Company Description

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

By 2025, KIPP DC will build upon two decades of proven results to develop into a more impactful, innovative, and inclusive school system that provides joyful, identity-affirming learning experiences so that all students and alumni achieve extraordinary outcomes.

Our work is grounded in a commitment to excellence, equity, and justice. We believe all students have the right to rigorous, relevant, and joyful learning experiences led by exceptionally talented and diverse educators who promote student achievement and a sense of belonging. We believe students and teachers best succeed when surrounded by an ecosystem of supports, including our central headquarters team that supports KIPP DC’s 20 schools, 7,300 students, and 1,300 teachers, leaders, and staff members dedicated to this mission.

Job Description

ROLE OVERVIEW

A Principal-on-Assignment (POA) is an experienced principal ready to lead a KIPP DC school during or depending on vacancies and alignment by grade level. Principals-on-Assignment are committed to and actively contribute to the success of their placement school(s) and act in alignment with the rest of the school leadership team and regional team’s vision and priorities. The Principal-on-Assignment has experience leading a school, and is ready to learn about different school communities and leadership styles, build relationships, and manage special projects at the school and regional level. If and when an unexpected principal vacancy presents itself, KIPP DC may look to the Principal-on-Assignment to step into a principal role.

The POA role may mirror that of a guest colleague or co-principal for part of the school year, and the work the POA takes on may evolve as this individual spends more time within a school setting. A POA should or expect to actively participate on leadership teams at the guidance of the principal. They actively seek growth through participation in high-quality, meaningful formal and informal professional development, transformative coaching, and cohort based learning experiences with fellow principals across KIPP DC. Additionally, given the flexibility of this role, wherever possible, the person in this role will likely support 1-2 significant regional projects impacting student learning and achievement.

The duties of the role below reflect a wide-range but not exhaustive list of responsibilities a POA will likely take on over the course of the year. School leadership is a complex and rewarding role, and the role of the POA requires tremendous flexibility, focus, enthusiasm, and the lens of a learner and relationship builder.

The POA role is an exempt role, and reports to the Chief of Schools.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Vision & Goals
  • Support development of the region’s and/or school leader’s school-wide vision and takes an active role in investing and mobilizing teachers to achieve the collective goals of the school; owns the implementation of select school priorities in support of the school-wide vision
  • In cooperation with and under guidance from the school leaders or the Chief of Schools, leads the planning and goal setting for the grades/departments that he/she coaches and ensures alignment with school-wide goals
  • Focus efforts toward student achievement and the development of staff

• 
  Instructional Leadership & Focus on Student Achievement
  • Establish & communicate experiential and academic goals for students
  • Identify academic gaps across a grade level or department and develop and execute a plan that results in improved student experiences and outcomes
  • Demonstrate strong student achievement results across classrooms that they coach
  • Understand curriculum, pedagogical practices, standards, lesson plans, unit plans, assessments & each one's purpose for multiple grade levels or departments
  • Collaborate with other coaches and leaders to support teachers in instructing and assessing and connects teachers with relevant resources to improve their content knowledge and instruction
  • Participate in ongoing learning to build knowledge outside of own content area expertise
  • Lead data-driven instruction by analyzing classroom specific and grade/department level data and developing and executing plans to address gaps and by helping teachers do the same thing for their classes
  • Lead a culture where general educators, special educators and other team members collaborate to meet the needs of unique learners

• 
  Plan & Prioritize
  • Focus. Prioritize and manage own time to accomplish short and long-term goals or priorities
  • Demonstrate strong judgment and data-based, timely decision-making
  • Act decisively to overcome barriers and make difficult choices with the long‐term and short‐term impact in mind

• 
  Lead School Culture
  • Set a vision of excellence for student and staff culture, along with the School Leader and/or regional team, and execute on plans to uphold it
  • Support the creation and maintenance of positive, affirming and joyful student culture
  • Ensure our programming and service delivery for students with special needs is high-quality and well-supported
  • Manage parts of the daily school operations (e.g. schedule, arrival/dismissal, lunch/recess) to maintain a focus on teaching and learning
  • Support student intervention and family communication; determine appropriate next steps and follow ups
  • Coach, support and follow up with teachers in service of empowering staff to plan for and predictably respond to student behavior that doesn't meet school culture expectations; employ practices in keeping with our values around equity and care
  • Maintain calm and poise in unpredictable, potentially stressful, situations with students, staff, and families
  • Support and/or lead response to crisis situations employing emergency procedures and common sense

• 
  Manage & Develop
  • Build trusting, strong relationships with fellow leaders, school leadership teams, members of cross-functional teams, teachers and school staff as the foundation for development and management work
  • Ground feedback and next steps for teachers in student impact and data; Capture sharp, meaningful evidence during observations
  • Identify high-leverage coaching focuses ground in student impact, transferability, context and teacher match
  • Develop, rely on, and refine systems that result in the effective coaching of teachers

