Principal or Vice Principal High School Principal
Job Description
School Leader at KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy
At KIPP Colorado Schools, all students will learn and achieve.
KIPP Colorado Schools is part of the national KIPP network of tuition-free, open enrollment college-preparatory public charter schools dedicated to preparing students from underserved communities for success in college and life.
Who we are: KIPP Colorado Schools is a network of six high-performing, college-preparatory public charter schools. We educate students in grades 9-12 at KIPP Denver Collegiate High School and KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy, grades 5-8 at KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy and KIPP Northeast Denver Middle School, grades ECE-fourth at KIPP Northeast Elementary and students in ECE-3, ECE-4, and kindergarten at KIPP Sunshine Peak Elementary.
What we do: We set clearly defined and measurable high expectations for academic achievement and conduct in order to create and reinforce a culture of achievement and support. We know that every student is different and we personalize learning based on a student’s needs, skills, and interests.
How we do it: Great schools require great teachers and school leaders. We empower our educators to lead school teams, and we invest in training to help them grow as professionals. Our schools provide a safe, structured, and nurturing environment with minimal distractions and more time for both academics and extra-curriculars, so our students love school and maximize their learning.
Why it matters: Great education transforms lives. At KIPP Colorado Schools, teachers, students, and families are all united around the same goal: college and a choice-filled life. We believe that an excellent college-preparatory education will set students up for success in whatever life path they choose. Through collective hard work and commitment, KIPP students complete college at a rate that is above the national average for all students and four times higher than that of students from similar economic backgrounds.
About KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy:
- Founded in 2015
- Educating 513 students in 9th through 12th grade
- Consistently ranked one of Denver’s highest performing high schools, having received a distinguished “blue” rating on Denver Public Schools’ School Performance Framework for three consecutive years
- Strong commitment to providing both rigorous academics and building character strengths to prepare students for success in college and the competitive world beyond
- Teachers team up with parents and students to help students discover their passions and define their own future
- Prepares students for the postsecondary option that’s right for them with our nationally recognized KIPP Through College program.
- Offers competitive sports teams, extracurricular clubs and activities, and service-learning opportunities
About the School Leader Position at KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy:
The School Leader’s primary job is to drive academic and character outcomes with students. We expect our School Leaders to focus 75% of their time on instructional leadership and leading school culture, specifically all of the activities involved in leading and developing leaders and teachers to improve instruction and drive student achievement and growth in academics and character. At KIPP, we also expect our School Leaders to build lasting and sustainable organizations by developing a pipeline of future School Leaders and creating systems for the ongoing development of school staff. The School Leader is responsible for developing a successor leader and the leadership capacity of the school staff.
Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Instructional and Culture Leadership (75%)
- Set ambitious school-wide vision and goals aligned with the KIPP Colorado early childhood through 12th grade vision and goals that lead students on a path to and through college and choice-filled lives
- Plan and prioritize time and resources to achieve annual goals
- Cultivate a diverse, high-potential school leadership pipeline (from teacher leader to AP to successor) and develop leadership team members by teaching and insisting that they are true owners of the work and coaching and assigning stretch activities
- Define and model expectations for leaders, teachers, and students on school-wide practices to ensure a positive learning environment
- Set explicit school-wide expectations
- Design systems, structures, and routines to ensure consistent school-wide implementation of expectations
- Lead school-level initiatives to develop restorative practices into the culture of the school
- Develop staff with the knowledge, skills, and leadership to effectively implement classroom and school-level cultural expectations
- Actively promote the representation of students and families’ cultures, backgrounds, and experiences into the culture and learning experiences of the school
- Implement systems and structures to hire and retain diverse, highly-effective staff
- Develop staff to be a positive, high-functioning team
- Build own and school staff’s knowledge and expertise in effective instructional design and academic standards
- Develop teachers’ conceptual understanding of what students must know and be able to do and what instructional methods drive student mastery
- Develop knowledge of how standards map to curriculum and assessment
