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6 Feb
2020
Principal or Vice Principal Principal
Job Description
SOAR Principal
2020-2021 School Year
WHO WE ARE
Founded in 2010, SOAR is a Kindergarten through 5th grade public charter school serving 435 students in Denver’s Far Northeast. At SOAR we believe:
- Students learn best when learning is purposeful, relevant, active, and joyful.
- Diversity of culture, thought, experience, and perspective is reflected in our work.
- Community is built through authentic, respectful, collaborative, and meaningful relationships.
- In cultivating and celebrating creative and critical thinking.
- In building upon every child’s strengths, talents, and potential.
- In the integration of academic and social-emotional learning.
- In individual and collective responsibility for the success of all students.
Our school offers a holistic approach to education that combines rigorous academic instruction with social-emotional learning and character-building so that our students develop the skills they need to thrive as learners and leaders.
This year, SOAR is celebrating its 10th anniversary and we are seeking a visionary leader who can build upon student achievement gains and lead SOAR’s students, staff, and community to the next level of academic, personal, and community excellence.
SOAR’s Principal reports directly to our six person Board of Directors and leads a talented team of over 40 leaders, teachers and support staff.
WHO YOU ARE
- You are an open, warm, and results-oriented instructional leader who has a track record of leading others toward excellent academic outcomes.
- You hold an unwavering belief that all students can achieve at high-levels if given access to rigorous, culturally relevant content and the right support to access it.
- You deeply value partnerships with families and have experience proactively engaging them to create a school community where students thrive and achieve academic success.
- You have experience with distributive leadership models and are eager to use that experience to create an organizational structure and culture that empowers staff and supports learning and growth at all levels from students to staff and through school leadership.
- You are a visible, hands-on leader who values and encourages diversity of culture, thought, experience, and perspective and you have a demonstrated ability to build trusting and productive relationships with students, staff, and families.
- You are self-reflective, an attentive listener, and a strong communicator who is comfortable giving and receiving feedback and taking responsibility for individual and collective successes and challenges.
- You use (and supports others in using) data to help guide decisions about school priorities.
- You have the organizational skills and management savvy to turn abstract ideas into concrete plans.
- You model SOAR’s habits of respect, compassion, perseverance, responsibility, and integrity, and you have a deep commitment to SOAR’s vision and beliefs.
- You have experience delivering significant student achievement gains in a Title I, charter or turnaround school setting and have a State of Colorado Principal License (professional or provisional) in place by the time the position starts.
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
In this role you will…
- Design and lead a comprehensive instructional strategy that ensures standards-aligned, rigorous, culturally relevant instruction is delivered to every student, every day.
- Design and cultivate a distributed leadership structure (coaching, professional learning, teacher leader pathways) that ensures staff have the skills and support they need to maintain a relentless focus on mission-critical priorities.
- Regularly visit classrooms to support and monitor instruction and provide consistent feedback to teachers and school administrators on progress toward instructional goals.
- Develop school wide and leadership team norms and structures for collaboration, data analysis, and professional learning.
- Create a safe, welcoming, and collaborative school culture that attends to the diverse needs of SOAR students, staff and families.
- Co-create plans to achieve SOAR’s vision and culture, and regularly assess and report out progress toward goals using evidence.
- Use data to inform decisions about resource allocation, instruction, professional learning, talent management, and student learning.
- Act as standard bearer for the school’s vision, including reinforcing high expectations for SOAR students and staff, and acting professionally and ethically always.
- Cultivate strong relationships with SOAR students, staff, families and board including actively participating in family and community engagement activities both during and outside of regular school hours.
- Oversee special education services to ensure students are receiving high-quality services in compliance with local, state, and federal guidelines.
- Oversee charter renewal process and liaise with Denver Public School staff to ensure all state and district requirements are met.
- Perform other duties as required to ensure SOAR is a healthy, happy, and high performing school community.
EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- 3+ years of experience teaching in an urban school classroom delivering significant student achievement gains.
- Bachelor’s Degree and a current, valid State of Colorado Principal License (professional or provisional) in place by the time the position starts.
- Success in working with a diverse student population and second language learners.
- Demonstrated experience coaching and developing other adults.
Strongly Preferred
- 3+ years of experience as a Principal, Assistant Principal (or equivalent) or a similar leadership position at an elementary school serving a diverse student population.
- Demonstrated experience designing and leading through distributed leadership models.
- Master’s Degree and bilingual skills in Spanish.
WHAT WE OFFER
SOAR is an equal opportunity employer (EEO) and offers a competitive salary commensurate with qualifications and experience, performance incentives, and comprehensive medical, dental and wellness benefits.
