Principal, Pre-K through 8th Grade – Southwest Baltimore Charter School

FOSTERING SCHOOL VISION AND STRATEGY
· Foster a cohesive, clear vision for teaching and learning that aligns all aspects of the school—curriculum, instruction, assessment, policy, equity, and culture—to student learning.
· Engage school constituents in creating a rigorous academic program and positive school culture that root out disparities in achievement.
· Continuously communicate the vision for all constituents, recruiting internal and external partners (including parents) to support the vision.
· Identify and remove impediments from the path to achieving the school vision.
· Use data from traditional measures of academic achievement, character growth, student work, and parent input to identify questions that drive school improvement.
· Work to make SBCS a community school, providing wrap-around supports and engagement activities for students and families.
· Create structures for selection and retention of high quality staff.

INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP
A. Leading Change
· Assume primary responsibility for increasing student achievement, infusing Expeditionary Learning practices, ensuring the needs of all learners are addressed, and coordinating on-site professional development aligned with the school’s Work Plan.
· Model being an engaged learner in professional development.
· Continue to develop best practices in effective leadership.

B. Setting Clear Expectations for Staff Roles and Responsibilities
· Work with the Executive Director to establish and maintain clearly articulated roles and responsibilities for all positions in the organization.
· Deploy staff members tactically and flexibly to best meet student needs.
· Use job descriptions, performance expectations, and evaluation processes to identify the professional knowledge and skills necessary to achieve the school’s vision.
C. Supporting Professional Growth
· Analyze and build other school leaders’ capacity to provide teachers appropriate professional development, coaching and support.
· Ensure a high level of staff participation in on-site and off-site professional development.
· Align professional development with the goals and targets identified in the Work Plan.
· Provide the necessary resources to develop every teacher’s content knowledge and instructional repertoire, ensuring school-wide excellence.
· Support inquiry-based staff development approaches such as study groups, coaching, and structured observations to help teachers focus on the relationship between student learning and instructional and assessment practices.
· Attend to the school leadership team’s learning and development through frequent communication, direct supervision, and explicit guidance regarding professional growth.
· Reinforce and institutionalize the implementation of best practices through observation, coaching, and evaluation processes.
D. Providing Frequent Descriptive Feedback
· Regularly conduct Learning Walks or other forms of protocol-driven “walkthroughs” in order to discuss and define the qualities of effective instruction, and to identify patterns of instructional strengths and areas for improvement across classrooms.
· Supplement formal observations with shorter, targeted mini-observations that result in descriptive feedback, as opposed to evaluative feedback.

E. Coaching Teachers
· Link coaching to the school’s improvement priorities and a teacher’s instructional priorities.
· Focus instructional coaching on student achievement using data.
· Work to ensure that all teachers, whether one-on-one or in small groups, engage in non-evaluative coaching cycles with school leadership and colleagues.
· Structure instructional coaching cycles to include goal setting, learning, observation, data collection, and reflection.

· Hold regular data conversations using data from interim assessments, state tests, and in-class tasks.
· Use data conversations to identify professional development opportunities that will support individual teacher growth.
· Disaggregate data by teacher and content area to study patterns of teacher and program performance, with proper cautions regarding simplistic assumptions of causality.
F. Evaluating Teachers
· Align observations, data analysis, and feedback with formal BCPSS evaluation tools to support teacher growth and provide assessment for learning.
· Identify opportunities for expanded teacher leadership both within the BCPSS Pathways, and within the SBCS structure.
G. Cultivating a Positive School Culture
· Set high expectations and model behaviors that foster mutual respect, integrity, accountability, and commitment.
· Develop norms and protocols for productive collaborative inquiry.
· Engage with individuals from diverse background through a lens of cultural proficiency, sensitivity, and equity.
· Cultivate shared ownership of successes, challenges and change initiatives.
· Celebrate team achievements and recognize individual accomplishments and contributions.
· Create rituals and routines to build trust, support relationships and foster dialogue.
· Structure and support active collaboration among teachers with clear roles, goals and protocols.
· Address conflict productively, professional and proactively.

SHARED LEADERSHIP
The Principal encourages school staff, families, and community members to assume leadership roles in their areas of expertise. Supported by the leadership team, the Principal maintains schoolwide focus on teaching and learning while managing other administrative responsibilities. The Principal provides opportunities for all stakeholders to engage in data-based conversations linked to school improvement, and uses a clear process for making, communicating, and implementing decisions. The Principal promotes shared-decision making. In conjunction with the leadership team and teacher-led committees, the Principal will:
· Collect and analyze data related to student achievement (standardized tests, report cards, classwork) and other measures related to character, engagement, instructional practice, school culture, and parental involvement to monitor progress toward school-wide goals.
· Identify grade levels, subgroups, and/or disciplines where additional support is needed, and allocate resources to best support student achievement.
· Support the collective ownership of student success by all adults.

