Elementary Academic Dean - #1689750

Academic Deans coach and develop our teachers who close gaps in student achievement. Academic Deans are model teachers who drove results for students in their own classrooms, are pedagogical experts who can teach the art and science of teaching to others, and have experience leading, managing, and coaching adults.

The Academic Dean's primary responsibility is to drive and own instructional outcomes for students by spending the majority of their time (approximately 70%) on instructional leadership and teacher development. They set and execute the vision for STEM and Humanities on their campuses in alignment with the network's instructional visions and are the key drivers for student achievement for a subset of the student population. Academic Deans drive results by coaching a caseload of teachers including high performers, new to career, and underperforming. In the remaining 30% of their time, Academic Deans will support student and staff culture collaborating with Deans of Students, Deans of Fellows, Grade Level Chairs, and Department Chairs.

Specifically, Academic Deans at GOLCS are responsible for driving:

• Staff culture across K-2 or 3-4 and STEM or Humanities
• Teacher development
• Growth and achievement on iReady and NJSLA

Key Leadership Competencies & Role Responsibilities: Academic Deans…

• Leads Self: Academic Deans know that their ability to impact students and the adults they lead starts with a deep understanding of self and a willingness to continually strive to improve.
  • Self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and regulation: Academic Deans know that self-awareness is foundational to leading self, leading people, cultivating teams and driving results and outcomes. They use reflection, self-understanding, and feedback to adjust behaviors, grow, and persist through challenges. They use emotional intelligence to navigate difficult conversations and situations involving direct reports, managers, and fellow leaders with ease and emotional consistency.
    • Diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging: Academic Deans know that the work to achieve educational equity for students and to dismantle White Supremacist Culture begins with self. They continuously explore their intersectional identities, building awareness around interpersonal and systemic dynamics to lay the foundation for a highly effective STEM or Humanities team culture
    • Integrity: Academic Deans are committed to being honest and have strong moral principles as demonstrated by their interactions and engagement with teachers and leaders.
    • Continuous Learning: Academic Deans know that the work of personal development is ongoing and vital to their personal and professional success. Academic Deans hold themselves accountable to evolving, growing, learning and unlearning in ways that improve results for students, adults, and the larger school community.
• Leads People & Cultivates Teams:
  • Building Relationships & Stakeholder Engagement: Academic Deans know that relationships with key stakeholders are essential to transformational change. Those they work with most closely feel seen, known, and cared about as their full selves and trust that commitments made will be kept. Additionally, Academic Deans possess the ability to influence and engage all key stakeholders before making decisions and executing a project/idea; they ultimately understand that their role exists to lead a vertical team and drive a group of people towards an intended set of results through collaboration and vision setting.
  • Change Management: Academic Deans drive collective action and systemic improvement in alignment with their school's goals, knowing that transformational change is the work. They leverage their influence to improve processes and outcomes, deeply invest their team of teachers and other stakeholders in necessary changes such as department or grade level system shifts, and align the work in support of the changes they seek.
  • Managing People: Academic Deans prioritize managing the STEM or Humanities program ensuring that teachers are clear about their roles and have strong impact in alignment with their school goals. As a result of this focus, those they work with stay at their school, feel developed and supported, use their strengths daily in their role to achieve excellent outcomes.
• Drives Results & Outcomes
  • Vision setting & strategic planning: Academic Deans at GOLCS know that to walk the path of excellence with their department team, they must create a clear and compelling vision, set goals, and make decisions that allow teachers to drive the work they are best positioned to impact. As a result of this work, their team is highly invested in the shared vision and are positioned to be proactive, accountable, adaptive, and successful.
  • Prioritization of time: In addition, Academic Deans know that their role is twofold. They make time for coaching and developing teachers as well as action planning and strategizing with their leadership team and planning and facilitating professional development.
  • Ongoing data analysis and action planning: Academic Deans at GOLCS understand the value of department and course level data and examine and analyze these key data points weekly including identifying trends, bright spots, and red flags to make schoolwide shifts and decisions and/or alter their leadership style for specific teachers. They also review and respond to department and course level data by making adjustments and modifications to department and course systems and deploying support to teachers and courses most in need.
  • Coaching Teachers: Academic Deans at GOLCS drive themselves and others to equitable outcomes for students and teammates by developing teachers's capacity to achieve results for students through observations, walkthroughs, real time coaching, and data analysis, weekly 1:1 coaching sessions O3s focused on student data and progress monitoring. Academic Deans also designs and leads high quality professional development to improve teacher effectiveness.
• Collaborates with the Network:
  • Strengthen the Network: Provides input to strengthen the network's support, seeks to cultivate a partnership rather than an "us-them" relationship, and proactively works to ensure a true feeling of alignment and collaboration throughout the organization.
  • Collaborates with Academic Team: Collaborates with Achievement Directors and other Academic Team members to monitor achievement data and intellectual preparation and inform the instructional leadership development of teachers
  • Attends Monthly Network PD: Attends monthly Academic Dean PD and Leader's Circle to hone content, instructional, and leadership expertise

