Position Summary

Education for Change is looking for a dynamic and visionary instructional leader who will engage students, staff, and families to ensure high student achievement. The site principal communicates and supports the mission of Education for Change, maintains the focus on high student achievement for all students, creates a collaborative, results-oriented professional learning community, analyzes and responds to data, supports teachers in their growth, and evaluates and responds to the effectiveness of interventions and instructional practices. The principal creates an environment in which school attendance, learning and high achievement are valued.  S/he engages community partners and families in serving the whole child and ensuring ALL children achieve at high levels prepared to succeed in any setting. S/he will know how to successfully manage an urban elementary school with a high English Learner and low-income population.

About Education for Change Public Schools

Education for Change Public Schools (EFCPS) believes it is the right for every child to have access to a high-quality, 21st-century education. Our mission is to provide a superior public education to Oakland’s most underserved children by creating a system of schools that focus relentlessly on our students’ academic achievement. EFCPS is a charter management organization that manages a diverse portfolio of TK-8 schools, growing to a portfolio of TK-12 schools in the Fruitvale and Elmhurst neighborhoods of Oakland, currently serving 3,000 children.  Additional information about Education for Change can be found at www.efcps.org.

About ASCEND

ASCEND is a TK-8 arts-integrated, expeditionary learning school that emphasizes family and community partnerships. The Vision of ASCEND is to nurture a passion for learning and cultivate personal agency in order to discover who we are, what we need and how to advocate for it. Together, our community of students, families, and staff explores, learns and grows through success and failure. Diverse learners thrive through an approach that develops the whole individual, which includes arts-integration, expeditionary learning, personalization, and a focus on social and emotional growth. Through a common vision guided by love, we empower each other to forge our own paths and to create a school that reflects the world we want.

Our model works towards these Deeper Learning Competencies (Content Mastery, Effective Communication, Critical Thinking & Problem-solving, Collaboration, Self-Directioned Learning and Academic Mindsets) via this Theory of Action.

Components of Model

Personalization

• Choice-making based in data

• Instructional decisions targeting individuals

• Actionable next steps

• Supportive menu of options

CREW

• Belonging & becoming

• Familial unit to facilitate both vulnerability and accountability

Multi-age Structures

• Meet the needs of a range of learners

• Engage a larger learning community

• Mentorship & leadership opportunities

• Reach accelerated levels of competence

Standards-based Instruction

• Targets “benchmark” key proficiencies

• Ensures sequential, vertically-aligned content

Expeditionary/Project-based Learning

• Multiple entry points for learning and input

• Variety of platforms/ mediums for expression and demonstration of learning

Arts-integration & Creation

• Multiple entry points for learning and input

• Variety of platforms/ mediums for expression and demonstration of learning

It is through this theory of action and towards these competencies that we work towards cultivating agency in our staff, students and families. We see strong, cohesive school culture and an innovative, inclusive adult learning model as critical levers in this work.

Responsibilities:

Keeper of the School Vision

• Ensures that decisions are anchored and calibrated to the vision

• Works with all stakeholders to reflect on and align all programs and initiatives to the vision

Instructional Leadership

• Maintain and support the focus on high student achievement for all students

• Communicate a sense of urgency around student academic needs

• Establish and maintain an instruction and results-oriented professional learning community

• Analyze performance and observational data to determine professional development needs, including content and pedagogical knowledge, grade level needs, teacher coaching and support

• Monitor student performance data and effectiveness of instructional responses and interventions

• Provide concrete and actionable feedback for teachers to drive instructional improvement

• Work collaboratively with the instructional leadership team to identify professional development needs, develop and facilitate professional development

• Utilize research-based content and pedagogical knowledge in core areas including the reading and writing process, mathematics, science, and social studies instruction, educational theory, research and current issues in urban education

School Culture

• Supports and refines implementation of student CREW structures

• Works proactively to uphold restorative practices and the Habits of Work and Learning (HOWLs).

