About St. Jude’s Academy

St. Jude’s Academy (SJA) is a JK–12 IB World School in Mississauga, and the only school in Peel Region offering the full IB continuum: Primary Years, Middle Years, and Diploma Programmes. For more than 20 years, we have grown from a small school into a two-campus community, with an elite prep basketball program and a three-court dome facility.

We believe the reason families stay is the same reason they join: they want to belong to something. This role exists to make sure every family does.

The role

The Director of Community Belonging owns one outcome: families who join SJA feel at home quickly, and stay for the long run. You will design and run the programs, events, and relationships that turn a school into a community, across both campuses and every grade from JK to 12.

The first two years are when families decide whether a school is truly theirs. Your work will focus there first: welcoming new families, easing the jumps between grades and programmes, and connecting parents to each other, not just to the school.

In your first year, success looks like:

- Every new family has a named connection (a staff contact and a peer family) within their first two weeks
- Structured check-ins with recent families at 30, 60, and 90 days, with concerns routed and resolved
- A calendar of community events that families actually attend, with participation tracked by grade
- An active parent volunteer and ambassador network on both campuses
- Measurable gains in year-over-year re-enrolment, especially among first- and second-year families

Key responsibilities

New family integration

- Run onboarding for every new family: welcome events, orientation, and pairing with an experienced "founding family" mentor




- Conduct 30/60/90-day belonging check-ins with new students and parents, and escalate academic or social concerns to the right staff
- Support families through key transitions, such as moving into Grade 1, Grade 6, Grade 9, and the IB Diploma years

Community programming

- Plan and deliver a year-round calendar of family events, cultural celebrations, parent education nights and student-family traditions
- Build connections across both campuses and between academic, arts, and athletics families
- Partner with coaches to make basketball and athletics events community gatherings, not just games

Parent and alumni engagement

- Recruit, train, and lead parent volunteers, class representatives, and family ambassadors
- Build an alumni network that stays connected to the school and supports current students
- Act as a trusted, approachable point of contact for parents

Retention insight

- Track event participation, family sentiment, and early warning signs of disengagement
- Conduct exit conversations with departing families and report patterns to leadership
- Report monthly on community health and retention to the Founder

Collaboration

- Work closely with admissions so the experience promised on the tour is the one families receive
- Partner with the marketing team to share authentic community stories on social media and in school communications





What we're looking for

You are the person who remembers everyone's name, notices who is standing alone, and makes sure they aren't for long. You are as comfortable running a 300-person event as you are having a difficult conversation with one parent.

Required

- 3+ years in community building, family engagement, student life, alumni relations, hospitality, or a similar people-facing role
- Proven experience planning and running events and volunteer programs from start to finish
- Excellent communication skills, written and spoken, with families from many cultures and backgrounds
- Strong organization and follow-through; you track commitments and close loops
- Comfort with simple data: attendance, surveys, and retention numbers
- Availability for some evening and weekend events
- Clear Vulnerable Sector Check (required for all SJA staff)

Nice to have

- Experience in an independent, private, or IB school
- A degree in education, social work, communications, or a related field
- A second language spoken in Peel Region's communities
- Familiarity with a CRM or school information system

To apply, send your resume and a short note about a community you helped build to [email protected] by November 15, 2026. Tell us what you did, who it brought together, and how you knew it was working.

St. Jude’s Academy is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants of all backgrounds. Accommodations are available on request throughout the hiring process. We thank all applicants; only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Start date: January 2027

Pay: $100,000.00-$120,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person

📌 Director of Community Belonging (Mississauga)
🏢 St. Jude's Academy
📍 Mississauga