds capacity through modeling, coaching, and structured performance development
Creates psychologically safe environments that foster reflection, growth, and accountability
Skilled at giving high-quality feedback and supporting professional advancement
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Relationship Building
Strong communication and partnership abilities with principals, APs of SS, clinicians, instructional leaders, and external agencies
Ability to unify academic, behavioral, and mental health perspectives into a coherent approach
Builds trust through clarity, consistency, and thoughtful problem-solving
Staff and Reporting Relationships The Senior Director of Student Wellness and Intervention Systems reports to the Chief of Schools.
Qualifications
Master’s degree or higher in Social Work, Counseling, School Psychology, or related clinical field
Licensure that permits providing clinical supervision (e.g., LCSW, LMHC, Psychologist)
Certification or documented experience in clinical supervision, trauma-informed practice, or MTSS implementation preferred.
Minimum 3 years of experience in school-based mental health, clinical leadership, or intervention systems
Demonstrated expertise in MTSS, counseling systems, crisis intervention, and behavioral supports
Compensation The salary will range from $115,000 to $160,000 annually, commensurate with the level of experience.
Location & Work Arrangement
Based in our Brooklyn, NY office
Hybrid work schedule requiring in-office presence at least three days per week
In-person work expectations include network office time, stakeholder meetings, school visits, special events, and other role-specific responsibilities as determined by management.
Benefits
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
403(b) retirement plan with employer matching
Generous paid time off and additional employee benefits
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