High School Dorm Head

TASIS The American School in Switzerland; Bramhall; On-site; GBP 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious international boarding school in England is seeking a High School Dorm Head to manage residential life, ensure student welfare, and foster community. Responsibilities include supervising dorm parents and students, coordinating activities, and maintaining a safe living environment. The ideal candidate has a Bachelor's degree, experience as a Dorm Parent, and strong interpersonal skills. This role requires living on campus and being actively involved in students' residential life and growth.

Qualifications

• Previous experience in the role of Dorm Parent or equivalent position.
• Keen interest in working with boarding students outside the academic classroom.

Responsibilities

• Oversee student welfare and behavior in the dorm.
• Coordinate all aspects of residential life for the dorm.
• Develop relationships with students to foster a supportive environment.
• Plan activities to build dorm community.
• Implement and oversee disciplinary responses within the dorm.

Skills

Interpersonal communication

Team collaboration

First Aid and CPR

Flexibility

Creativity

Education

Bachelor’s Degree

Job description

Position: High School Dorm Head
Department: Residential Life
Supervisor: Dean of Residential Life

General overview of position:

The Dorm Head (DH) is a full‑time position, working closely with the Dean of Residential Life, the Head of High School, and other members of the Residential Life team in developing and delivering Residential Life programming as well as overseeing student welfare and behavior. Together, along with the Prefects and other Dorm Parents, the Dorm Head ensures that their building is a safe, healthy, and productive living environment for each dorm resident. Dorm Heads coordinate all aspects of residential life for their building, including the following: beginning and end‑of‑year responsibilities, communication, supervision, maintenance, and discipline. Dorm Heads plan activities for the dorm to do together and with other dorms to build community.

Dorm Heads supervise the students, the Assistant Dorm Head, and the Dorm Parent team in their dorm. Dorm Heads serve as the primary point of contact for their boarding students and dorm parents in their designated dormitory. Dorm Heads meet weekly with the Dean of Residential Life and Prefects and will address any issues related to a dorm team member’s performance with the person individually. These conversations will be done in private with a focus on improving the experience of the students and the team member. If additional support is needed, the Dorm Head will consult with the Dean of Residential Life.

The fact that TASIS is committed to educating students inside and outside the classroom and the nature of a 24‑hour‑a‑day boarding environment, the primary goal of the Dorm team is to help enhance the connection between academic, social, and emotional growth. As students navigate the academic, extracurricular, and residential aspects of life at TASIS, Dorm Parents serve as “parents away from home,” advisors, and role models with whom students talk, laugh, live and learn.

Responsibilities

The Dorm Head position has many facets. It can be divided into four main categories, under which specific tasks and obligations can be divided and categorized.

SAFETY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

• All full time Dorm Heads must live in the dorm if housing is available
• Primary responsibility for the students in your assigned dorm
• Check on students regularly to develop strong relationships and rapport
• Implement and oversee disciplinary responses within the dorm, ensuring that they are consistent and fairly applied, and inform the Dean of Residential Life, Dean of Student Life and/or Head of High School
• Enforce dorm expectations and rules
• Provide first aid medical care and contacting the on‑duty nurse when appropriate
• Create a safe and comfortable living environment
• Consistently enforce fire codes as established by the school
• Undergo annual safeguarding training to ensure student safety

ROUTINE FUNCTIONS

• Attend and participate in training and orientation sessions in August as well as throughout the academic year.
• Communicate all room changes to the people in charge of maintaining Veracross and REACH. Verify the accuracy of housing information in Veracross and REACH.
• Communicate with students regarding their travel plans and REACH form submissions.
• Meet regularly with individual dorm teams, Prefects, Dean of Residential Life, Assistant Dorm Heads, and other Dorm Heads.
• Ensure that relevant information regarding student behavior is reported to the correct person, such as the Advisor, Nurses, Counselor, Head of High School, Student Success Team (SST) and Dean of Residential Life
• Be on duty twice a week and double the number of weekends from a standard dorm parent
• Oversee evening study hall when on duty
• Attend regularly scheduled weekly dorm team meetings, faculty meetings, and Residential Life team meetings
• Write comments about boarding students for whom they are responsible
• Maintain contact with the students’ teachers, advisor and after‑school activities leaders as necessary
• Maintain clean dorm spaces and conduct regular room inspections
• Order food for dorm, dorm events, and weekend activities
• Report maintenance and housekeeping issues as needed
• Lead the end‑of‑semester and end‑of‑year dorm cleanup
• Be able to drive school vehicles (manual & automatic)
• Create and share a monthly newsletter for parents of boarding students to highlight residential life activities
• Serve as dorm leader, including organizing agendas for dorm meetings, overseeing the running of activities, and ensuring that dorm duty switches are clearly communicated
• Coordinate birthday celebrations

MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS WITH STUDENTS

• Create relationships through discussions and/or activities during evening check‑in
• Attend student events, when available, such as athletic games, theatrical and musical performances, visual arts displays, speeches
• Mentor and guide Prefects as they develop their own leadership styles and meaningful connections with students
• Provide emotional care for and support of students in their dorm
• Organize activities in the dorm for boarding students: e.g: movies, baking, relaxing, playing board games

PROGRAMMING

• Develop and implement vertically aligned residential life curriculum to promote individual growth and development in a boarding community
• Develop and implement House Cup (or similar) competitions to promote positive community and culture building across campus, particularly on closed weekends
• Develop and implement offerings for weekend activities
• In collaboration with the full dorm team plan, organize, and implement community‑building and educational dorm‑wide events

During academic days, full‑time Dorm Heads (with help from interns, as needed):

• accompany the students to any health‑related appointments
• help students with laundry, uniform, and clothing issues
• be on hand to help students between academic classes and after school activities

Additional Responsibilities

Beginning of the Year

• Review rooming plans with Admissions, Dean of Residential Life, and Dorm Heads before school opens.
• Orient new Dorm Parents to dorm practices and duties. New Dorm Parents must be shadowed by a Dorm Head for sufficient nights to ensure proper training before solo duty. Dorm Heads are also on duty Opening Weekend.
• With assistance from other Dorm Parents and Prefects, ensure the dormitory is ready for opening (furniture, name tags, posted information).
• Contact boarding student parents with an introductory letter, including contact info for the dorm team and a dorm experience overview.
• Schedule and disseminate dorm faculty rotations, updating documents as needed.
• Plan and conduct dorm meetings during student orientation and throughout the year

Maintenance

• Coordinate with the Head of Maintenance throughout the year regarding necessary repairs and informing students and parents of the amount they are to be billed (if the damage was caused by a student).
• Monitor the physical condition of the dorm, including daily room inspections and arranging for room inspections before vacation times.
• Along with the Dean of Residential Life, coordinate with the domestic and laundry teams as needed.
• Weekdays, Weekends, Holiday, and End‑of‑Year Travel:
  • Coordinate check‑out and check‑in schedules with dorm parents.
  • Coordinate a rotation schedule for dorm parents to check out each student before major holidays.

As per the directions and responsibility of the Head of High School in conjunction with the Dean of Residential Life, the Dorm Head is also expected to:

• Serve as an advisor (advisory meetings + assemblies/grade level meetings + additional activities + advisor comments)
• Chaperone one Academic Travel trip (either fall or spring)

Summary of educational background and professional experience required for the position

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Previous experience in the role of Dorm Parent or equivalent position
• A keen interest in working with boarding students outside the academic classroom.
• Trained in First Aid and CPR

Professional and personal skills needed to take over the position

• An ability to
  • recognize and act upon a teachable moment;
  • model a sense of life balance for the students;
  • be flexible with time and energy;
• An excitement or passion for working with High School students;
• Intellectual and emotional intelligence;
• An ability to be creative, or the ability to be open to creative ideas;
• When appropriate, the willingness to put others needs before one’s own needs;
• An ability to judge the stages of a student’s socio‑emotional growth and interact accordingly with that student;
• A dedicated investment in the socio‑emotional growth of each student;
• An understanding of and willingness to participate in the culture of a boarding school environment.
• A team player with demonstrated ability to collaborate with colleagues to deliver meaningful programming to meet the needs of boarding students

Additional comments

• The Dorm Head is required to live on campus in an apartment assigned by the School, which needs to be vacated during the summer to accommodate TASIS Summer Program needs. If there is no on‑campus housing available, TASIS will assign housing close to the school, at its own discretion.
• The Dorm Head might be requested to perform other duties relevant to the position; these duties will be assigned by the School and will be in line with Swiss law provisions.

To apply for this position, please complete the Faculty Employment Application.