Middle School Director, Independence Charter School

Posted by on April 11, 2011

MIDDLE SCHOOL DIRECTOR
Independence Charter School (ICS), an award-winning K-8 school, is currently seeking a dynamic and passionate educator to collaboratively lead a Philadelphia urban school. The newly created Lower School Director position will work in concert with the Middle School Director to ensure alignment of curriculum, promote school culture, and manage staff. Together the CEO, Lower School Director and Middle School Director will function as the senior administrators for the school. Through collaboration with faculty and staff, the Lower School Director will be directly responsible for managing and leading our efforts to provide our students in Spanish Immersion and Spanish Enhanced programs with a rigorous academic experience, reflective of our school’s global education mission and beliefs.

REQUIREMENTS:
1. A minimum of 5 years of direct educational experience, preferably within an urban middle school setting including at least two years supervising or leading a team of educators
2. Degree in education or a related field, Master’s degree preferred
3. Experience and/or knowledge of adolescent cognitive development
4. Must hold or be actively working towards Pennsylvania Principal Certification
5. Experience with student scheduling and logistics
6. Available for frequent after school, evening and weekend events and meetings
7. Pass all required criminal, FBI and child abuse background checks

PROFESSIONAL QUALITIES:
1. Believe that every student can succeed, regardless of individual circumstances
2. Ability to maintain focus, clarity and responsiveness under pressure
3. Strong project management and organizational skills
4. Exhibits qualities of a reflective professional by seeking out constructive feedback, professional development opportunities, and demonstrating a willingness to adapt and adjust initiatives as needed
5. Goal orientated, demonstrated ability to think strategically and execute on multiple priorities
6. Ability to monitor progress towards goals and able to adjust strategies to meet goals
7. Possesses an inspirational leadership voice through communication and presence
8. Maintains rigorous standards and high performance expectations
9. Ability to offer direct, constructive criticism

GENERAL TASKS:
1. Maintaining a calm, productive and respectful school environment
2. Overseeing quality follow through of administrative directives e.g.reviewing report cards
3. Working in cooperation with the Deans of Students to maintain the school culture and code of conduct e.g. participating in suspension and expulsion reviews
4. Observing and evaluating teachers
5. Managing staff schedules and logistics

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Ensure Student Success
1. Support the raising of academic achievement for all students, especially closing the achievement gap
2. Work with Student Success Team to develop academic and behavior plans to meet the needs of our most at risk students
3. Lead collaboration efforts with the Dean, Counselor, and Family Liaison to promote the importance of regular on-time school attendance
4. Demonstrate utilization of student assessment data to drive instructional improvement to close the achievement gap

Continual Staff Development and Mentoring:
1. Plan professional development opportunities for staff, including workshops on interpreting data, curriculum mapping, vertical alignment, and seek other external professional development opportunities for staff.
2. Use teacher observation and feedback systems to foster a community of reflective practice among teaching staff in order to address gaps in student performance and/or teacher effectiveness.
3. Facilitate collaboration among teachers by creating teacher learning teams and working closely with teacher leaders.
4. Ensure effective collection and analysis of student performance data to identify struggling students, curriculum shortfalls, and teacher performance quality issues.
5. Support teachers in differentiating curriculum planning and instructional implementation

Promote Global Citizenship:
1. Provide support for global education initiatives, including staff and student opportunities for travel abroad, fellowships, and second language acquisition
2. Uniformly and consistently disseminate ICS global citizenship goals to educators, students, and parents
3. Create educator teams to evaluate, guide, and implement, changes to curriculum in relationship to global education goals

Maintain Student and Community Relationships:
1. Connect and engage with ICS’s diverse student and family population
2. Establish clear expectations for student behavior and provide for consistent application of Responsive Classroom and/or Developmental Design guidelines
3. Connect and engage with parents/guardians as critical partners in the educational process
4. Develop and build professional relationships with staff, parents, students and the larger community

COMPENSATION:
This is a year-round (12-month) position; the salary range is $75,000-$85,000 with a comprehensive benefits package

TO APPLY:
Send resume, copy of certification, and letter of interest, highlighting educational philosophy and reflecting on prior experience to Megan Steelman, ICS HR Committee, via e-mail to megans@icscharter.com Application packets will be accepted until the position is filled. More information about ICS is available at http://www.independencecharter.org

Independence Charter School (ICS) values the diversity of its staff, students and community. ICS is an equal opportunity employer.