School Network Staff Managing Director of Schools: High School
Job Description
About the Managing Director of Schools: The Managing Director of Schools High School is an experienced Principal who assumes full ownership for the outcomes of KIPP Colorado school campuses through the management of Principals, while also serving as a liaison to the Home Office and steward of KIPP Colorado’s strategic plan, vision for an Exceptional Student Experience, RIDE Commitments, and Portrait of a Graduate. The MD of Schools High School is directly responsible for assisting a school(s) and School Principals in all efforts to improve a school’s leadership, culture, systems, structures, instructional practices and philosophies, for the purpose of ensuring student academic growth and success. This full-time position is a part of our Home Office Team and is a key member of KIPP Colorado’s leadership team. This role will report to the Chief Academic Officer.
About KIPP: Together with families and communities, KIPP creates joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world. KIPP is a national network of tuition-free, public charter schools open to all students. There are 255 college-preparatory KIPP schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia, serving more than 100,000 students. Nationally, KIPP students are graduating four-year colleges at three times the national average for low-income students.
Who we are: KIPP Colorado Public Schools is a network of six free college-preparatory public charter schools open to all students. Our 350-person staff educates 2,600 students from ECE to 12th grade. At KIPP Colorado, we partner with our KIPPsters, educators, families and communities to ensure that we are all united around the goal of a choice-filled future for our KIPPsters. Our KIPP Forward Team supports our 1,000+ high school Alumni as they create their own paths. Our core values of excellence, belonging, belief, advocacy and courage are central to who we are and how we operate at all levels of our organization.
What we do: We believe in the unique gifts and brilliance of every student. We believe in setting a high bar for joy and academic excellence to ensure the infinite possibilities our students have before them become a reality. We aspire to create and reinforce a culture of achievement, belonging and support. We know that every student is different and we personalize learning based on a student’s needs, skills, and interests.
Role Responsibilities and More About How You’ll Spend Your Time in this Role
Develop: Formally developing the Principals and Principals in Residence that they manage through structured coaching, data analysis and observations;
Drive Results: Driving strategic school improvements using data in order to drive results in schools and across the region;
Lead and Coordinate: Coordinating a Home Office regional support team and contributing to strategic decision-making in the Home Office;
Engage Community: Partner with the External Affairs Team to build and execute a comprehensive community engagement strategy to drive community connection in their region and equity of voice within school communities.
Drive Results for Students
- Drives improvement towards KIPP Colorado’s vision for success and outcomes of the schools you oversee
- Directly responsible for assisting a school(s) in all efforts to improve a school’s leadership, culture, systems, structures, instructional practices and philosophies, for the purpose of ensuring student academic growth
- Serve as a model and exemplar of effective coaching moves across levels (teacher coaching, assistant principal coaching, principal coaching, etc.)
- Coach campus leaders (as assigned), including Principals and AP-level leaders, in building both technical and adaptive proficiency in the most important areas of instructional, people, and organizational leadership, grounded in a shared understanding of criteria for success and exemplars/models.
- Facilitate collaboration and support of school leadership across the Org to create and sustain alignment, maximize efficiencies of scale, and uphold organizational norms for decision-making.
Principal Management and Coaching
- Directly manage and evaluate School Principals
- Responsible for supporting, guiding, problem solving, and coaching school administrators in instructional leadership, building a positive and effective school culture, and management of staff.
- Guide, support, coach and develop school administrators with instructional practices that support the mission and vision of KIPP Colorado
- Regularly spend time in each school, model best practices and work alongside School Principals to support them in leading the school.
- Communicate and problem solve with parents, school staff, and administrators.
Principal and School Leadership Development
- Will work closely the Chief Academic Officer to implement a curated development sequence for the Principals they manage
- Responsible for supporting strategic learning opportunities for School Principals
- Works to develop leaders with the expectation that the needs of the Org must always be balanced with the needs of individual schools
- Responsible for succession planning at their schools
- Will identify emerging leaders for network-level development
- Directly coaches Principals in Residence at the campuses managed and leads / executes high-quality PIR programming in collaboration with the CAO
Programmatic Leadership and Management of KIPP Forward
- Directly manage, coach, support and develop the Director of KIPP Forward to ensure a strong, high-quality KIPP Forward program
- Coordinate regular collaboration and cohesion with High School principals and K-12 academic leadership to ensure strong programmatic alignment
Academic Strategy
- In collaboration with the CAO, set the organization’s vision for educational excellence – including academics, student culture, student experience – across the Org in alignment with the new strategic plan.
