Staff

Summer in Switzerland, Learning and Having Fun in the Alps

Summer in Switzerland (SIS) at the Leysin American School is for students ages 8 - 18. SIS is designed for students who want to learn, have fun, and meet peers from all over the world. During the summer there are students from approximately 40 different countries in the program.

The majority of the students are in the Core Program, which has morning academic classes (including French, Spanish, English, Math, Art, Photography, Computers, Music, Theatre, SAT and TOEFL Preparation, and many more), a variety of sports and recreation activities in the afternoons, and large group games and activities in the evenings.

The English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program is an intensive course for students who want to improve their English writing, comprehension, and speaking skills. Students will have intensive but fun classes during the morning, and they will then use what they have learned with the other students in the general program afternoon and evening activities.

The French Immersion Program is led in coordination with Concordia Language Villages, the premier language and culture immersion program in North America. Students learn French through work and play in French. Ocassional afternoon excursions in francophone Switzerland make the daily learning very real!

The Recreation & Culture Week is held between the two sessions. For the younger students, ages 8-12, a two-night overnight is planned in Switzerland, with additional shorter excursions in and around Leysin. For the older students, age 13-18, the Highlight Tours are a chance to have fun and see new places in Europe. Students enrolled in the excursions of the Highlight Tours will have a class on the people and places of their chosen trip either before or after the tour - they will not have classes during the trip. Students choose from trips to England, France, Italy, and Spain.

SIS is a place to learn much more than just academics. SIS students will learn about international awareness, cultural tolerance, community-living skills, independence, leadership and much more during their time in Leysin. SIS is a truly remarkable international summer program.

Jobs

Job Descriptions 2012

The staff application forms (one for returning staff, one for new staff) will be posted in October. Returning staff members are encourage to indicate their intention to return to SIS by the end of October. Starting in November, new staff members will be interviewed and potentially hired for positions occupied by former staff members who have not indicated they are returning.

Questions may be directed to Paul Magnuson at pmagnuson@las.ch regarding staffing for Summer 2012.

Thank you,

Paul Magnuson

These summaries of Job Descriptions may change according to programmatice need. More complete job descriptions will be sent with the contract and Conditions of Employment.

Positions that work with both Alpine Adventure and Alpine Exploration/Alpine Challenge

Office Manager

Answers all phone calls and deals with all phone messages, either answering questions, or passing on calls/messages to Director or other relevant staff. Maintaining database and generating lists from SIS Enrollment Database (Filemaker Pro). Organizes and supervise all arrivals and departures of SIS students/staff, interacting with the LAS travel office. Maintains Cell phone list and related responsibilities. Reports to the AE/AC Director.

Driver

Primary job will be to drive the stick-shift 17-seater school vans (no buses!) transporting students to and from the airport (1 1/2 hours each way) and other events as needed. When no driving job is needed, the person will be part of the recreation staff. Must have relevant driving license, such as CDL in USA or D1 license in Europe. Reports to the Office Manager.

Nurse

Supervise all Health issues at SIS. Maintain Health records, and review all Health forms from students, suggest changes to minimize injuries and poor health for SIS students and staff, organize two nurse duty rota to ensure 24 hour coverage. Reports to the Director.

Alpine Adventure (working with students ages 8-12)

Director: Mary Field Keenan

Elementary teachers

Be primary teacher for ten to fifteen 8-12 year old students all mornings, 5 days per week. During the mornings, specialist teachers do some of the teaching (French, ESL, Drama, Environment), and if a teacher has a specialty in these areas, they will lead these. If not, they will assist the specialist. Some afternoons, evenings and weekends will be supervising the students on excursions and activities. The Director of AA assures at least a full day off per week, and other free time. Teachers report to the Director.

Recreation staff

Primary job will be to design and supervise afternoon and evening activities, and day and half day excursions. The Director of AA assures at least a full day off per week, and other free time. Some recreation staff will be specialist teachers also, meaning teaching one period in the mornings, of Computers, Environmental Education, French, ESL or Drama. Recreation staff report to the Director.

Program Assistant (PA) Coordinator

Supervise, organize, and mentor the PAs for the entire summer. PAs are staff in training, who will learn how to work alongside staff, how to plan and implement a program event, and how to work with students in different situations. such as bullies, scapegoats, homesickness, disrespect, violence, etc. The position reports to the Director of Alpine Adventure. Reports to the Director.

Alpine Exploration and Alpine Challenge (working with students ages 13-18)

Director: Paul Magnuson

Coordinator of Academics

Supervision of teachers in the Core and Speciality programs. Responsible for scheduling, curriculum review, resources, course content, sections offered, teacher assignments, teacher evaluations, academic program evaluation, program certificates, high school credit students. Reports to the Director.

Teachers

Teachers instruct four class periods (50 mins each) each morning. Teachers also have one to two afternoons available for prep time, and go on afternoon activities with students two to three afternoons a week. They have dorm duty up to three times each week, which includes some afternoon time and the evening hours. They will be on duty a maximum of one day each weekend plus all opening and closing days and weekends. Teachers report to the Academic Coordinator. See Teens 13-18 for subjects taught.

Coordinator of Activities and Excursions

Organizes all afternoon and evening activities, and weekend and half-day excursions. This includes the Red Frog (student rec. area), and organizing which activities will be offered when, assigning staff for activities and excursions, content and quality of each activity, making reservations, preparing students for excursions and preparing resources for excursions. Needs to use SIS Enrollment Database (Filemaker Pro). Is also responsible for the discipline of the students in this area. Reports to the Director.

Assistant Coordinator of Activities and Excursions

Assists Dean of Activities and Excursions in all duties. Maintains Transportation schedule and vehicle usage records. Needs to use SIS Enrollment Database (Filemaker Pro). Reports to the Coordinator of Activities and Excursions.

Recreation Staff

Plan, design, organize and supervise all afternoon and evening activities. Recreation staff will have one afternoon and one evening free each week. They will be on duty a maximum of one day each weekend plus all opening and closing days and weekends. There may be a need for one to two evenings of dorm duty each week, and the recreation staff will also be responsible for the Red Frog, as a group. Recreation staff report to the Coordinator of Activities and Excursions.

Dorm Head

Responsible for the dorm and dorm supervision schedule. Ensures that there is a positive environment for all students. Organizes evening activities for the dorm. Dorm Heads report to the director.

Recreation & Culture Week Coordinator / Family Coordinator

Responsible for scheduling and coordinating Highlight Tours in conjunction with LAS travel office. Responsible for coordinating faculty families. This person remains at SIS during the recreation and culture week.

Yearbook Editor

Responsible for taking or collecting as many photographs of the summer as possible, and preparing the SIS Highlights “yearbook”. For this we use Adobe InDesign and Photo Shop on an iMac. This should include individual pictures of each students, family photographs, and images of all major events and general SIS life. Also responsible for teaching Photography in the mornings, and if necessary, useful and possible, supervising student yearbook activity in the afternoons. Also prepares powerpoint presentation at the end of each session for the last night of session celebrations.

This list should be used as a guideline only.