• 
  Hire & Retain
  • Actively and regularly communicate with colleagues about progress, strengths, areas of growth, and potential trajectories of individual team members you support
  • Collaborate with colleagues to run hiring processes where applicable
  • Employ effective teacher retention strategies (ie. recognition, leadership opportunities, consistent feedback, etc.)
  • Understand and practice fair and legal employment practices

• 
  Operations Management
  • Take the lead on creating and implementation of staff facing, school based systems (i.e. testing, school schedule, arrival, dismissal, etc.) where appropriate
  • Support the leadership team in executing school operational systems such as arrival and dismissal, fire drills, and mealtimes

COMPETENCIES

• Student Focus: Builds strong relationships and holds high expectations for students, holds students’ best interests in mind, keeps owns commitments to students and makes sure others do the same and builds a culture of respect for all students
• Results Driven: Communicates that delivering excellent outcomes, in student experience and academics, is a guiding priority, sets challenging goals for self and others, takes initiative to go above and beyond to to achieve results, follows through on commitments, demonstrates resilience and flexibility
• Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: Demonstrates strong judgment and data-based, timely decision-making, gathers information from multiple sources, sorts out complexity, anticipates problems, values and encourages creative and innovative ideas, thinks expansively and avoids either/or thinking

• Self-Awareness: Demonstrates understanding of own identity, privilege and power, understands strengths and weaknesses and the impact on others’ perceptions, seeks feedback and self-development, proactively asks for and willingly accepts assistance from others in a variety of roles
• Equitable Practices: Believes that equity is something that can constantly drive one’s approach, rather than a lens that can be used sometimes, defines and communicates beliefs around racial and educational equity and leans into conversations about this, creates an inclusive environment that promotes a genuine sense of belonging for school community members across lines of difference
• Impact and Influence: Is as clear on the purpose of actions as action themselves; effectively and reliably communicates "the why" to many stakeholders, adapts leadership style to influence others, takes the lead when there's a need; demonstrates growth mindset and learns from mistakes when they inevitably happen

• Empowering Others: Actively listen to other school community members; seeks to understand others’ views and needs, intentionally builds trust within and across teams of people to promote collaboration and opportunities for shared ownership, consistently demonstrates respect and appreciation for others by empathizing, valuing their time and contributions, and being available and responsive to their needs

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS

KIPP DC is looking for POA candidates who are committed to KIPP DC’s mission that all students can learn and achieve at high levels, have a strong instructional background, a commitment to creating identity-affirming learning experiences, and are looking to develop the leadership skills necessary to lead great schools. Specifically, candidates should have:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum 2 years of principal experience
• Demonstrated academic results
• Demonstrated leadership, management and coaching experience
• Experience teaching core subjects (ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, Special Education) (preferred experience, not required)
• Unquestioned integrity and commitment to KIPP DC’s mission and to advancing its anti-racist ambition through their work with staff, students, alumni, and families

Additional Information

TO APPLY

All interested applicants should visit http://www.kippdc.org/apply, and

click the “School Leadership Roles” job posting. If you have any questions, please contact the recruitment team via e-mail at careers@kippdc.org.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

KIPP DC offers an extremely competitive compensation and benefits package:

• When it comes to compensation, at KIPP DC we strive for clarity, equity, and to be highly competitive. We look at compensation benchmarks in schools across DC. A principal on assignment is hired on the principal salary scale. Principal salaries start at $124,500 and increase with years of experience. Please see the salary scale here.
• KIPP DC offers a robust benefits package including medical, dental, vision, various voluntary benefits, and employer paid benefits such as short term disability, long term disability, life insurance, and a membership to One Medical.
• KIPP DC also offers a 403(b) retirement account with employer contributions and match with vesting after three years.
• Currently, individuals in this role have up to 10 paid sick days, 12 paid holidays, paid Thanksgiving week break, winter break, spring break, and summer break. This is subject to change and your exact schedule will be shared in your offer letter.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

KIPP DC Public Schools does not discriminate against, or tolerate discrimination against, employees or applicants for employment on any legally-recognized basis or protected class including, but not limited to, actual or perceived race, color, national origin, immigration status (except as necessary to comply with federal, DC, state, or local law), religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, gender (including gender identity or expression), marital status (including domestic partnership status), genetic information, political affiliation, pregnancy, family responsibilities, personal appearance, veteran status, uniform service member status, status of being unemployed, status of victim a survivor of domestic violence, sexual offense or stalking, matriculation or any other protected class under federal, state, DC, or local law.

Click here or here to review KIPP DC’s non-discrimination policy and KIPP DC’s Title IX Coordinator’s contact information.

KIPP DC requires all staff to provide proof that they have had all doses of a primary COVID vaccine or obtain approval for exemption for medical or religious reasons before beginning employment. New hires who have not received all doses of a primary vaccine or who are waiting approval for exemption will not be able to begin employment.

All KIPP DC staff are strongly encouraged to stay up to date on their vaccinations. The CDC currently defines being up to date on the COVID vaccine as having had all doses of a primary vaccine and as having received a booster, if eligible.