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

Role Overview:
The Principal's primary job is to drive academic and character outcomes for students. We expect our Principals to focus the majority of their time on instructional leadership, specifically all of the activities involved in leading and developing teachers to improve their instruction and drive student achievement.
Job Summary:
Reporting to and supervised by the Head of Schools, the Principal will lead all instructional activities and programming with the goal of setting a clear school vision that is ambitious and rigorous, while driving student achievement and instructional leadership.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Instructional Leadership

• Set ambitious school-wide vision and goals, aligned with KIPP NC, that lead students on a path to and through college, career, and beyond.
• Build own and school staff's knowledge and expertise in effective instructional design and academic standards
  • Develop teachers' conceptual understanding of what students must know and be able to do and what instructional methods drive student mastery
  • Develop knowledge of how standards map to curricula and assessments
• Develop teachers to provide rigorous and high quality instruction
  • Lead analysis of and develop teachers' ability to analyze student data to identify strategies that will move students toward mastery. Document all feedback and observations within the state-wide tracking system.
  • Regularly observe and coach instructional leaders to ensure they are providing high-impact, actionable and bite-sized feedback to teachers on a weekly basis.
  • Ensure teachers can collaborate, analyze their practice and their student data, and adjust instruction in content teams.
  • Lead whole-school professional development workshops that drive highest-impact improvements in teacher practice.
• Manage and develop a strong school leadership team (including Assistant Principals, Deans of Culture & Instruction, and Director of School Operations) that supports teachers and staff to provide strong student outcomes.

Manage People

• Oversee, lead, and communicate the vision of Liberation that informs the school's culture, goals, and behavior management
• Develop leadership team members by teaching and insisting that they are true owners of the work and coaching and designing stretch activities
• Model expectations for leaders, teachers, and students on school-wide practices for a positive learning culture
  • Pursue challenging professional goals each yearReceive and implement constructive feedback to develop your skills
  • Problem solve around school-wide issues to best support your Team and Family
  • Hold team members accountable to the behavior management systems and school expectations
  • Build systems, structures, and relationships to develop and retain diverse, highly-effective staff
• Create an effective, collaborative team of people jointly responsible for the attainment of school goals and committed to achieving excellence.
• Hold direct reports accountable to performance expectations and follow through with school protocols and procedures
• Partner with the People Operations Team to manage human resource concerns at school site
• Partner with the Talent Acquisition Team to recruit, select, hire, and manage the performance of all staff
• Continually monitor progress on all measures of school and staff performance

Build Relationships

• Build effective relationships among teachers, parents, and the community to improve student performance
• Exhibit a high degree of professionalism in all elements of this position, while serving as a contributing member of the school team and a dedicated role model for other employees.
• Participate in KIPP North Carolina Public Schools Community actively by attending Principal Community of Practice meetings, engaging in discussion, and sharing best practices.
• Attend regular one-on-ones with their Head of Schools (manager)
• Lead liberatory work in your school by creating a safe, inclusive culture for staff and families, critically examining school practices to dismantle white supremacy's effects/legacies, facilitating school-wide PD on liberatory practices, and working with the Regional Support staff to further KIPP NC's mission to be a liberatory organization.

Operational Management
The Principal manages the Director of School Operations, so the following the principal owns through the support of the DSO.

• Plan and prioritize time and resources to achieve annual goals
• Manage the school budget, attending monthly meetings with the Finance Team to ensure the books are balanced
• Oversee the purchasing of classroom resources, school supplies, and other resources used by students and staff
• Supervise student recruitment throughout the year to ensure that student enrollment targets are met or exceeded for the school
• Oversee the management of facilities and student records
• Respond to requests from the Regional Support Team in a timely manner, working with the regional team to ensure compliance of all KIPP North Carolina Public Schools policies and procedures

Competencies: The exceptional candidate will excel in the following competencies:

• Student Focus: Belief that all students, regardless of background, have the ability to go to and through college, career and beyond; demonstrated commitment to the school's unique community
  
• Instructional Leadership: Adept at data analysis; ability to extract meaningful insights across school-wide data.
  
• Instructional Leadership: Expertise in what the school-wide academic standards and state assessments require of students' knowledge and skills to demonstrate mastery; able to translate student mastery requirements into instructional plans and strategies
  
• Instructional Leadership: Deep understanding of appropriate application and differentiation of high-leverage instructional strategies based on comprehension of child development and pedagogy.
  
• Instructional Leadership: Command of instructional design and the benefits and tradeoffs of school design decisions in driving student achievement.
  
• Liberatory Approach to Leadership: Tackles equity within the school through an awareness of racist institutional systems that impact both themselves and students and is working to disrupt those systems.
  
• Growth Mindset: Has mindset of learning and humbly takes feedback and implements it with fidelity to grow as a leader.
  
• Direction Setting: Ability to set direction across an entire school and motivate others to action.
  
• Performance Management: Demonstrated student achievement results from teachers and leaders that they manage and coach.
  
• Talent Development: Demonstrated success in developing leadership capacity in others.
  
• Cultural Competence: Demonstrated ability to create inclusive environments that celebrate and support a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives.
  
• Achievement Orientation: Demonstrated resilience and focus on student outcomes.
  

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• A deep commitment to the mission of KIPP NC and an unwavering belief in the potential of all our students
• An unwavering commitment to liberation, anti-racism, equity, and inclusion
• Possess a deep commitment to both racial equity and improving the lives of kids from low-income communities
• Bachelor's degree
• Minimum of 5 years teaching experience in the classroom in a tested subject area (EOG, EOC, AP)
• At least 1 year in a school leadership role, i.e. Assistant Principal, Dean of Students, Director of School Operations, etc.
• Demonstrated leadership with the ability to lead people and get results through work with others year over year
• Current or willing to obtain NC Teacher Licensure
• Pass Criminal Background Check
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, demonstrating strong prioritization, organization and follow-up skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills; positive attitude, enthusiasm and energy
• Experience using data analysis to facilitate and support decision making
• Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills
• Excellent interpersonal, human relations, and stress and conflict management skills
• Excellent planning, goal setting, coordinating, problem analysis, and decision-making skills
• Ability to facilitate and lead change initiatives and embrace innovation
• Enthusiasm to engage parents and community

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in education or related field from an accredited college or university
• Five years of administrative/supervisory experience, classroom leadership experience
• Experience in an urban education environment
• YOY student growth results in K-12, demonstrating effective teaching and learning practices
• Current or willing to obtain NC Administrative Licensure
• Fluency in Spanish

Additional Information

Compensation
Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.
KIPP North Carolina does not and shall not discriminate on the race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, disability, source of income, or status as a veteran in any of its activities or operations.