POSITION: Principal (Elementary) 

REPORTS TO: Head of Schools 

START DATE: July 1, 2019 

POSITION TYPE: 12-month exempt employee 

THE CHALLENGE 

Across the nation, only half of all students from low-income communities graduate from high school and only 10% earn a college degree. Even though 85% of our students are economically disadvantaged, YES Prep provides evidence that different outcomes are possible. Eighty-seven (87%) of YES Prep alumni matriculate to college within one year and alumni like Eddie Zapata are earning their college degrees at five times the rate of their peers with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. How do we do this? Each of YES Prep’s 19 campuses serves 6th-12th graders like Monique Bowie. Students typically enter YES Prep one or more grade levels behind, but quickly find themselves on a different life trajectory. This is a result of transformative relationships with teachers and leaders, and access to excellent educational opportunities. 

As the first minority-majority city, Houston’s schools cannot keep up with demand from students like Eddie and Monique. Houston is the 4th largest city (on track to become the 3rd), and this booming population translates into 2,000 families on YES Prep’s waitlist. YES Prep’s student enrollment is estimated to grow 31% between now and 2023 (from just over 13,000 students currently to 17,000).  

THE OPPORTUNITY 

YES Prep needs a dynamic and diverse Principal to make our mission a reality. As a YES Prep employee, you will achieve jaw-dropping results, create pathways to opportunity for our students, build transformative relationships, and eliminate educational inequities to advance social justice.

To put it simply, you will strategically plan and implement YES Prep Public Schools’ mission through the efficient and effective management of a YES Prep school. During the 2019-2020 school year, the Principal (Elementary) will work with the Managing Director of Elementary Programming to prepare for the opening of the first school in 2020. Leadership of the campus will not begin until August 2020. 

THE ROLE 

When you join the YES Prep team, some of the exciting work will include: 

Strategy, Planning, and Leadership 

• Managing effective school leadership team members and other team leaders on campus, utilizing individual management plans to track growth in performance; 

• Developing Campus Strategic Goals that address most pressing growth areas for the school and manage staff buy-in and periodic check-in on goal progress; 

• Implementing school leadership team structure and master calendar to most effectively reach Campus Strategic Goals and academic outcomes; 

• Utilizing effective communication structures for teams and school community (staff, students, and parents); 

• Developing leadership “bench” to ensure solid succession plan for central school leadership; 

• Understanding and overseeing immediate and long-term strategy with respect to relationships and sustainability (i.e. community development, parent engagement, budget management). 

Student Achievement 

• Managing progress towards increased student achievement, analyzing grades and common assessment results to facilitate timely academic interventions; 

• Driving intervention systems to meet system expectations for growth and objective achievement as measured by state and local assessments; 

• Managing progress on Response to Intervention and academic student interventions for all student groups and special populations; 

• Leading and monitor core curriculum and instructional programming implementation and support.   

Student Demographics and Persistence 

• Monitoring student attendance, focusing on maintaining desired attendance levels and recruitment of students from underserved communities; 

• Facilitating student persistence analysis, focusing on intervention strategies and increasing persistence for all students and sub-populations (at-risk, SPED, EL); 

• Ensuring campus meets Average Daily Attendance goals and monitor interventions for students with frequent absences. 

Staff Support and Development 

• Facilitating hiring process and select high-caliber, diverse teachers and staff; 

• Managing high-quality PD that leads to well-developed staff, as measured by staff survey and student achievement results; 

• Developing instructional goals for the year with the leadership team and facilitate periodic goal analysis throughout the year; 

• Managing appropriate progress on instructional observations and continuum process, from initial placement to end-of-year placement; 

• Maintaining high retention rates of staff, avoiding regrettable teacher and staff attrition. 

Campus Health 

• Maintaining strong school culture that meets high YES Prep standards and honors the identity of a diverse community of students; 

• Evaluating and achieving high student and parent satisfaction, as measured in periodic student and parent surveys; 

• Facilitating management of discipline systems to maintain safe and positive school culture; 

• Analyzing discipline and culture data to adjust intervention strategies and systems. 

Financial Health 

• Collaborating with campus leadership to monitor campus spending and budget; 

• Participating in the annual budget creation process; 

• Clearly and convincingly explain decisions based on the core purpose, core values, and vision; 

• Analyzing monthly enrollment, attendance, and expenditures against budgeted projections; 

• Managing the use of the campus plant and grounds, supervise the maintenance to the physical plant and grounds to ensure a clean, orderly, and safe environment 

Professional Growth and Development 

• Identifying areas for personal/professional growth; 

• Participating in meetings, workshops, seminars, and conferences to enhance knowledge/skills, address areas for personal/professional growth, and further develop school goals and staff; 

• Applying knowledge and insights gained through professional development.  Sharing this knowledge with staff, campus, and district leaders as appropriate; 

• Keeping well informed about current trends in area(s) of expertise and provide leadership in incorporating such trends into everyday practices.  

THE PERSON 

We seek staff with diverse backgrounds, talents, interests, and ideas. Certain traits consistently shine through for our most successful employees: passion for the mission, drive for results, care for students, resilience, and humility. Other traits needed and desired for this role are:  

THE MUST HAVES 

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited four-year educational institution 

• Experience leading a school and getting exemplary student achievement and school culture results 

• Experience in elementary school as a teacher or leader 

• Master’s Degree and Principal certification an accredited institution, preferred 

THE PERKS 

• Compensation – This position is an exempt, salaried position; salary offers commensurate with experience. 

• Health and Supplemental Insurance –  A $0.00 medical option that includes $600 towards a Health Savings Account, in addition to a variety of supplemental benefits including Dental, Vision, Short and Long-Term Disability, Pet Insurance, Life, etc. 

• Retirement Plans – Participation in Teacher Retirement System of Texas and a 457 Retirement Plan 

• Paid Time Off – 15 days of Paid Time Off in addition to the system closures of our Academic Calendar 

• Paid Leave Programming – In the event you need to be out due to medical needs (including maternity and paternity leave), YES Prep offers up to 12 weeks of full paid leave 

• Professional Development - YES Prep values longevity and performance over time through our Commit to Five program. We invest in developing leaders through high-quality programs, effective coaching, and ongoing professional development.  

• Award Winning Culture – The strong cultures of our campuses and Home Office are just one of many reasons we were named Houston’s Best Place to work in 2018. We won the 2012 Broad Prize for Excellence in Urban Education and were a 2016 finalist as well.  

WE ARE DEEPLY COMMITTED TO EQUITY & DIVERSITY 

YES Prep strives to recruit a diverse team of leaders. We believe there is a transformative academic and social benefit for students when their teachers and leaders reflect a diversity of backgrounds. Ninety-seven percent (97%) of staff members agree that the organization provides a welcoming environment given their background and identity according to our latest system survey.

YES Prep is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or parenthood. 

THE NEXT STEPS  

If this sounds like your just right job, please apply here by 4:59pm May 20, 2019. 

If you are not sure this opportunity is for you, are simply curious, or know someone who would be perfect, please reach out to our Talent Acquisition team to be connected to a recruiter at talent@yesprep.org.