Job Description

The Academic Principal assists the campus principal in leading the “Academies of Alexandria City High School” with a focus on the Global Studies Academy, i.e., an academy providing expansive opportunities for students interested in world languages and international studies topics of exploration and career interests. The candidate assists the campus principal with supervising and coordinating interdisciplinary, project-based learning experiences for staff and students; providing instructional leadership for academic content areas and ACHS academies; developing community partnerships that support the ACHS academies; establishing a positive school climate; and managing the campus’s day-to-day operations.

This position reports to the campus principal.

Location: Alexandria City High School - King Street

Qualifications

Education:  Master’s degree in a job-related area.

Certificates & Licenses: A valid Virginia Department of Education license, which must include a PreK-12 Administration and Supervision endorsement or eligibility to obtain a license with the required endorsement within ninety (90) days of the initial hire date, is required.  

Experience: At least five years of grades 9-12 school division experience demonstrating the key competencies below.

Key Competencies:

• Academy Leadership:  Previous experience commensurate with the development and implementation of a nontraditional academic program that explores world languages and international/U.S. studies competencies, interests, and career explorations, i.e., audio/visual technology, performing arts, and media design.
• Community Engagement. Experience building strategic partnerships and/or relationships with local community leaders and community-based organizations to connect students with community and career exploratory opportunities
• Student-Centered:  Demonstrated success in implementing programs and/or initiatives that result in positive outcomes for all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, or cultural background
• Equity & Cultural Competency:  Demonstrated ability in creating inclusive environments that honor and support a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives, as well as implementing programs and initiatives that reflect a commitment to promoting equity in a diverse school community
• Goal Oriented: Ability to manage time and tackle multiple high-priority tasks in a time-sensitive and fast-paced environment; capacity to establish clear goals and action steps, as well as communicate, problem solve, and lead complicated tasks with a large staff
• Student Achievement & Performance Management: Demonstrated success with positively impacting student achievement as a teacher in the classroom and previously supervised academic departments; demonstrated implementation of student support processes that result in student achievement; experience in ensuring there are no artificial barriers between student support and instructional leadership
• Student Support Team:  Ability to collaborate with the school support team, e.g., school counselors, social workers, teachers, families, and so forth, to ensure effective MTSS student interventions and support structures
• Behavior Management:  Knowledge of behavioral management frameworks that reteach expectations and prepare students to be lifelong global learners
• Professional Learning Communities & Data Analysis:  Success in implementing Professional Learning Communities that ensure students’ academic progress is monitored and supported; adept at data analysis; ability to extract meaningful insights across school-wide data sources
• Curriculum Alignment: Knowledgeable of required VDOE curriculum standards and state assessments; demonstrated ability in translating student mastery requirements into instructional plans and strategies; experience collaborating with teachers to monitor the implementation of curriculum and rigorous curricular standards
• Instructional Leadership:  Ability to provide leadership and instructional feedback, as well as professional learning and coaching; develop teachers' instructional best practices that result in an enhanced learning environment and positive student outcomes  
• Special Education:  Familiar with the special education compliance process and experience serving as the facilitator for special education required meetings, i.e., child study, eligibility, IEP, MDR, and the like.; demonstrated ability in student progress monitoring and data-informed interventions/supports; able to identify adequate individualized education plans, including accommodations, goals, and transition plans
• High Leverage Instructional Strategies: Knowledgeable of appropriate differentiation strategies and the subsequent application of high-leverage instructional strategies and pedagogy; able to provide appropriate and sustained professional learning to reinforce research-based best practices in the curriculum implementation, instruction, and assessment, as well as differentiation, personalization, project-based learning, GLAD, specialized instruction, and English Learner best instructional strategies
• Relationship Building: Expertise in cultivating relationships and managing a diverse group of stakeholders, including students, staff, families, central office staff, and the larger Alexandria City community.
• Academy Leadership: Demonstrated leadership in academy development; ability to lead an academy in fostering and facilitating the implementation of small learning communities that cultivate career path identification, college, and career readiness, and student experiences that enhance classroom instruction
• Central Office Collaboration: Collaborates with Central Office staff, e.g., content specialists, program coordinators, and directors, to ensure appropriate programming and instructional planning, implementation, and monitoring for all academy stakeholders, e.g., staff, students, and families

