Principal, Salem High School

Salem High School—Background

Salem High School is a comprehensive high school serving a diverse population of students who come from a variety of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. Currently, there are 920 students enrolled at Salem High—16% are English language learners, 25% are students with disabilities, and 46% are identified as economically disadvantaged.

A priority of the school is to ensure that all students are challenged by an academic experience that is accessible, rigorous, relevant, and engaged. To ensure that this goal is realized, Salem High School has begun a redesign process intended to bring the school's programs and practices in alignment with this goal and the demands of a rapidly changing world. The redesign effort is anchored in an overall goal of excellence and equity. See high school redesign goals here http://www.salemk12.org/Pages/SalemPublicSchoolsStrategicPlan2017-2022_June%208%202017.pdf

In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of Salem High School, the Principal will serve in a key role in the leadership of the high school's redesign effort.

Principal, Salem High School

Salem Public Schools is seeking a visionary leader who has demonstrated measureable success in improving outcomes of all students, has experience building a positive, student-centered school culture, and has the skills to lead an engaged process of whole-school redesign. The next principal of Salem High School will prioritize communication with stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff, parents, and community partners, and will partner with these stakeholders in the redesign process. S/he will actively apply an equity lens by removing any and all structures and/or practices that present barriers to equity and access. The new leader will inspire and guide the school community to establish a forward-thinking vision and mission for a redesigned Salem High School that will ensure that all students are college and career ready and well positioned to thrive in the 21 st century.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Vision, Values, and Culture

• Inspire and engage students, teachers, families, and community partners in creating a shared vision focused on preparing all students for the future via inclusive, student-centered, personalized approaches
• Develop, implement, and communicate strategic plans aligned with this shared vision
• Establish a learning-focused culture that is asset-based, trusting, and celebratory
• Create school norms that develop, support, and celebrate student voice, choice, and agency
• With staff, confront and alter the institutional biases manifest in student marginalization and low expectations associated with race, class, culture and language, gender and sexual orientation, and disability or other axes of identity

Essential Skills and Mindsets

• Demonstrate and effectively communicate non-negotiables, including a commitment to equity and high expectations for all students
• Model belief in the potential of every student to achieve at high levels
• Apply a solid and observable grasp of learning theory and universal design for learning
• Strong experience in using and teaching others to use data for continuous improvement
• Demonstrate ability in selecting and leveraging different communication tools (e.g. face-to-face, newsletters, social media) to help shape a narrative and deliver clear messages
• Demonstrate effective change management

Shared Responsibility

• Instill among faculty, family, partners, and community members that the success of each student is a shared responsibility
• Establish work groups, innovation teams, and other structures to support a sense of ownership, autonomy, and alignment to the goals of continuous improvement and innovation
• Provide ongoing opportunities for leadership, seeking feedback, and listening to voices across the learning community (students, staff, parents) that guide decision making
• Foster shared understanding of and commitment to multiple progress measures and indicators for which the learning community will be held accountable
• Use a comprehensive school-quality review process to engage the learning community in reviewing results and implementing improvements

Quality, Inclusive, Student-Centered Learning Environments

• Make learning and the social and emotional growth of all students the core mission and organizing force of the work
• Create and maintain an inclusive learning environment
• Employ an approach to assessment and curriculum design that reduces barriers and optimizes levels of challenge and support, to meet the needs of all learners
• Infuse the learning environment with the cultures and languages of the students, their families, and educators
• Foster flexible schedules, calendars, use of space, and credit and grading systems that enable learner-centered approaches (e.g. internships, dual enrollment, blended learning, competency/standards-based grading)
• Foster high quality music and visual and performing arts programs as an essential part of the school curriculum

Capacity Building

• Build, develop, and sustain an effective leadership team and teacher teams
• Recruit, hire, develop, and retain effective and caring teachers and other professional staff
• Create and implement teacher leadership opportunities that enable educator voice and meaningful contributions to the work of the school
• Deliver actionable feedback about instruction and other professional practices via coaching and written observations
• Ensure that all staff are evaluated annually and receive ongoing, timely actionable verbal and written feedback
• Build educators' capacity for assessment for learning and strategic data use
• Address instances of underperformance and support staff to improve

Other

• Ensures that extra-curricular activities/clubs and athletics are high quality and provide equitable access to all students
• Seek, acquire, and manage the fiscal, physical, and other resources needed to support implementation of a student-centered learning approach
• Ensure processes, training, and protocols for maintaining safe learning are in place and continuously updated and reviewed
• Build a school budget that is aligned to school's mission and supports student-centered, personalized learning strategies
• Contribute as a member of the district leadership team
• Attend School Committee meetings and other district events as directed by the Superintendent
• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• 3+ years of teaching experience, preferably in an urban setting serving diverse population
• 1-3 years of leadership experience, preferred
• MA administrative certificate
• Demonstrated experience and expertise working with ELLs and students with disabilities
• Fluent in Spanish, preferred
• A relentless drive to improve the minds and lives of all students in and out of school
• Skill in creating innovative solutions to challenges in improving learning
• Skill in using evidence and strategic priorities as a basis for decision-making
• Candidates of color strongly encouraged to apply

Position Type: Full-time

Equal Opportunity Employer
Salem Public Schools is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws.

Contact Information
Liza Bento, Director of Human Capital
29 Highland Avenue
Salem, Massachusetts 01970
Phone: 978-740-1115
Fax: 978-740-1279
Email: humancapital@salemk12.org