Branch Line School

Job Description

Instructional School Leader

Since September of 2013, Branch Line School has maintained the principle that education can and should be a rewarding experience for students, teachers and families. Branch Line will serve approximately 200 students, including a tuition-based preschool program and a free Michigan public charter program for grades K-8 in multi-age cohorts. Elementary class size will average 20 students. Beginning in 2015, the school will operate on a balanced calendar, offering a shorter summer break of approximately 6 weeks with more frequent breaks dispersed throughout the year.

As the educational head of school, the School Leader will maintain a joyful and exciting learning community that embraces an innovative, interdisciplinary project-based curriculum. The School Leader will serve as the educational leader and chief administrator of the Branch Line School with responsibility for developing, implementing, and assuring adherence to policies, programs, curriculum activities and budgets of the School and Board of Directors. Promotes the educational development of each student and the professional development of each staff member. The School Leader will be nurturing, entrepreneurial, creative, dynamic and enthusiastic, and committed to the belief that all children should be respected as individuals and encouraged to reach their full personal academic, social, emotional and creative potential. By providing leadership in curriculum and instruction, school improvement and community involvement, the School Leader will pursue the vision and execute the mission of Branch Line School for students, families and staff.

Essential Standards and Functions:

  1. School Vision
  1. Collaboratively develops, articulates, implements, and stewards a shared vision of learning.
  2. Collects and uses data. Identifiesor determines school goals, assesses organizational effectiveness, and implements plans to achieve school goals.
  3. Promotes continual and sustainable school improvement.
  4. Evaluates school progress and revises school plans supported by school stakeholders.
  5. Promotes the effective use of technology in establishing, implementing, evaluating, and improving a shared vision of learning.
  1. School Culture
  1. Fosters the ideals outlined in the Branch Line School mission in collaboration with school leaders, staff, students and families.

MISSION: Branch Line School will guide students in an individualized, small school atmosphere that cultivates intellectual freedom, respect for others and service to the community in order to produce critical thinkers and informed global citizens.

  1. Maintains an environment built on safety, responsibility and respect. Commitment to conflict resolution and restitution practices ensures kindness, safety and respectfulness that guide community behavior.
  2. Sustains a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning through collaboration, trust and a personalized learning environment with high expectations for students.
  1. SchoolManagement of Organization, Operation, and Resources
  1. Monitors and evaluates teacher instruction, school management and operational systems.
  2. Maintain positive working relationship with academy authorizer, including attending required meetings and facilitating consistent communication.
  3. Efficiently utilizes personnel, fiscal and technological resources to manage school operations and ensures compliance with applicable regulatory standards and requirements. Coordinate the identification and procurement of resources for academic programs.
  4. Report to the School Board of Directors relevant academic data, reports and information to effectively manage the school.
  5. Create and implement a professional development program to increase the knowledge, skills and practices needed to implement a high quality learning model.
  6. Act as a role model by demonstrating leadership, management and instructional skills.
  7. Promotes school-based policies and procedures that protect the welfare and safety of students and staff within the school.
  8. Works collaboratively within shared leadership roles.
  9. Ensures teacher and organizational time focuses on supporting high-quality school instruction and student learning.
  10. Ensures effective hiring practices of qualified staff in appropriate certification areas. Fosters, develops, and supervises the instructional and leadership capacity of school staff.
  11. Promotes the most effective and appropriate technologies to support teaching and learning in a school environment.
  1. School Collaboration with Faculty, Community Members, and Families
  1. Collaborates with faculty and community members by collecting and analyzing information pertinent to the improvement of the school’s educational environment.
  2. Represent the school and communicate the school’s vision to all stakeholders including the staff, students, parents, board, community members and school networking endeavors.
  3. Work with the parent organization to ensure that all stakeholders work together effectively to identify program needs and to create programs and policies to meet those needs.
  4. Mobilizes community resources by promoting an understanding, appreciation, and use of diverse cultural, social, and intellectual resources within the school community.
  5. Responds to community interests and needs by building and sustaining positive school relationships with families and caregivers.
  6. Responds to community interests and needs by building and sustaining productive school relationships with community partners.
  7. Promotes the effective use of technology in collaborating with faculty and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources.

