Lawrence Head of School   

https://phoenixcharteracademy.clearcompany.com/careers/jobs/d04ba974-0b09-1432-f066-0799d631ad92/apply?source=2324836-CS-51190

Why Our Work is Important:

Students across America are dropping out of high school at an alarming rate. Dropping out

High school has a substantial impact on a young person’s life. Over the course of their

lifetime, an individual who drops out of high school is more likely to have reduced earning

power, greater social service dependency, increased rates of criminal involvement, and

shorter life expectancy. Phoenix Charter Academies addresses this trend by creating

environments where students can demonstrate their talent and resilience and prepare

themselves for success through high school, college, and beyond.

Role Summary

Phoenix Charter Academy is seeking an experienced, innovative and passionate school administrator with experience working with our student population, a proven track record of student-centered outcomes, and knowledge of all aspects of school-site leadership. The Head of School must possess a collaborative and inspirational leadership style grounded in accountability and concrete metrics, and must be a passionate advocate for students, staff, and families. Phoenix school leaders are visionaries within the network and the external community, representing - through evidence and urgency - that non-traditional students can achieve at high levels.

We believe that revolutionary team members:

Recognize the importance of forming a school community inclusive of all visible and

invisible identities. We act to ensure that our students and staff always see reflections of

themselves (e.g. sexuality or educational pathways), and their communities, with a specific

focus on race, in positions of power, inspiration, and influence throughout Phoenix.

• Openly discuss, explore, and accept our identities as we strive to create a space that

   embodies our definition of inclusion.

• Seek to understand and challenge our own biases which impede our collective progress

   by actively learning from our colleagues’ and students’ lived experiences

• Confront and relinquish inherent privileges that are given to some at the expense of

   others.

• Actively recruit, develop, and retain a leadership staff that are both a visible and an

  invisible representation of our student body.

Commitment to DEI:

At Phoenix we refuse to allow historical and current systems of oppression to continue to

predetermine the pathways of our students. In fact, we mobilize our scholars to make

changes through our educational system to change their outcomes. We understand that

we, as a school community, must actively dismantle these systems of oppression that may

exist within our walls to change the systems outside of our walls.

Qualities of Phoenix Staff member:

• 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 what can seem like insurmountable barriers and societal constraints.
• Ability to Put Scholars First - Phoenix staff go above and beyond to ensure student mastery of the skills and development of positive self-identity that will ensure success for college, careers and beyond. Phoenix staff find every opportunity to engage in teaching and learning with scholars, using conflict to build supportive relationships with scholars and never taking things personally.
• Eager to Learn Under Pressure - Phoenix staff must be able to learn as they go in a fast paced, ever evolving, urgent environment. They have the desire to receive direct feedback and the ability to implement the feedback into practice quickly.
• Humility - Phoenix staff approach problem solving with curiosity and desire to understand the perspectives of others. They carry an internalized sense of “I can always learn more”  from others, and know that adults at Phoenix must model the qualities of being open-minded and willing to make mistakes and learn from them.
• Experience with Low Income Communities - Staff have the proven ability to work across cultures and experience serving low-income communities and/or academically-disconnected adolescents. 
• Ability to Find Inspiration In the Small Things - In the face of challenge and hard work, Phoenix staff must have the ability to find humor, inspiration, success and joy in the day to day interactions with scholars and the larger Phoenix Community.

Specific Job Responsibilities:

Envisioned as the comprehensive leader of the school, the Phoenix Head of School must be able to demonstrate and juggle leadership across multiple priorities. The Head of School reports directly to the Chief Schools Officer.

Instructional Leadership

• Ensure the Phoenix priority academic standards for core content areas: foundational academic skills, social emotional development, and college and career readiness are implemented into a backwards planned curriculum.
• Lead a scholar focused academic program by ensuring scholars have demonstrated the ability to show competence and apply skills in new environments through a variety of assessments and activities, with the ultimate goal of completing college and/or other post-secondary opportunities.
• Work with the school’s Leadership Team and Network-wide Instructional Leadership Team (NILT) to design and deliver engaging and focused professional development to ensure that all staff are continuously engaged in growing their practice.
• Lead the school’s Instructional Leadership Team to identify academic needs and develop shared team action plans to ensure that gaps are addressed.
• 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, ensure that staff complies with responsibilities and continuously develops practice in these areas.

School Culture Leadership

• Foster a positive school culture in which scholars are continuously learning to hold themselves to high expectations and to make decisions that reflect a high degree of respect for self and others.
• Develop and cultivate school culture through the Restorative Mental 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.
• Develop the capacity of staff to build positive relationships with scholars and to ensure that they are making positive and healthy decisions that will lead to success at Phoenix, in college, and beyond.
• Lead community-wide rituals such as community meetings to share key information, recognize scholar and staff achievements, and provide applicable rituals and routines for community connections and celebrations.
• Ensure coordinated and innovative student support services across teams.
• Remain responsive to professional needs of staff and infuse added supportive and developmental sessions when necessary.
• Collect ongoing feedback from staff to identify needs and to develop actions plans to provide appropriate supervision, direction, support, and recognition to staff.
• Connect school culture to Phoenix’s vision for Restorative Practices

Student Recruitment, Retention and Community Engagement

• Oversee yearlong student recruiting practices and management of all new scholar orientations to ensure that enrollment targets are met.
• Supervise attendance support, intervention programs and practices to constantly re-engage scholars and make sure that they are attending regularly, using Phoenix core practices of relentless outreach.
• Oversee the overall student attendance and retention trends to meet clearly established goals and benchmarks.
• Oversee school-wide staff engagement on retention activities using the mantra that “everyone is a retention specialist”.
• Build and maintain critical community partnerships that will 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 Operations leader to monitor relationship between budget and enrollment; become deeply knowledgeable of fiscal boundaries of school budget.
• Ensure building is clean, welcoming, and conducive to learning at all times, and that building sends positive messages to scholars about their worth and importance in our community
• Ensure 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 final offer;participate in salary discussions when appropriate.

Supervision and Development of Leaders

• Supervise, continuously develop, and evaluate members of the School Leadership Team.
• Manage Leadership Team meetings to ensure weekly coordinated action plans of 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.
• Work with the Chief Schools Officer and Instructional Leadership Team to develop Staff Institute and annual Professional Development Plan.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Commitment to anti-racism and equity- minded educational practices
• Ability to set direction across an entire school and motivate others to action
• Demonstrated success in developing leadership capacity in others
• Demonstrated ability to create inclusive environments that honor and support a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives
• Outstanding leadership and management skills, particularly as it relates to building teams, getting people to share, managing conflict, goal setting, and holding people accountable
• Excellent interpersonal, human relations, and stress and conflict management skills
• History of enthusiasm of engaging with parents and community
• 3+ years of school leadership as an AP or Dean, and additional classroom leadership

We seek a diverse workforce. Phoenix Charter Academy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Phoenix Charter Academy is committed to providing equal opportunity to staff and applicants in all areas of employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status, or any other area protected by federal, state or local law. Phoenix Charter Academy is committed to making any reasonable accommodation necessary to support an individual's employment.

**It is understood that this Job Description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the position. It is not intended to be a complete and total description of each and every duty and responsibility. This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by this employee. He or she will be required to follow any other instructions and to perform any other duties requested by his or her supervisor. It is also understood that the Charter Management Organization retains the right to modify this Job Description at any time, for any reason, at the CMO’s discretion**