Assistant Head of School
Position Title: Assistant Head of School
Reports to: Head of School
Receives Guidance From: Head of School, Division Directors, Director of Teaching and Learning,
Collaborates Closely With: Head of School, Academic Leadership Team, School Leadership Team
Among the Campuses
Collaborates with: *CI Director of Professional Growth, Asst Head of School, Head of School
Supervises: Director of Teaching and Learning, Director of Global Education, Directors of Outdoor Education, Director of Community Service, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Position Summary
The Assistant Head of School at Chadwick plays a major role in guiding the culture and governance of the school towards the fulfillment of its Mission by supporting and serving as a resource to the Head of School, leading the academic oversight and direction of the school, providing operational support, facilitating the use of data to drive school improvement, assisting in the responsible stewardship of the school’s resources, managing professional growth for faculty and staff, improving the student learning experience, and mentoring and guiding leaders throughout the school. The Assistant Head of School is a consensus-builder who not only brings educational skills and expertise but also patience, persistence, high energy, warmth, and a solutions-orientation to the complexities of school leadership.
SCHOOL GOVERNANCE AND OPERATIONS
Supporting and serving as a resource to the Head of School, supporting the Board of Trustees as needed, providing governance, strategic planning, and operational support.
School Governance & Strategic Planning
- Work closely with the Senior Leadership Team and the Academic Leadership Team to provide strategic direction to the school, share data on growth, and solicit feedback for continued progress.
- Lead and support committees, teams, or task forces to execute strategic plan priorities.
- Collaborate with program directors, faculty, and staff to ensure alignment and buy-in for the goals and objectives of the school’s strategic plan.
- Monitor and evaluate progress towards the strategic plan, making adjustments as needed.
- Provide regular updates to the school leadership team on the status of strategic plan initiatives.
- Attend meetings of the Board of Trustees and assist Trustees with board-level projects at the Head’s direction.
- Provide K-12 academic and curricular updates on board reports as needed.
- Using the school-wide strategic plan, establish long-term and quarterly goals for growth and improvement milestones within the community.
- Stay current with educational trends and best practices that are relevant to Chadwick’s Mission and strategic priorities.
- Manage the implementation of systemic changes.
- Model and champion use of the school’s Core Values to guide decision-making.
- Work closely with the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to further advance Chadwick’s commitment to anti-racist, equitable and inclusive practices.
- Supervise the Directors of Chadwick Signature Programs (e.g. Global Education, AltaSea, Outdoor Ed, etc.) in efforts to further advance Chadwick’s commitment to developing global citizens.
- Create and guide the work of need-based Task Forces
- Mentor, guide, and support leaders throughout the school.
Supporting the Head of School
- Support the Head of School in advancing the school’s strategic priorities, learning environment and facilities.
- Take on tasks delegated by the Head and be prepared to act on the Head's behalf when requested or needed.
- Support the Head in the drafting or editing of written communications.
- Speak publicly about school programs, policies, and strategic direction as needed.
- Assist with hiring: all academic candidates should be interviewed by either the Head or Assistant Head of School.
- Interface with all constituencies of the school community: Head of School, administration, staff, faculty, students, the Board of Trustees, alumni, parents, and friends of the school.
- Support the head in planning and execution of safety drills and other aspects of emergency risk management.
- Support the head in crisis management.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Operational Support
- Stay broadly informed about activities and issues arising school wide.
- Step in to assist, fill gaps, or lead changes until issues can be resolved.
- Assist other administrators in areas such as communications, personnel, compensation, spending, academic policy development, risk management, technology, admissions, the recording of policies, and other areas as needed.
- Oversee cross-divisional and inter-departmental initiatives and teams.
- Communicate promptly and professionally with students, families, and colleagues.
- Read, follow, and implement the policies outlined in the school’s Handbooks.
- Oversee stipend system.
- Oversee on-campus housing allocation, in partnership with CFO/COO
- Develop and maintain connections between divisions, departments, administrative groups, and other areas of school life.
Risk Management
- Assist in communications to the wider school community related to risk management.
- Assist in communications and follow up of employee risk management training.
ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP & OVERSIGHT
Cultivate a professional culture of shared ownership for student learning and nurture the school’s earned reputation for excellent academics.
Vision & Team Leadership
- Act as the educational leader of the school, providing vision, expertise, strategic direction, and implementation support to administration, faculty, and staff.
- Work closely with leaders throughout the school to identify and address opportunities for growth throughout the school.
- Communicate respect for the school’s prior achievements and a vision for how to promote further growth and development in its programs, students, faculty, and staff.
- Lead the Academic Leadership Team in the thoughtful design and sequence of a K-12 curriculum that develops students’ critical discipline-specific skills and core competencies.
- Serve as a resource to faculty and staff in matters of curriculum planning, class climate, student motivation, instructional methods, and assessment practices.
- Lead the Academic Leadership Team in the articulation of the school’s mission, goals, curricular priorities, pedagogical methods and means of assessment.
- Support the Curriculum Team in the implementation and monitoring of the school’s mission, goals, curricular priorities, pedagogical methods and means of assessment.
- Support parents, faculty, and staff in feeling understood, respected, and cared for without compromising high standards and meaningful accountability.
Policies, Systems, and Structures
- Develop observable and measurable performance indicators in order to provide clear and consistent feedback to teachers.
- Balance the need for instructional and curricular consistency with the preservation of teacher creativity and autonomy.
- Oversee the continuous improvement and implementation of a teacher observation and evaluation system (performance indicators, coordinated observation schedule, training on best practices in classroom observation, improvement plans).
- Continue to refine and implement an ongoing curriculum review process.
- Oversee the continuing development and implementation of academic policies related to assessing and reporting student achievement.
- Assist in the orientation, support and mentoring of new teachers.
Supervision and Evaluation
- Support and evaluate the Director of Teaching and Learning.
- Support and evaluate the School’s Program Leaders (e.g. Global Education, Teaching and Learning, Outdoor Education, Community Service, Student Support Coordinator).
- Together, with the Head of School, support and evaluate the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
STUDENT and PARENT SUPPORT
- Examine all aspects of the school’s curricular and co-curricular program to determine how effectively our current offerings move students in the direction of the School’s Mission and Core Competencies.
- Effectively engage with and serve as a strong role model for students, personally and professionally.
- Make recommendations to the Deans of Students/Assistant Village Director about ways to support and/or involve students (e.g., advisory programming, ways to cultivate student leadership and increase student-driven initiatives).
- Engage and educate parents about school priorities and initiatives.
- Serve as support to Administrators and Deans when faced with challenging parent issues.
PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION & GROWTH
- Continue to foster Chadwick’s climate of collaboration and continuous improvement.
- Collaborate with the Director of Teaching and Learning to design mission-aligned, thoughtfully sequenced professional development sessions (utilizing August Week, Late Start Wednesdays, and additional professional development days).
- Oversee the faculty professional development approval process and professional growth budget prioritizing requests that are aligned with the school’s priorities.
- Promote unity, harmony, and cooperation through honesty, tact, helpfulness and respectful recognition of the strengths of adults in the school.
- Work towards a resolution of problems--both routine and unique--as they arise.