Qualifications

Must-Haves:

• College degree: has a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university
• Teaching Experience: has taught for a minimum of four years and has student achievement scores to speak to their effectiveness. As a leader for teachers in our organization, the person in this role needs to have walked the walk.
• Deep content expert: stays afloat of current research in school culture and/or instruction via reading and professional development.
• Strong data analysis skills: can look at a multiple departments' data set, diagnose challenges, and immediately recommend clear next steps for their teams of teachers
• Visionary and dreamer: can develop and drive an inspirational and audacious vision for their team that will yield results for students.
• Detail-oriented and logistical: prioritizes the micro details as much as the vision and can take an idea from theory to practice.
• Excellent communication skills: can speak and write clearly, specifically, and cohesively about the discipline and all the nitty gritty details stakeholders will need to know in order to achieve results for students.
• Just do it: does not always need to be told what to do; has insight to determine what needs to be done based on assessing gaps and asking the appropriate questions; can manage multiple projects at once

Nice-to-Haves:

• An advanced degree (Masters or Doctorate) in Curriculum and Instruction or Educational leadership
• A state issued license as a teacher, supervisor, or principal

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Great Oaks Legacy Charter School offers competitive salaries commensurate with experience and a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans w/ comprehensive network coverage.
• Tax exempt student loan and tuition reimbursement per year.*
• Reimbursement for external professional development aligned to your role.
• Wellness reimbursement benefit including gym memberships, spa services, and more.*
• Online counseling services - for staff and their dependents - via top-rated therapy app.*
• Pre-tax state pension plan benefit w/ addl. options available via voluntary retirement plans.
• Pre-tax dependent care, health, and transit flexible spending plans available.
• Convenient health screening and telemedicine support via VitalCheck Wellness platform.

ABOUT GREAT OAKS LEGACY CHARTER SCHOOL

Great Oaks Legacy Charter School (GOLCS) is a free, open-enrollment public charter school system in Newark, New Jersey, educating students from Pre-K to 12th grade. Our mission is to prepare every student for college success. GOLCS currently educates more than 2,100 students across seven campuses in the greater Newark area.

We provide all children with the support they need - inclusive of resources that acknowledge and address systemic inequities - to be empowered to thrive. We bridge the educational opportunity gap by supporting rigorous academics with daily individualized tutoring within a community committed to supporting equity and diversity.

These three principles guide our work, every day, in support of our students and mission:

• Creating a community that is built upon genuine and meaningful relationships;

• Being surgical in our approach to differentiation of instruction and support of all students and team members;

Setting and exceeding high expectations for academic growth and character development for all students, in preparation for success in college and beyond.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, & ACCESSIBILITY

GOLCS is committed to building a talented team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. Furthermore, we believe that racial justice and equity is critical to our mission of preparing students for success in college and beyond. We strive to be an organization that is diverse, equitable, inclusive, and elevates our student voices in preparing them for life and college.

GREAT OAKS LEGACY CHARTER SCHOOL VACCINATION POLICY

Great Oaks Legacy Charter School is committed to ensuring healthy and safe working and learning environments, and maintaining our educational commitment to GOLCS students and families - with minimal disruption to instruction. With this in mind, as of October 2021, Great Oaks Legacy requires vaccination against COVID-19 for all employees. Candidates who would like to apply for a reasonable accommodation from this policy based on a qualifying disability or sincerely held religious belief should reach out to [email protected] for more information.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT

Great Oaks Legacy provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.