Work in collaboration with the Special Services Team Leadership to set a vision for the Special Services team, and then share that vision with a variety of stakeholders at the CMO and at our schools. Work with school leaders across the network to build investment in our strategic plan and vision for Academics as it relates to special education and MLL students. Coach Deans of Special Services around their school partnerships, instructional excellence and compliance. Manage strategic plan initiat... more details
Director of Special Services
About the Opportunity
The Academic Team is part of Democracy Prep’s Charter Management Organization and works directly with school leaders and the Academics Team to drive scholar growth and ensure that all schools achieve their end-of-year academic goals. The role of the Special Services Director is to support school leaders across the network and members of the CMO Team so that academic instruction aligns with the mandated services a scholar with an IEP, 504 plan, or ELP plan is to receive. The director works to analyze data across the network to identify key levers that drive excellent academic outcomes and partners with school leaders and specialists to enact those levers. The director works to set the instructional vision and improve outcomes for our diverse learners across the network. Additionally, the director supervises a cohort of Deans of Special Services to ensure Special Services are delivered in schools with fidelity and quality.
Who You Are:
- An educator with an unwavering commitment to the Democracy Prep mission of college success and authentic civic engagement for our scholars.
- An organized leader with strong time management and follow-up skills and a demonstrated ability to take initiative, inspire, motivate and coach others and handle multiple projects concurrently.
- A self-reflective and self-aware teammate who is dedicated to aligning their work with Democracy Prep's commitment to antiracism and who is eager to use these skills to contribute to a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- An excellent communicator, with demonstrated ability to speak and write clearly and persuasively to a variety of stakeholders.
- A strategic and data-driven problem-solver, who thinks critically and plans accordingly.
- An experienced special education educator who understands deeply the nuances of diverse learners across grades K-12.
- A strong coach who has a track-record of success growing and developing a team to advance academic achievement for students and great success as an instructional coach.
- A constant learner who wants to continually grow in their understanding of academic pedagogy, standards and instruction
- An academic expert who is fluent with all parts of academic pedagogy, including standards, assessments, lesson design and execution
- An innovator thinker who is solutions-oriented and creative. A person who will think outside of the box for innovative solutions to support academic excellence for all scholars.
- A graduate of a Bachelor’s degree program (required). Master’s Degree in Special Services related field is strongly preferred.
What You'll Do
- Work in collaboration with the Special Services Team Leadership to set a vision for the Special Services team, and then share that vision with a variety of stakeholders at the CMO and at our schools.
- Work with school leaders across the network to build investment in our strategic plan and vision for Academics as it relates to special education and MLL students.
- Coach Deans of Special Services around their school partnerships, instructional excellence and compliance.
- Manage strategic plan initiatives related to Special Education curriculum and instructional systems.
- Support effective instructional systems such as grading, lesson internalization, assessment and data analysis across Democracy Prep schools.
- Plan and execute excellent professional development for school leaders and teachers across the network tied to the initiatives outlined in the strategic plan.
- Identify and work to overcome stumbling blocks to high quality instruction in Special Education classrooms across the DPPS network.
- Work in collaboration with the Deans of Special Services and school leaders to ensure that all compliance needs at DPPS schools across the country are met.
- Budget and plan for Special Education billing for Democracy Prep schools across the country.
Compensation
Salary is competitive and commensurate with your experience. Democracy Prep employees are provided with a benefits package that includes medical, vision, and dental insurance, 403B matching, parental leave, tuition reimbursement, a smartphone, and a laptop.
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Democracy Prep is an Equal Opportunity Employer and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, domestic violence victim status, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances. Our mission is to educate responsible citizen-scholars who will change the world. We strongly believe that by building a DREAM team that represents numerous perspectives, backgrounds, and expertises, we can achieve this goal together. This is a value we highly support and strongly encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply.
