Director of School Culture

POSITION SUMMARY: The Director of School Culture is responsible for establishing and maintaining a learning environment consistent with the college preparatory and public policy mission of Chavez Schools. As the school leader responsible for scholars' behavioral, social and emotional growth, this position manages a culture team to support an optimal learning environment for scholars and staff. A key member of the school leadership team, the Director of School Culture is responsible for building a strong school culture that fosters respect and collaboration between teachers, students and families. The Director of School Culture collaborates with senior leaders, teachers and staff to maximize student achievement and meet all performance goals.

  
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES  
School Culture 
● Establishes and maintains a structured, positive and inspiring school culture focused on academic achievement and the development of advocacy skills. 
● Leads events for scholars and families which promote positive school culture. 
● Partners with parents and families to build authentic school-wide community.  
● Works closely and effectively with scholars and their families; partner with school counselors and teachers to execute individualized behavior interventions when needed.  
● Manages all aspects of school culture including school-wide routines such as safe passage, lunch, breakfast, entry, as well as overall school-wide culture, incentives, and behavior management system.  
● Obsessively monitors scholar growth and culture data and holds effective leadership team meetings to review data, make plans for follow-up, and track implementation of plans. 
● Consistently observes teacher practice; provides substantive, action-oriented feedback, encourages reflection and models excellent instruction and relationship building. 
● Promotes a strong school culture and effectively manages school team towards the implementation of a consistent culture that focused on scholar learning. 
  
Management and Leadership Development  

• Establishes clear goals for school growth and holds themselves and their team accountable for achieving those goals.  
• Models leadership practices to direct reports to develop them as leaders through observation, feedback, modeling, and professional development. 
• Holds regular meetings with direct reports to drive accountability. 
• Evaluates staff in alignment with school expectations and in the interest of growth. 
• Models the school values required to develop and support scholars; flexible, self-reflective and growth-oriented. 
• Effectively manages time to prioritize work in service of scholar achievement 
• Manages change, understanding the implications and adjusting leadership voice and behavior accordingly 
• Values and effectively manages a diverse team    
• Serves as a key member of the campus hiring team, ensuring a highly qualified, mission-aligned staff 
• Direct management of school culture team, and other staff and activities as assigned 
• Creates a shared understanding of the Chavez Values, Mission and Vision and how those beliefs manifest themselves in every school day.   

  
Supporting Scholars and Families  

• Regularly communicates and engages with families  
• Ensures communication systems engage parents in understanding scholar performance, goals, and growth   
• Coaches all direct reports to ensure positive relationships with families that communicate care and high expectations for every scholar 
• Works to ensure strong parent engagement function 
• Represents the school at community events 
• Ensures strong data collection and follow-up for all student interventions. 
• Participates in student support team or similar, leading behavioral response and intervention.  

  
QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE SKILL REQUIRED   

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred 
• Creative and inspiring educator with adult leadership experience, high energy, excellent organizational skills and a talent for creating a warm and supportive environment for all scholars. 
• Minimum of 2 years of teacher leadership in an urban community  
• Minimum of 4 years' demonstrated success as an effective classroom teacher as evidenced by teacher and scholar growth and achievement data as well as personal performance data 
• Solid understanding of the developmental and social nuances of children in grades 6-12 
• Demonstrated success using data to drive programming 
• Believes that all scholars can achieve at the highest levels with no excuses 
• Ability to exercise excellent judgment in decision-making 
• Is a strategic thinker and proactive problem-solver 
• Exemplifies the highest ethical standards 
• Works independently with little direct supervision and as part of a team 
• Ability to work productively with diverse populations, teachers, parents, board members, and community members, including demonstrated expertise in building and maintaining effective working relationships; 
• Citizenship, residency of work VISA in United States required