The Head Of School
Phoenix Charter Academy Chelsea seeks a dedicated and tenacious leader who is aligned with, and embodies, the organization's core beliefs and values : rigor with support as well as a faith in all students ability to learn and succeed. This leader must bring expertise in instructional practice / leadership, educator development, all aspects of school-site operations, and authentic community engagement. Our new Head Of School, above all, believes in ever ongoing growth and possibility. Our next leader must model accountability, collaboration, and effective use of best-in-class, evidence-based practices that support non-traditional students to achieve academic success and the confidence to realize their full potential. They must also demonstrate the ability to problem solve in creative and nontraditional ways.
A Revolutionary Team
The Phoenix team is always learning, dedicated, relentless, and guided by these values which shape our culture and fuel our scholars' outcomes :
- An Unwavering Belief in Phoenix Scholars - Phoenix staff operate with the deeply held belief that all young people want to and can succeed, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable barriers and societal constraints.
- Putting Scholars First - Phoenix staff ensure the academic skills mastery and positive self-identity development that fuel college, career, and life success. Phoenix staff find every opportunity to teach and learn with scholars, using conflict to build supportive relationships and never taking things personally.
- Learning In Real Time - Phoenix staff know that we operate in a fast-paced, ever-evolving, urgent environment. We seek direct feedback and seize opportunities to implement it quickly.
- Humility - Phoenix staff approach problem-solving with curiosity and a desire to understand others' perspectives. We model open-mindedness and a growth mindset, and support one another in embracing failure as an opportunity to learn and grow.
- Navigating and Celebrating Difference - Phoenix staff have work across cultures and experience, compassionately serving low-income communities and / or academically disconnected adolescents.
- Finding Inspiration in the Small ThingsPhoenix staff take an asset-based approach to our work, finding humor, inspiration, success, and joy in our day-to-day interactions with scholars and the larger Phoenix Community.
Specific Role Responsibilities
Reporting to the Chief Schools Officer, the School Head Of School is our comprehensive leader, and as such, must be able to demonstrate and juggle leadership across multiple priorities, including :
Instructional Leadership
Ensure that the Phoenix academic team is clear about how to implement, assess, and adapt the curriculum and lessons that map to priority academic standards for core content areas.Review data weekly, at least, with the leadership team and school staff to determine pivots that need to be made to achieve school academic goals.Lead a scholar-focused academic program that ensures that scholars can demonstrate competence and apply skills in new environments, with the ultimate goal of completing college and living lives of self-determination.Collaborate with the School's leadership and Instructional Teams, as well as the Network-wide Instructional Leadership Team (NILT), to design and deliver engaging and focused professional development that addresses identified gaps and ensures all staff are continuously engaged in growing their practice.Coordinate with the Network Collaborative Practices Team (CPT) to align academic work to centralized competencies, curriculum and assessments to ensure a consistent approach to helping scholars achieve the learning milestones.Supervise the Special Education, English Language Development, Advisory, and Academic programs and services for Phoenix scholars; support and ensure staff compliance with their responsibilities, and continuously develop best practices in these areas.Communicate instructional goals and reinforce classroom standardsSchool Culture Leadership
Foster a positive school culture in which scholars continuously learn to hold themselves to high expectations and make decisions that reflect a high degree of respect for themselves and others.Support through the advisory program for scholars developing independentLead community-wide rituals to share information, recognize and celebrate scholar and staff achievements, and apply the Restorative Practices Model.Oversee the development of school-wide discipline practices communicated in an annual student handbook.Oversee consistent administration of policies and compliance with state law and best practice.Interject and support the creation of a joyful culture through school-wide and classroom-based celebrations, incentives, and positive recognition.Develop staff capacity to foster positive relationships with scholars and ensure they make informed, healthy decisions that lead to success in all their pursuits.Ensure coordinated and innovative student support services across teams.Remain responsive to the professional needs of staff and infuse added supportive and developmental sessions when necessary.Collect ongoing feedback from staff to identify needs and to develop action plans to provide appropriate supervision, direction, support, and recognition to staff.Student Recruitment, Retention, and Community Engagement
Oversee yearlong student recruiting practices and management of all new scholar outreach, orientations, and onboarding to meet enrollment targets.Oversee the application of Phoenix's practices of relentless outreach and intervention to ensure engagement, regular attendance, consistent with established goals and benchmarks.Oversee primary person model (PPM) to improve accountability. Each student is assigned to one main staff member who monitors progress and coordinates with others as needed. The goal is to reduce confusion and ensure all student needs are addressed.Oversee school-wide staff engagement in retention activities using the mantra that "everyone is a retention specialist."Build and maintain critical community partnerships to ensure that the most disconnected young people can access Phoenix as an opportunity to get back on track to college and careers.Ensure that Phoenix is a visible and trusted community institution.Operational Leadership
Manage the school's budget and work closely with the Operations leader to monitor the relationship between budget and enrollment; become deeply knowledgeable of the fiscal boundaries of the school budget.Responsible for monitoring student enrollment (FTE) making data-driven adjustments to ensure staffing levels and resource allocation remain aligned with the school's budget and strategic staffing plan.Ensure the building is clean, welcoming, and conducive to learning at all times, and that the building sends positive messages to scholars about their worth and importance in our communityEnsure appropriate DESE regulations are met and delegated to appropriate staff (including but not limited to data collection and annual disciplinary reporting).Ensure technology platforms are updated and accessible to staff and students.Coordinate recommitment and recruitment practices with the network talent team.Oversee school-based hiring processes through the final offer; participate in salary discussions when appropriate.Supervision and Development of Leaders
Supervise, continuously develop, and evaluate members of the School Leadership Team using weekly meetings and through use of the leadership competencies.Manage Leadership Team meetings to ensure the weekly coordination of action plans for enrollment, attendance, culture, and academic achievement data.Support leaders in effectively supervising and evaluating staff to ensure that all staff members have focused goals for professional growth and receive ongoing feedback to improve their performance.Collaborate with the Chief Schools Officer and the Instructional Leadership Team to develop the Staff Institute and the annual Professional Development Plan.Qualifications
The Head Of School will possess an infectious enthusiasm and a tireless commitment to supporting Phoenix scholars and staff. You care about the Phoenix scholar population and community because of your proximity to it. You never give up. You over-communicate. You motivate and inspire. You have demonstrated the capacity to successfully undertake the responsibilities listed above, and you bring the following skills, experience, and orientation :
Commitment to all students engaged in equity-minded educational practicesAbility to set direction across an entire school and motivate others to actionDemonstrated success in developing leadership capacity in othersDemonstrated ability to create inclusive environments that honor and leverage a diversity of backgrounds and perspectivesOutstanding leadership, management and culture building skills, with particular emphasis on team building, conflict management, sharing and collaboration, goal setting, and accountabilityExcellent interpersonal, human relations, stress and conflict management skillsHistory of and enthusiasm for engaging with parents and communityA minimum of 3 years of school leadership / supervisory experience as an AP, Principal, Dean or something similar, as well as demonstrated classroom leadership experience with results