E. School Ethics, Integrity, Fairness, Practice

  1. Acts with integrity and fairness to ensure a school system of accountability for every student’s academic and social success.
  2. Models principles of self-awareness, reflective practice, transparency and ethical behavior as related to various roles within the school.
  3. Safeguards the values of democracy, equity and diversity within the school.
  4. Evaluates the potential ethical and legal consequences of decision-making in the school.
  5. Promotes social justice within the school to ensure that individual student needs inform all aspects of schooling.

F. Ensuring school success by understanding, responding to, advocating for student learning

  1. Advocates for students, families and caregivers.
  2. Oversees state and local assessment processes.
  3. Acts to influence local, district, state and national decisions affecting student learning in a school environment.
  4. Anticipates and assesses emerging trends and initiatives in order to adapt school-based leadership strategies.
  5. Creates and evaluates a comprehensive, rigorous and coherent curricular and instructional school program.

I. EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

  1. Masters degree; possess valid teacher’s certification.
  2. Possess state of Michigan School Administrator Certificate.
  3. Minimum of five years successful teaching – preferably at the elementary or middle school level.
  4. Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of curriculum development and program evaluation, child growth and development, effective instructional strategies, classroom management, learning assessment, diagnosis and research related to learning.
  5. Prior experience as an elementary or middle school principal or administrator preferred.
  6. Demonstrated ability to provide strong instructional leadership.
  7. Ability to evaluate teacher performance and program effectiveness.
  8. Advanced knowledge and experience in curriculum and assessment.
  9. Commitment and skill in developing continued growth of all staff members.
  10. Visionary with excellent delegation, organizational and analytical skills.
  11. Knowledge and understanding of best practice and research proven instructional strategies.
  12. Strong, conceptual understanding of teacher effectiveness research.
  13. Demonstrated skill in monitoring and evaluating student growth and achievement.
  14. Knowledge and experience in administering state and federal programs preferred.
  15. Knowledge of federal, state and local Special Education laws and requirements.
  16. Exceptional interpersonal skills, written skills and computer skills.
  17. Ability to support and function in a highly collaborative administrative team environment.
  18. Ability to structure, implement and manage a wide range of school and business projects.

II. COMPETENCIES:

  1. Accountability – Follows up and holds employees accountable for completion of assigned work.
  2. Ambition and Drive – Exhibits an attitude of achievement.
  3. Business and Financial Acumen – Applies knowledge of internal and external business issues to optimize outcomes.
  4. Customer Service Orientation - Conveys sensitively to others and shares appropriate information to cooperatively resolve their concerns (inside and outside the organization)
  5. Delegating – Thinks and plans to assign workload to subordinates proactively rather than reactively.
  6. Develops People – Have a drive to understand and develop the capabilities of others.
  7. Fostering Innovation & Change- Promotes innovation and changes to enhance team and organizational effectiveness.
  8. Leadership Effectiveness - Achieves with distinction, persevering despite resistance and influencing others.
  9. Maintaining Self-Awareness & Impact – Maintains objectivity about own self; learns from experiences to manage positive impact on others.
  10. Managing People and Performance – Ability to motivate and manage people to help them achieve full potential, and to attain exceptional team performance.
  11. Strategic Thinking – Develops broad, long-ranged objectives and plans that meet contingencies.

III. SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Manages and evaluates staff. Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the school’s policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include participating in the interviewing and hiring process, onboarding employees; planning, assigning and directing work; evaluating performance; rewarding and coaching necessary corrective actions to employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

IV. LANGUAGE SKILLS:

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from administrators, board members, parents and caregivers, and the general public.

V. MATHEMATICAL SKILLS:

Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume. Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry.

VI. REASONING ABILITIES:

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

VIII. PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, sit, and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision.

The demands of extended work days (coverage of building activities and extra-curricular activities, etc.) requires a high level of physical endurance. This position requires the ability to handle and balance multiple demands at the same time.

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