Essential Functions

Instructional Leadership

• Builds capacity for cross-curricular collaboration and interdisciplinary learning opportunities for staff and students, i.e., including professional learning and program design specifically related to the Global Studies Academy
• Informs teachers of and participates in professional development opportunities that develop teachers’ knowledge of best practices in instructional methods and coaches teachers on how to match strategies to gaps in student mastery
• Supports the executive and campus principal’s vision and takes an active role in mobilizing teachers to achieve the collective goals of the school; contributes to school-wide planning and prioritizes time to accomplish goals; provides input into the strategic planning of the school and identifies areas of ownership for self and direct reports; provides academy oversight across multiple campuses
• Leads and provides high-quality instructional coaching with frequent and scheduled teacher observations, actionable and bite-sized feedback, and accountability for adjustment in practice; promotes academic excellence in a nurturing environment
• Co-leads, guides, and participates in the school improvement planning (SIP) process and ensures the implementation of actions related to CSIP goals, such as monitoring on-time graduation rates, special populations, and so forth. 
• Leads, with guidance from the executive principal and campus principal, leads the planning and goal setting for the academies, including multiple grades and departments; coaches staff and ensures alignment with VDOE curriculum and school-wide goals
• Supports the executive principal and campus principal in identifying and developing emerging leaders, i.e., department heads and/or grade level chairs, through goal setting, coaching, and feedback
• Studies and understands curriculum and assessment to identify lesson alignment and develop an understanding of content mastery; also supports academies with identifying the instructional foci required for students and teachers
• Provides data analysis coaching opportunities to support teachers in determining how data aligns with end-of-year goals; supports teachers in disaggregating data to analyze and respond to trends in how diverse student groups are performing
• Supports academies with identifying student mastery and growth goals; implements structures that allow staff to identify specific instructional actions and adjustments to fill students’ knowledge and skill gaps within an appropriate timeline
• Performs other related duties as assigned

School Operations and Learning Environment

• Models and facilitates strong staff and student culture and manages school-wide character development and behavior management systems, i.e., PBIS and Restorative Practices; support teachers in developing student support practices and behavior intervention systems that ensure limited time is spent on reactive student discipline practices
• Develops teacher capacity to provide rigorous and high-quality instruction; supports the campus leader in planning, implementing, and enabling systems of MTSS; acts as the first leadership team contact for academy and content area leadership, as well as student support teams and parent engagement
• Maintains high standards for appropriate conduct with and for staff and students
• Determines next steps for issues that rise above the instructional, grade level, and/or department chair role; collaborates with school leader on hiring diverse, highly effective teachers and school staff
• Helps implement the school’s emergency preparedness/crisis response plan(s)
• Provides leadership and oversight for academies serving special populations of students, including EL, SPED, advanced placement, and dual enrollment programs; coordinates and manages daily campus operations, i.e., school arrival/dismissal, lunch, as well as duties and procedures to ensure student safety and security
• Ensures appropriate student supervision, e.g., student arrival/departure, student/staff attendance, facility management, lunch supervision, class transitions, extracurricular activities/programs, athletic events, etc.
• Creates and nurtures a positive school climate with high levels of effective collaboration and communication with all stakeholders; promotes a safe, efficient, and effective work and learning environment
• Manages the instructional program and school operations across two campuses, i.e., Minnie Howard and King Street Campuses, respectively
• Performs other related duties as assigned

Families and Community Engagement/Partnerships

• Develops and oversees academy-based community partnerships that serve as community developers and an extension of the ACHS academy’s instructional experience
• Serves as a point-of-contact for campus-specific outside service providers
• Maintains open and effective communication with local and national community partners, students, parents, and all school stakeholders promptly
• Nurtures established community partnerships with local organizations to leverage existing connections as they support the academy’s instructional experience
• Encourages collaborative relationships with familial organizations, i.e., FACE Center and PTSA, and supports a productive relationship with community partners
• Serves as liaison and school representative at community-based events and school-sponsored activities, i.e., athletic/academic extracurricular activities
• Monitors community relationships and school-based resources to identify emerging trends and ensure the school program addresses student and community needs
• Fosters and maintains a strong community commitment of support for the school division and connected high school network
• Performs other related duties as assigned

Clearances

• Criminal Justice Fingerprint/Background Clearance
• Tuberculosis Skin Test

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