• Leverages learning opportiunities with staff to build relationship, connect and align in service of the vision

• Facilitates Coffee with the Principal, Advisory, Staff Meetings and Professional development with the vision as the anchor

Personnel Performance Management and Interpersonal Relations

• Attract, recruit, select and retain high performing staff members

• Set team and individual goals with employees that align with organization vision, mission, values, and goals

• Create and implement systems for talent development

• Facilitates adult learning around components of the model/vision

• Hold staff accountable for high quality job performance and modeling organizational values

• Evaluate personnel in an effective, timely manner

• Motivate staff to excel

• Create a culture where the staff works as a dedicated professional team

• Involve staff in decision making appropriate to the situation including school site planning, committees, etc.

Site Management

• Lead school site planning and implementation processes; ensure the site budget and the site plan are strategically developed to maximize human, financial, time, and programmatic resources to achieve optimal results

• Manage school budget, ensuring that expenditures are aligned to the school plan, in compliance with restricted and categorical fund restrictions

• Follow all established EFC policies and procedures

• Develop systems, timelines and milestones for completion of initiatives

• Work collaboratively with the Business Operations Manager to ensure that the school site is safe, clean and well maintained

• Prioritizes and maintains systems around the curation of student work and visible craftsmanship in school presentation

• Develop, lead and manage systems for efficient and efficacious daily operations

• Ensure there is an effective, regular communication system with all staff

Community Relations

• Skillfully and appropriately involves families and the community in school activities

• Maintain positive community relations and effective, regular communication with parents

• Foster and maintain positive working relationship with co-located EFC school and neighboring district schools

• Organize and facilitate a Family Leadership Council and grade level specific parent education meetings; build capacity of family leaders to engage authentically in site planning and high leverage decision-making

• Develop and execute strategy to attract and retain students and families at school site, with the goal of full enrollment with a waiting list

• Effectively collaborate with community partners and leverage community resources for organizational success

• Actively participate in key student events

• The site principal performs other related duties as assigned. The site principal is responsible for the administration of the school within the regulations of the Governing Board and reports to the Chief of Schools.

Basic Qualifications:

• Minimum of 3 years teaching experience, with a minimum of 5 years combined teaching and/or administrative experience.

• Knowledge of elementary and middle school curriculum and administrative practices

• Successful experience working in a collaborative environment

• Must possess a growth mindset and be able to use feedback to refine practice

• Experience working with diverse communities

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience as an Assistant Principal or site leader

• Spanish Bilingual

• Master’s Degree

• Knowledge of the Common Core standards and instructional practices aligned to those standards

• Experience integrating technology as a teaching tool

• Strong data analysis skills

• Experience working with English Language Learners

• Experience coaching, mentoring or developing teachers

• Strong community-building skills

• Outstanding communication and organization skills

EFC Core Values

• We collaborate. We are a team. We plan together, observe and analyze each other’s work, collaborate with our coaches and site leaders, partner with our families, and together make decisions about our programming.

• We are a learning organization. We approach or practice with an inquiry stance and a growth mindset; we analyze, innovate, and iterate every single day so that we continually improve. We believe in coaching and developing people at every level of experience, at every level of the organization.

• We are solutions-oriented. We approach every challenge with a problem-solving orientation. We listen to and encourage each other. We are resilient in the face of adversity.

• We are accountable. Our mission is to provide a superior public education to Oakland’s most underserved children. We assume personal accountability for student growth; we analyze multiple forms of data, and that analysis drives our instruction.

• We are student-focused. We form close relationships, utilize personalized learning, differentiate instruction, make learning culturally relevant, engage families, and provide individualized interventions to meet the needs of every child.

• We listen. We are a small, responsive organization that values students, family, and employee voice and input.

• We are rooted in community. Ours is a place-based strategy that works deeply with neighborhood leaders and partners to serve our children. We understand that the cultures, values, traditions, and assets that our families bring must be leveraged and honored to reach and teach our children.

Compensation & Benefits

EFCPS offers a highly competitive salary and benefits package. For details, go to www.efcps.org/careers.

Application Process