- Develop teachers to provide rigorous and high quality instruction
- Lead analysis of, and develop teachers’ ability to analyze, student data to identify strategies that will move students toward mastery
- Regularly observe and coach instructional leaders to ensure they are providing high-impact, actionable and bite-sized feedback to teachers on a weekly basis
- Ensure teachers can collaborate, analyze their practice and their student data, and adjust instruction in content teams
- Lead whole-school professional development workshops that drive highest-impact improvements in teacher practice
- Cultivate School Leader’s own success and sustainability by engaging lifelines and renewing to get stronger
Other Duties (25%)
- Ensure that all school functions (operations, electives, instruction, leadership, etc.) have systems to coordinate and communicate with one another
- Comply with district and KIPP policies and state and federal laws and regulations affecting the schools
- Develop annual budget based on documented program needs, estimated enrollment, personnel, and other fiscal needs; keep programs within budget limits, maintain fiscal control; accurately report fiscal information
- Compile, maintain, all reports, records, and other documents required including accurate and timely reports
- Articulate the school’s mission to the community and work with the Advocacy and Community Engagement Team to solicit support in accomplishing the mission
- Use appropriate techniques to encourage community and parent involvement
Skills & Qualifications
- Master’s degree in education or related field from an accredited college or university
- Five years of administrative/supervisory experience, teacher classroom experience preferred
- Demonstrated leadership with the ability to lead people and get results through others
- Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks with a willingness to be flexible when needed
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, demonstrating strong organizational and follow up skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Positive attitude, enthusiasm and energy
- Proficient in MS Office products, internet and industry specific software programs
- Experience using data analysis to facilitate and support decision making
- Experience in an urban education environment preferred
- Demonstration of effective teaching and learning practices
- Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills
- Excellent interpersonal, human relations, and stress and conflict management skills
- Excellent planning, goal setting, coordinating, problem analysis and decision-making skills
- Ability to facilitate and lead change initiatives and embrace innovation
- Ability to effectively manage time and multiple priorities
- Ability to effective engage parents and community
Competencies:
The exceptional candidate will excel in the following competencies:
- Student Focus: Belief that all students, regardless of background, have the ability to go to and through college; demonstrated commitment to the school’s unique community
- Direction Setting: Ability to set direction across an entire school and motivate others to action
- Performance Management: Demonstrated student achievement results from teachers and leaders that he/she manages and coaches
- Talent Development: Demonstrated success in developing leadership capacity in others
- Cultural Competence: Demonstrated ability to create inclusive environments that honor and support a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives
- Instructional Leadership: Adept at data analysis; ability to extract meaningful insights across school-wide data
- Instructional Leadership: Expertise in what the school-wide academic standards and state assessments require of students’ knowledge and skills to demonstrate mastery; able to translate student mastery requirements into instructional plans and strategies
- Instructional Leadership: Deep understanding of appropriate application and differentiation of high-leverage instructional strategies (e.g., pacing, stretch it, etc.) based on comprehension of child development and pedagogy
- Instructional Leadership: Command of instructional design and the benefits and tradeoffs of school design decisions in driving student achievement
- Achievement Orientation: Demonstrated resilience and focus on student outcomes
This position is open for a July 1, 2019 start date. Salary will be commensurate with experience. Employee benefits include medical, dental, participation in PERA, and a paid time-off package.
KIPP Colorado Schools is dedicated to equal employment opportunities and fair labor practices. KIPP Colorado Schools, KIPP Denver Collegiate High School, KIPP Northeast Denver Middle School, KIPP Northeast Elementary, KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy, KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy and KIPP Sunshine Peak Elementary provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals based on job-related qualifications, and the ability to perform a job without regard to race, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, religious creed, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, genetic information, legally protected medical condition, veteran status, sexual orientation, or on any other basis made unlawful by federal, state or local laws. It is our policy to maintain a non-discriminatory environment free from intimidation, harassment or bias based upon these grounds.
