The Role: Co-Principal/ PiR

The Co-Principal role is designed as an immersive, on-the-job leadership apprenticeship. There is no more effective development than learning in practice, and Co-Principals will grow under the guidance of an experienced Senior Principal with the explicit goal of being prepared to ascend to full principalship within 12 months. Co-Principals will lead major areas of the school experience and, over the course of the year, will gradually take on increased scope, decision-making, and accountability as they build the skills and confidence required for full school leadership.

The ideal candidate is fully dedicated to the mission of Prospect Schools and to supporting the success of our students and families. This person will report both to their senior principal and to senior network leadership. They will partner with their senior principal across key functions including academics, culture, talent, and operations. Additionally, they will actively recruit and engage students and staff and coach and develop a team of high-achieving leaders and educators toward a vision of excellence for instruction and student culture. Co-principals within our intentionally diverse community are expected to drive equitable academic results, foster practices that promote social-emotional well-being, and lead a family engagement strategy that uses inclusive practices to empower all of our families to support and advocate for the needs of their children.

Job Responsibilities:

Instructional Leadership:

• Alongside senior principal, serves as the instructional leader of the school

• Lead a systemic practice of data analysis, reflection, and planning to respond across leadership and instructional teams

• With support from senior principal,  hire, onboard, coach and manage leaders to ensure that the school meets ambitious and equity-based academic goals 

• Manage, train, and evaluate the school’s teachers, teaching residents, and the administrative team - both directly or indirectly through coaching of instructional leadership team members

• Create and execute coaching plans and evaluations across the school to ensure the highest-quality instruction takes place

• Ensure unit and lesson plans are revised on a regular basis to be aligned with the school's mission of providing a high-quality education to all students in an intentionally diverse learning environment

• Develops educators’ abilities to foster a classroom culture that is culturally affirming of all students regardless of background

• Oversee the execution of all  the student supports to ensure that all students with social-emotional needs, exceptionalities, and inclusive learning needs have the access and support necessary for achievement

• Collaborate with instructional leaders and educators to routinely assess and improve their instruction 

• Design and implement an effective and ongoing professional development program to grow staff/educator capacity

Staff Culture:

• Intentionally cultivate and model a positive learning culture of high expectations for all stakeholders, including establish school-wide community practices, cultivate a mindset of professional learning and reflection, establish a student-centered data-driven culture 

• Craft and implement school-wide norms to foster an inclusive, safe, and collaborative environment for a diverse faculty

• Recruit, develop, and retain a diverse teaching staff that is representative of the communities we serve 

• Demonstrate care by developing and sustaining a system of consistent, transparent feedback and accountability measures across both vertical and horizontal teams

• Craft and deliver professional development that builds collective skill across the school team toward achieving outcomes for students and our network-wide goals

• Manage strong teams, including leaders, that collaborate and communicate effectively toward common goals 

• Utilize feedback from staff members to improve school programming, culture and approach, etc.
  
  

School Culture Leadership

• Create a vision for, and sustain a warm, welcoming, culturally affirming, and inclusive environment for students, families, and staff 

• Serve as a public model for warm, consistent expectations in classrooms, and community spaces

• Support in managing leadership team to ensure that the school implements values-based, highly effective methods for building positive and socio-emotionally responsible practices

• Establish a strong and productive working relationship with the Director of School Operations to achieve a well functioning school with an operationalized vision.

• Support in managing leadership to ensure the development and consistent implementation of school and grade-wide community norms and relationship-building

• Support school leaders in using data to build stronger practices in student attendance, behavior management, and more

• Analyze school-wide culture data and make adjustments to ensure fidelity to Prospect Schools’ vision

• Observe and give feedback on schoolwide systems and classroom culture to ensure the safety and inclusion of all learners

• Utilizes meaningful feedback from students, families, and community members to strengthen school community practices and instructional methods
  
  

Systems Leadership and Accountability:

• Collaborate with Prospect Schools network team and senior leaders to design and monitor a year-long strategic plan informed by school-specific data, ensuring measurable progress toward key goals.

• As a school leader within the network of Prospect Schools, responsible for productive, collaborative partnerships with network leadership and team in support of the school community and all stakeholders. This includes productive relationship building, communication, being responsive, and upholding the expectations, values, and beliefs of a leader at Prospect Schools. 

• Work collaboratively with leaders and network cross-functional teams to improve systems and guide decision-making processes to support outcomes

• Engage in learning opportunities designed to promote strong equitable and inclusive  practices aligned with Prospect Schools’ model and vision; create/sustain structures to turnkey learning opportunities for staff, students, and families

• Responsible for oversight of all school operations through partnership with the Director of School Operations; ensure the school has strong and efficient systems that ensure efficient distribution of resources, such as budget oversight, staff attendance, assessment administration, and more

• Ensure that staff members are clear on their respective roles and responsibilities and that structures are in place to hold staff members accountable for meeting them 

• Provide regular academic achievement updates to the school leadership team and to the network