Career Center

Title:  Assistant to the Head of School

Reports to:  Head of School

Responsibilities:

The Assistant to the Head of School provides executive-level administrative support to the Head of School and the Board of Trustees.  The Assistant organizes, coordinates, and performs administrative duties requiring independent judgment, discretion, and confidentiality.

Strong organizational and communication skills and a professional demeanor are essential to this high-profile position.  The Assistant will be in frequent communication with trustees, administrators, faculty, parents, and students thus discretion, diplomacy, and courtesy are of the utmost importance.

This position requires an individual who can assess, prioritize, and synthesize varied requests. It will be important that this person understands the inner workings of the Academy and appreciates how the details influence the larger picture.

Duties:

• Assists in maintaining the Head of School’s calendar – Monitor,  prioritize, set and track appointments
• Monitors calls and visitors for the Head of School, problem solves, assists where possible provides detailed information for those referred to the Head of School
• Writes, edits and manages correspondence for the Head of School to include internal and external communication - parent emails/communications from the HOS, management of policy guides, procedures (including handling of confidential information), student birthday cards and coordinates the School and Board Christmas Cards with Director of Marketing
• Prepares Power Point presentations and related notes, including handouts when appropriate, as directed by the Head of School
• Performs special projects as assigned by the Head of School - survey creation, fund-raising initiatives, capital project management, etc
• Assists with scheduling administrative meetings and retreats, individual routine meetings with Head of School’s direct reports, individual faculty and staff meetings as requested, parent meetings as requested, meetings with Trustees, meetings with guests, and candidate interview meetings
• Takes the utmost care to maintain and protect the confidentiality of the Head of School’s Office
• Assists the Head of School by arranging special events on campus, including those in the Head of School’s residence; and organizing and coordinating school-wide events such as faculty and trustee functions, the McMillan Lecture Series, etc.
• Management and communication of all named scholarship award recipients.
• Communication with legal counsel or PR firms when needed.
• Management of independent school organizations (NAIS/ISCAS/AIMS) - includes the School Accreditation process, annual memberships, webinars, job postings, etc
• Administrative support for the Board of Trustees
• Prepares, gathers, and distributes via email Board materials prior to board meetings
• Attends all Board meetings and maintains the official records and minutes
• Assists Committee Chairs with committee meetings, i.e., scheduling, communications, and preparing agendas or other related documents
• Maintains Board contact information and prepares the Board’s schedule and important events in conjunction with the Head of School and Board President
• Assist with facilitating orientation program for new board trustees/members
• Prepare Year-end gifts, and resolutions for trustees rotating off of the board
• Coordinate the annual meeting and other board/school events as needed
• Administrative support for major donor cultivation
• Supports the Head of School in achieving his/her advancement goals
• Participates in many school events; on some occasions assist in the planning and execution of events
• Communicates with major donors, including scheduling appointments with the HOS, answering questions, and performing necessary problem solving
• Research, prepare correspondence, presentations, and related materials for major/capital gift “asks”

• Organization and Management of HOS files
• Maintains Administration files, with attention to file retention, archiving outdated files
• Develops and implements systems that support easy access to administrative files, in particular, those of the Head of School

• Provide support and assistance with school and community relations
• Communicates with parents and other family members, volunteers and donors when there is a perceived problem, concern or question. Always keeps the Head of School and others, as appropriate, informed of issues when they arise.
• Refers parents and others to Department Directors whenever possible. Keeps the Head of School informed about the situation and what action is being taken.

*Perform other duties and special projects, as assigned by the Head of School

Qualifications and Skills:

• The successful candidate will have experience working in educational or non-profit settings. 
• Executive Assistant experience preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred. 

The ideal candidate should possess superior skills in the following:

• Oral and written communications
• Active listening
• Organization and management
• Proficient in cloud-based resources; specifically Google Workspace, Canva, Adobe