Company Description

Organizational Overview
In 2020, KIPP Eastern North Carolina (KIPP ENC) and KIPP Charlotte took the first steps to begin to merge to form KIPP North Carolina Public Schools (KIPP NC). Starting in July of 2021, KIPP NC will be a network of eight high-performing, college-preparatory public charter schools providing an academically rigorous and joyous school experience to more than 3,500 students in grades K-12 in Charlotte, Durham, Gaston, and Halifax. Additionally, KIPP NC will support several thousand alumni on their journey to and through high school, college, and career.
KIPP NC will build on a rich tradition of academic excellence and relentless fight for social justice present from the founding of both KIPP ENC and KIPP Charlotte. KIPP ENC is the second oldest KIPP region in the nation. In its 20 years of operation, KIPP ENC has been a cornerstone for students and families in rural Gaston and Halifax, operating two primary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. Over the past five years, it grew to serve even more students by opening up a middle school in Durham, an urban center in the center part of the state. KIPP Charlotte, which grew out of the strong traditions and academics of KIPP ENC, has supported students and families for the past 13 years, operating one primary school and one middle school in the largest city in North Carolina.
KIPP North Carolina will build upon the successes and experiences of KIPP ENC and KIPP Charlotte to provide inclusive school environments and an educational program that will enable our students to lead full lives and equip graduates to be future leaders and agents of change in North Carolina and beyond. KIPP NC also will continue to engage in direct, anti-racist work, and it will contribute meaningfully to the dismantling of structures of inequality within our organization, schools, and classrooms. KIPP NC will be committed to expanding our efforts to embed anti-racism in all of our activities and engagements within our classrooms and schools, across our organization, and throughout the State of North Carolina. All of this will be in a tireless effort to create classrooms that are homeplaces for our students, places where they feel safe, loved, validated, seen, and heard, places where all their beautiful identities will be affirmed and celebrated, and places where they will learn the academic knowledge and skills needed for college, career, and beyond.

Job Description

The Opportunity
The founding Assistant Director for Primary School Literacy will provide instructional leadership in curriculum, assessment, and professional development for all K-4 schools in North Carolina. The Assistant Director for Primary School Literacy will report directly to the Director of Curriculum & Instruction, and will drive K-4 Reading achievement at KIPP NC. The Assistant Director for Primary School Literacy will work, in collaboration with schools and Central Office colleagues, to design and implement high priority Reading initiatives across KIPP NC. The Assistant Director for Primary School Literacy will also be expected to observe classrooms and provide feedback to teachers and leaders on implementation of high priority Reading initiatives across KIPP NC.
This is an ideal opportunity for a dynamic and visionary instructional leader looking to play a critical role in building and shaping a premier K-12 charter management organization committed to supporting students to graduate college and succeed in school and life.
Key Responsibilities
Team Development

• Helps to build a strong, cohesive team culture that reflects the core values of KIPP NC
• Works in collaboration with the Director of Curriculum & Instruction and school-based teams to provide exceptional instructional models to principals and schools
• With instructional team colleagues, helps plan and implement professional development for school principals, assistant principals, and teachers

Curricula and Assessment Strategy, Alignment, and Implementation

• Works in collaboration with schools to build world class curricular and assessment strategies for K-4 Reading designed to prepare all students for and measure all student progress towards college readiness
• Develops a vision for K-4 Reading and high priority Reading initiatives to increase student outcomes and improve teacher practice; collaborates with Central Office colleagues focused on 5-8 or 5-12 Reading curricula to create a scaffolded, integrated Reading program across KIPP NC; collaborates with the Director of Support Services to ensure K-4 EC and EL students have the instructional supports they need to be successful
• Helps leads schools to understand deeply what college-ready work looks like for students at a given grade level; creates the systems to ensure that work is being done consistently across schools and all their classrooms
• Ensures that K-4 Reading instruction (both Word Recognition curricula and Language Comprehension curricula) aspires to the vision of excellent Reading instruction across KIPP NC; invests K-4 leaders, teachers, students, and families in KIPP NC's Reading curricula and creates ambitious implementation plans for student success
• Draws on content knowledge and understanding of effective K-4 Reading instructional practices to design and revise instructional documents and continually evaluate curricula implementation
• Helps design and manage major curricula changes that will improve quality of instruction and user experience of the KIPP NC K-4 Reading curricula; develops scope and sequences, pacing calendars, data reflection days, and all other enabling systems required for faithful implementation
• Helps develop K-4 Reading instructional models that meet students where they are and accelerate their learning to grade-level goals
• Develops and designs a cohesive summative and formative assessment strategy that accurately measures key knowledge and skills across a K-4 Reading progression
• Collaborates with the Director of Data and Assessment to create and manage a system for sharing assessment data results and analyses to the greater KIPP NC K-4 teacher and leader community
• Observes instructional practices in schools with a specific lens towards high priority and/or new K-4 Reading initiatives to evaluate changes and determine next steps for leader and teacher support
• Supports school-based leaders in continually evaluating the effectiveness of the K-4 Reading program overall based on our existing data systems
• Provides targeted coaching and professional development experiences to school leaders to support content knowledge development and curricula implementation and innovation
• Develops and facilitates regional professional development for K-4 leaders and teachers to ensure full implementation of curricula and instructional initiatives in KIPP NC's Reading program

Qualifications

KIPP NC's Assistant Director for Primary School Literacy candidates will have the following:

• A deep commitment to the mission of KIPP NC and an unwavering belief in the potential of all our students
• An unwavering commitment to anti-racism, equity, and inclusion
• A strong desire to collaborate with school leaders and Central Office teammates in service to a new KIPP region growing out of two exceptionally strong ones
• 5+ years of experience as an exemplary K-4 Reading teacher with strong student achievement results + exemplary teacher coaching and adult management experience in a high performing school serving a similar student population to KIPP North Carolina; strong command of the essentials of the Science of Reading and understanding of all the necessary components of a solid literacy program
• An understanding of the specific, unique characteristics of public charter schools, NC-specific knowledge a plus
• Outstanding leadership and management skills, particularly as it relates to building teams, working through others, promoting collaboration, managing conflict, goal setting, and holding people accountable
• An entrepreneurial spirit and demonstrated success in building a program, department or organization
• The flexibility needed to accommodate the breadth and depth of responsibilities and priorities
• Outstanding written, speaking, and organizational skills including excellence in backwards planning long-term goals and accountability and progress monitoring systems
• Ability to interact with a broad range of stakeholders with different interests and needs
• Possess a deep commitment to both racial equity and improving the lives of kids from low-income communities; experience working within predominantly Black, Brown, and/or low-income communities
• Understanding and willingness to work in both rural and urban communities, including exhibiting resourcefulness and willingness to travel up to five hours within North Carolina multiple days per week based on need
• Must live in North Carolina; Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, ideal, given the area's equal distance from our schools in Charlotte, Gaston, and Halifax

Additional Information

Salary is based on years of experience, degree of education, and level of expertise. A competitive benefits package is offered.
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.