BCPSS COMPLIANCE
The Principal is an employee of BCPSS. Working closely with the Executive Director, the Principal ensures that SBCS follows school district policies. Together, the Principal and Executive Director determine which staff members are responsible for implementing the systems and structures that keep SBCS in good standing with BCPSS. The Principal will:
· Follow the BCPSS evaluation process for all BCPSS staff, ensuring all timelines are met and components completed (including trainings, SLO’s, formal observations, uploading scores, etc.).
· Oversee the delivery of special education services, maintaining compliance with district policy at all times.
· Oversee and collaborate with the Re-Engagement Support Team and student support providers to support students who are struggling behaviorally, socially, and emotionally.
· Oversee the practice and use of BCPSS required emergency procedures.
· Oversee the maintenance of school and student records.
· Oversee a standards-based grading approach to reporting student achievement.
· Oversee the charter renewal.
· Attend meetings and perform other duties as required by BCPSS.

LOGISTICAL OVERSIGHT AND COMMUNICATION
The Principal is responsible for ensuring that “the trains run on time.” This requires an organized, detail-oriented mindset as well as the ability to see the big picture. The Principal communicates clearly and respectfully with all stakeholders to:
· Create a schoolwide schedule and adjust as necessary.
· Create and tweak the school year calendar.
· Effectively utilize various communication systems (robo calls to families, family email list, faculty Google drive, Monthly Update, website, etc.).
Effectively prioritize and respond quickly to competing demands, especially in times of crisis.
EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION DESIRED
· Master’s degree in Education or a related field from an accredited college or university.
Maryland Advanced Professional Certificate with an Principal/Superintendent or Administrator I and II endorsement.
Five years of administrative and/or supervisory experience, including school-based administrative experience.
· Pre-K-8 classroom teaching experience preferred.
· Experience with Expeditionary Learning, project-based learning, and arts integration preferred.
Demonstrated ability to take initiative and exercise swift decision-making, grounded in sound judgment and understanding of nuanced circumstances.
Demonstrated success in implementing culturally relevant pedagogy and ability to support instructional and school support staff in leading a diverse learning population.
Track record of achieving measurable gains in student achievement resulting from effective leadership.
Demonstrated success in identifying, growing, and leveraging the potential of staff and teams.
Experience in school-based budget preparation and management.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Proficiency in the use of computer applications (including Microsoft Office products), email, and mobile technologies.

OTHER INFORMATION
· Position is a 12 month position.
· Salary is negotiated by Baltimore City Public Schools System.
· The Principal is a direct report to the Executive Director.

NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATION
Baltimore City Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ancestry or national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or age in its employment, programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts of America and other designated youth groups. For inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies, please contact Equal Opportunity Manager, Title IX Coordinator Equal Employment Opportunity and Title IX Compliance Office 200 E. North Avenue, Room 208 Baltimore, MD 21202; 410-396-8542 (phone); 410-396-2955 (fax).

Philosophical Underpinnings of SBCS
Southwest Baltimore Charter School (SBCS) is a thriving Expeditionary-Learning-infused school in the heart of Baltimore City. Open for 15 years, SBCS sits on Carroll Park and serves a diverse group of 425 students in pre-K-8.
SBCS provides an engaging arts-integrated curriculum with an emphasis on developing student thinking, creativity, and leadership. SBCS focuses on the whole child, recognizing the importance of character education. We strive to meet the social-emotional needs of children while helping them achieve academic excellence.
SBCS is a teacher-led school where staff committees and a school leadership structure foster the development and implementation of many decisions throughout the school. Collaboration, consensus decision-making and dialogue are essential practices in our school. We seek employees who can thrive in a collective leadership environment. All staff members are part of a community of learners. We work together on behalf of students to improve the school’s program, share expertise, build knowledge in our disciplines and model collaborative learning. Staff culture is characterized by trust and respectful collegiality. Teachers focus on solutions free of judgment, blame, and defensiveness and support each other in improving their practice. School leaders, teachers and students join together to maintain a school culture characterized by self –discipline, compassion, collaboration, and joy in learning.

All applicants for all positions must understand and embrace SBCS’s approach to learning and leading, which is infused with some tenets of Expeditionary Learning.
· We champion a positive student culture by devoting time and attention to developing and maintaining traditions, systems, and structures necessary to support school culture.
· We celebrate and define our values through our daily words and actions, displays and materials related to the school vision, through community meetings, and through public events.
· We model and promote school rituals, team-building activities, and celebrations of staff and students.
· We take responsibility for all students, and act proactively to ensure that the school’s code of character is demonstrated in hallways and common spaces, and during school-sponsored events on and off school grounds.
· We model our Habits of Scholarship in word and action.
· We frame and address issues related to student discipline constructively, in line with our commitment to fostering a strong school culture and individual student character.
· Student misbehavior is treated as a learning opportunity for both students and teachers. Teachers probe for causes of misbehavior or conflict, and consequences are logical, consistent, and clearly communicated.
· Classroom norms reinforce the Habits of Scholarship and establish classroom cultures focused on responsibility for learning, compassionate behavior, and positive student leadership.
· Kindness is essential in all of our work and relationships.
· We expect students and staff to learn in and through the arts.
· We value outdoor experiences for staff and students, and implement a fitness and adventure program that is based on the tenets of Outward Bound.
· Our students are bound for their “best fit” high schools and post-secondary college or training.
· We want our students to reach their highest potential as they strive for a healthy, happy life beyond school.

How to Apply
sbcs@sbcschool.org
https://www.sbcschool.org/
APPLICATION
Please submit an online application to Baltimore City Public School System. This includes:

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