District Translator and Interpreter

Description

District Translator and Interpreter

The Holyoke Public Schools are committed to ensuring a high-quality education for all. We have invested in recruiting and retaining diverse top-quality educators who inspire bold thinking, recognize student potential, and encourage all students to work towards their goals. In Holyoke, we are committed to becoming an anti-racist district by focusing on:

We know that students do their best when they pursue their passions, so we have designed multiple pathways where all students graduate prepared to excel in college, career, and community leadership. Holyoke Public Schools (HPS) serves 5,400 students (of which over 80% are Latinx) in 13 schools and employs nearly 1,500 people.The District was placed into receivership by the State of Massachusetts in Spring 2015, because of struggling performance, and has since implemented a Turnaround Plan that has led to expanded choice programs (such as dual language, STEM, and early college) and new opportunities for students to explore the arts, sports, sciences, and local and world cultures. Since 2015, the District has experienced numerous accomplishments for instance:

doubling access to PreK programming
10-point graduation rate increase
85 percent increase in access to early college programming
13-point increase (to 26%) teachers of color

Position Overview

The Holyoke Public Schools are committed to ensuring equitable language access for all families with limited English proficiency. The District Translation & Interpretation Team’s mission is to ensure that families have meaningful access to all aspects of their child’s education – including programs, opportunities and services.

The District Translator and Interpreter is responsible for (1) providing interpreting services, (2) translation project management, (3) training, (4) applying translation memory for consistent quality in translation and (5) maintaining a standard of practice and ethics consistent with translators and interpreters in special education. The DTI will work collaboratively with the Translation and Interpretation team and participate in professional development to continue to advance and refine their skills. This position will work closely with the District Communications Office.

Translation and Translation Project Management

Produce translations at equivalent style and register, taking into account cultural appropriateness.
Process and finalize translation requests accurately and timely.
Delegate project tasks like file prep, translation and proofreading through an in-house network to ensure timely delivery.
Terminology Management

Contribute to department style and grammar guides by recording research results for submission to the department handbook, following translation review.
Update regularly the department?s translation memories by migrating new glossary entries to the termbase.
Interpreting

Interpret encounters between limited English families and schools in an accurate, efficient and impartial way and interprets in all modalities (i.e. in-person, virtual, consecutive, simultaneous), brokering cultural differences.
Contributes to glossary building for use by dual-role interpreters.
Contributes to and upholds standards of practice and code of ethics for interpreters in a K-12 education.
Other duties as required.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS:

Experience, skills, traits and beliefs:

Associate’s degree or Bachelor’s degree preferred
Advanced knowledge of working languages (e.g. style, grammar, register)
Advanced Spanish skills (native language proficiency a plus)
Strong cultural competency
Familiarity with Google Suite tools and Microsoft Office
Understanding of best practices for translation and review processes
Interpreter accreditation (or training course certificate of completion) or willingness to earn the certificate
Must be willing to work late hours for school and district events, as needed