Description

Great Oaks Legacy Charter School in Newark, NJ is seeking a Assistant Dean to join our high school team.

GREAT OAKS LEGACY OVERVIEW

The Great Oaks Legacy Charter School is a high-performing, innovative charter public school in Newark NJ, serving 1,700 students from Pre-K to 12th grade on campuses across the city. Our mission is to prepare public school students for success in college. Great Oaks Legacy students aspire to be some of the highest performing students in the country.

We have high academic and behavioral expectations for our students. Our students, for example, are encouraged to take multiple AP classes before they graduate. We pair rigorous curriculum and teaching with intense personal support from teachers, tutors, and staff. The school's mission is to prepare our students for college success through several key elements:

• Small school – Grade-level cohorts of less 100 students allow each student to feel known and cared for. Our focus is on a sense of community and relationship building with families and students
• More time on task – Longer school days than traditional schools. Weekend sessions and summer school for students who are struggling.
• High expectations – Rigorous, differentiated, college-preparatory coursework from K-12. Advanced Placement and real college courses for all juniors and seniors.
• Effective Instruction – World-class teachers with clear expectations and the support they need to continuously improve.

Job Description

Great Oaks Legacy is seeking an experienced, like-minded urban educator to join our leadership team. The Assistant Dean is responsible for shaping and sustaining a school culture of discipline and warmth while ensuring that the students internalize the school's values and goals for academic excellence.

The Assistant Dean is responsible for:

School Culture. The Assistant Dean supports the Dean of Students to define and build a transformative school culture consistent with the Great Oaks Legacy core values and mission. With the School Director and Dean, the Assistant Dean designs and implements programs that recognize and reward students; devises school-wide rituals that promote the culture and sustain the school's values.

Student Management. The Assistant Dean works with the Dean of Students to implement behavior management tools, including overseeing staff training in behavior management policies, techniques, and strategies, and ensuring the consistent deployment of such tools school-wide; meets with students referred by teachers for behavioral problems, communicates and meets with the students' parents/guardians, and ensures that consequences for infractions are fairly and consistently implemented throughout the school; creates and implements a detention system for homework completion and behavior; looks for patterns of misbehavior and coordinates appropriate measures as needed with the school leader and other leadership staff; responds to acute behavioral issues; coordinates in-school and out-of-school suspensions, ensuring regulatory compliance; and oversees school safety.

Staff Resource. The Assistant Dean serves as a resource to teachers and fellows on issues of school culture, classroom management, discipline, and relationships with students; and coaches teachers, tutors and staff in holding all students to high and consistent behavioral expectations.

Student Motivation. The Assistant Dean communicates with students – meeting with, listening to, seeking to understand, and convincing them as appropriate – and builds a support network for students. In addition to meeting with students, the Assistant Dean will support the Dean to develop school wide programs to incentivize positive behaviors and create a school-wide identity among the students. The Assistant Dean will work closely with cross-campus teams to cultivate students' cultural competency, growth, and development.

Documenting Incidents. The Assistant Dean implements and ensures the school-wide use of information technology tools for reporting and documenting infractions, and ensures that proper records are kept of communications with parents regarding discipline. The Assistant Dean supports the Dean in drafting weekly and monthly reports for parents, students and leadership team. The Assistant Dean works with staff to ensure school compliance with HIB policies.

Qualifications and Skills

The Assistant Dean must:

• Be relentlessly committed to preparing every student for collegePossess strong leadership and team skillsBe a self-aware leader who knows how to treat all members of the school's community with respect, appraises accurately his or her strengths and weaknesses, and is perceptive about how he or she is regardedHave superb organizational and self-management skills and be able to handle multiple responsibilities effectively; have strong planning and execution skills; be a goal-oriented and effective problem-solverBe dependableBe driven to improve the minds and lives of studentsBeing dedicated to doing whatever it takes to help all the school's students achieve academic successBe passionate about academic learning and insistent on academic excellence and rigor at all times

Candidates must have:

• A clear record of elevating student achievement in an urban classroom, with a strong understanding of pedagogy that drives resultsA relentless work ethicExcellent communication skills (written and oral)Strong analytical and problem-solving skillsExcellent skills of organization and follow-throughA strong academic record, including a bachelor's degree from an accredited university

An advanced degree from a competitive university is strongly preferred. Alumni of Teach For America, Education Pioneers, The New Teacher Project, and New Leaders for New Schools are strongly encouraged to apply.

Staff and Reporting Relationships

The Assistant Dean shall report to the Dean, collaborate closely with the entire school leadership team, and participate as a member of the school-wide/cross-campus leadership team.