- Analyze academic, persistence, retention, and proficiency-based data metrics in collaboration with home office support staff members to make appropriate decisions about resource allocation and coaching support.
Relationship Management
- Successfully balance decision-making that is in the best interest of both the Org and the schools they oversee
- Assure alignment between Org priorities and school management, by building relationships and investment with all parties and supporting the efficacy staff in our schools.
- Cultivate and manage relationships with Org leaders and other critical stakeholders, especially Chief People Officer, principals and school leadership team members.
- Meet with internal and external stakeholders and synthesize their concerns, challenges, and ideas into easily understandable and actionable recommendations.
Professional Responsibilities
- Believe deeply in the mission, values, and Race, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (RIDE) commitments of KIPP Colorado Schools and that all children can and will learn.
- Providing an active presence, strategic supervision, and intentional monitoring to ensure student safety and engagement in rigorous learning (regardless of my role and its proximity to students)
- Take ownership for the development of your craft (meet 1x/1-2 weeks with a manager, implement feedback, engage in active practice, etc.)
- Meet professional obligations including and not limited to meeting deadlines and honoring schedules.
- Collaborate with colleagues and seek feedback in the spirit of continuous improvement.
- Reflect on professional practices to meet individual professional development goals.
- Assume personal responsibility for student achievement.
- Actively participate in professional development, grade level, and department meetings.
- Actively engage in all school-wide professional development.
- Serve as a positive, contributing member of a grade team, collaborating with colleagues to tackle common challenges and implement grade-wide initiatives.
- Share candid, solutions-oriented feedback with peers and leadership on a regular basis.
- Maintain strong attendance each day and be on time to all responsibilities
- Assist with both student and staff recruitment.
- Other duties as assigned
Managing Director Role Level Specifics, Scope of Work, and Level of Responsibility For more about how you’ll lead at the Senior Director level, please visit the KIPP Colorado Role Levels Matrix (this is an internal document, only).
About Your Skills and Qualifications at the Managing Director Level
- Bachelor’s Degree (required)
- At least 3 years as a successful school Principal (required)
- At least 8 years of school based experience (required)
- Three or more years of experience managing a team (preferred)
- A full understanding and Commitment to an Exceptional Student Experience (more about that HERE) (required)
- Previous experience developing and facilitating adult learning/training (required).
- Adept at thinking strategically, translating plans into action, and exhibiting excellent judgment
- Detail oriented with exceptionally strong follow-up and follow-through skills
- Unquestioned integrity and commitment to KIPP Colorado’s mission and values, including a strong commitment to the belief that all children can learn and deserve access to an excellent public education
- Naturally and readily assumes responsibility to fix problems and create improvements
- Ability to quickly and effectively build relationships with, motivate, and engage a diverse group of stakeholders
- Skilled at analyzing, interpreting, and using data to collaborate, identify best practices and areas for improvement, and drive results
Compensation and Benefits:
Staff retention and satisfaction is imperative for KIPP Colorado. We seek to provide competitive compensation and benefits including the following:
- Competitive Market Salary: Starting salary for this role begins at $145,000
- Please submit a comprehensive resume to assure all your experience is accounted for! (Tip: We don’t care if your resume is more than one page, we are eager to see and compensate you for all of your experience and accomplishments.)
- Excellent Healthcare Plan: 100% of employee-only monthly premium paid by KIPP Colorado and options for family enrollment and coverage, through United Healthcare.
- Time Off !!!: More than 6 weeks of annual vacation and Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Based on hire date, employees are eligible for up to 8 days of Paid Time Off (PTO)
- All employees receive summer break through an Org closure, based on work location and position
- Access to Parental and medical leave: Includes 6 weeks paid and 6 weeks unpaid for a total of 12 weeks (after your first year).
- Career Trajectory: Access to opportunity to to move up, across schools, and grow your career and weekly coaching session to refine your craft.
- Mental Health Care: Immediate and ongoing access to mental health support through our Employee Assistance Program.
- Technology & Access: Equipment provided: laptop & phone
- Retirement Planning: Participation in the Colorado PERA retirement program, including a PERA 401k option.
- Move to Join Us: Relocation reimbursement (when applicable)
- Additional Pay: Most school offer various stipend opportunities
- All the Insurance Options:
- Wellness reimbursement
- Voluntary employee, spousal, and child life insurance
- Voluntary long term disability insurance
- Voluntary short term disability insurance
- Optional Basic Life and AD&D Insurance
- All the Info: For more information, you can view our benefits FAQ here .
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.
