School Network Staff Executive Director, Acceleration Schools
Job Description
Charleston County School District (CCSD) is looking for an Executive Director, Acceleration Schools to help lead the improvement of 14 schools in CCSD. As an Executive Director, you’ll have the opportunity to partner with community stakeholders, school leaders, and central office staff to translate a vision for improving student achievement and ensuring students have access to equitable educational opportunities. We are looking for someone with an equity-centered mindset and a focus on what’s possible for our students and schools. The ideal candidate has experience in supporting a district’s turnaround school efforts.
The Executive Director, Acceleration Schools is responsible for leading growth and closing gaps at the lowest performing schools in CCSD – designated Acceleration Schools. This includes managing and coordinating instructional activities, resources, structures, and processes in Acceleration Schools. The Executive Director, Acceleration Schools works alongside school leaders and central office staff to build strong collaborative relationships and to ensure goals are accomplished in a timely and cost-effective manner that results in increased student achievement and improved community engagement. The Executive Director, Acceleration Schools will report to the Chief Academic Officer and CCSD senior leadership to integrate initiatives, provide resources and communication, troubleshoot risks and issues, and ensure effective implementation of growth strategy in designated schools
Primary Position Responsibilities:
• Work directly with designated schools to implement structures and processes to increase academic achievement.
• Monitor the progress of programming within designated schools and provide guidance and support as needed.
• Research and review new ideas and programs and make recommendations for needed program changes in designated schools.
• Lead support meetings and analyze all academic, cultural, behavioral, and other relevant data points for designated schools to determine performance challenges and advise on school improvement efforts.
• Collaborate with leadership in designated schools to create individualized action plans and monitor progress.
• Establish comprehensive systems to provide targeted support and allow for operational flexibility (including visits, coaching, meetings, and resources) to designated schools.
• Ensure that key resources (people, time, materials, and budgets) are aligned with the growth plan and implementation strategy
• Collaborate with human resources to recruit highly qualified staff needed to meet goals.
• Ensure that priorities and needs are clearly articulated to key stakeholders, ensuring that district staff and community partners understand the critical role they play in achieving sustainable change.
• Collect, analyze, and disaggregate school data to provide a strategic direction to designated school principals.
Interested candidates must be committed to continuous improvement with the fundamental goal of advancing student equity and achievement in an urban public school district. In addition, we are seeking candidates with the following educational and experiential requirements and knowledge, skills, and abilities:
Required:
• A minimum of five (5) years of successful experience in an education leadership role either at the K-12 level or post-secondary setting. This level of leadership includes experience as a building level leader, district level administrator, leader in an education reform organization, or leadership experience at a state or national level.
Preferred:
• Proven experience with improving academic achievement; climate/culture indicators; and teacher recruitment/retention.
• Ability to work closely with community leaders and proven providers to partner on school improvement efforts.
• Knowledgeable about change management and able to quickly establish credibility among and incorporate the perspectives of team members including partners, peers, and executive leadership
• Knowledge of district, state, and federal policies, guidelines, laws, and rules related to public school education and school-accountability
• Experience creating and managing annual budgets and generation of financial projections; evidence of fiscal soundness of existing schools.
• Ability to work cross-functionally across departments and engage multiple stakeholders in working toward a common goal
• Demonstrated ability to incorporate diverse perspectives into projects.
• Must possess effective communication (oral and written) and interpersonal skills.
Physical/Mental Requirements:
Must be physically capable of performing all primary and secondary functions of this position. A strong mental mindset capable of coping with routine and emergency situations in required. Must be able to adapt to fluctuating deadlines. Must be capable of working in a variety of environments and able to function in high-risk emergency situations.
