Details
Posted: 31-Jan-23
Location: Pebble Beach, California
Type: Full Time
Salary: 85K - $129K
Categories:
Other
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Stevenson School is a PK-12 co-educational, college-preparatory, boarding and day school with enrollment of 770 students on two campuses in beautiful Central Coast California. The Upper Division campus (Grades 9-12) is located in Pebble Beach. The Lower/Middle Campus (Grades PK-8) is in nearby Carmel-by-the-Sea. Stevenson is a mission driven school that aims to help students shape joyful lives while instilling a passion for learning and achievement to prepare them for success in school and beyond. The core values of the community are safety, trust, respect, belonging, and inclusion.
In keeping with Stevenson’s core values, we seek candidates who demonstrate a commitment to equity and inclusion. Stevenson is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law. Candidates from underrepresented backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
Stevenson is pleased to offer transportation support and accommodations, as needed, along with an introduction to the local area, for those candidates who travel from outside of the region for on-campus employment interviews. In addition to competitive salary, Stevenson provides a generous benefits package with housing support available for eligible employees. Delicious meals are provided daily for all employees when school is in session.
Stevenson School seeks an experienced Dean of Academic Life (DAL) to start August 2023.
The Dean of Academic Life (DAL) reports to and works in close collaboration with the Head of the Upper Division to help oversee all aspects of the division’s academic life, with a focus on faculty support and program excellence. In recent years, the upper division has moved to embrace a more experiential model of education that features increased creativity and curiosity-driven instruction. This work has included the launch of new schedule, a reduction in high-stakes testing coupled with the exploration of more varied assessment tools, professional development focused on pedagogical practice, and the hiring of two co-directors of equity and inclusion who support changes in curriculum and classroom practice to help ensure we serve all community members. This spring, we are excited to launch our inaugural x-term, where students will enroll in one of twenty-two two-week intensive courses taught by faculty members from different disciplines. We are still at the early stages of a significant academic transition and will benefit from the insight of experienced leadership.
Given the pace of change, the DAL is especially essential to ensure that faculty are supported, effective, accountable, and heard. The DAL will attend to the professional growth of teachers at all stages of their career. With the HOD, the dean of students, the dean of co-curricular education and the co-directors of equity and inclusion, the DAL will complete the upper division’s senior leadership team.
The Dean of Academic Life, Upper Division is eligible to be a resident or day faculty member and may carry a teaching load up to one class, to be determined by the Head of the Upper Division. It does include a summer component and project work at the request of the Head of the Upper Division.
Responsibilities include:
Faculty communication and support
- Sets and maintains a positive faculty culture, both serving as a resource for faculty to voice questions and concerns and regularly supporting and celebrating faculty
- Regularly sets the agenda for bi-weekly faculty meetings, in coordination with the HOD, and helps develop opening and closing faculty meetings and in-service days as appropriate
- Manages important segments of faculty communications to ensure faculty are appropriately informed of relevant matters, including maintaining faculty Canvas pages and resources, and updating handbooks and calendars
Academic program
- In collaboration with the HOD, supports the individual and collective work of the academic department heads. The DAL helps to set agendas for the group’s bi-weekly meetings, helps department heads set departmental goals, meets regularly with department heads to support both implementation of goals and regular departmental management needs, and helps administer department head evaluations.
- Works to align learning outcome goals among departments and divisions, coordinating development and documentation of formalized curriculum maps and skills progression documents
- Regularly observes teachers in the classroom, Meets individually with each faculty member a minimum of one time per year
- Works with program leads in the middle division, with a focus on the academic transition between grades 8 and 9
- Oversees the work of the Registrar, including course registration and approving student course load petitions
- Through collaboration with the Director of the Learning Center, helps the HOD oversee the work of the Learning Center and Learning Commons, including the development and staffing of academic support classes, oversight of peer tutoring programs, and support of academic plans for students on medical leave
Hiring and new faculty support
- Works closely with the HOD in recruiting and retaining excellent, diverse faculty, in collaboration with the academic department heads. The DAL is part of the team including department chairs, the HOD, the Director of Human Resources, and the Co-Directors of Equity and Inclusion, that works to establish and institute best practices with regard to recruiting and hiring of faculty
- Coordinates new faculty orientation at the start of the school year and mentors new faculty throughout the year, including observing new faculty and holding regular meetings with new faculty, both individually and as a cohort. The DAL also works in collaboration with the head of the lower and middle divisions (or relevant campus administrators) to align divisions as appropriate in terms of onboarding of new faculty.
- Oversees the peer mentorship program
Faculty evaluation and professional development
- Works with the HOD to develop, refine, and administer the faculty evaluation process
- Supports the professional growth of faculty:
- Develops term-time professional development opportunities for faculty, including opt-in workshops throughout the year in collaboration with the director of community education and co-directors of equity and inclusion
- Leads the Summer Faculty Enrichment Committee and oversees term-time professional development requests, managing the approval process for grant requests, managing the budget in conjunction with the director of stewardship, disperses funds, and works with department heads and the HOD to match professional development with faculty goals
- Supports the HOD in management of the Wickersham Family Fund process
- Works directly with the co-directors of equity and inclusion to promote and assess cultural competencies for faculty in their teaching
Admissions and family support
- Supports the admissions process, including reading applicant files as needed, attending admissions events, supporting the development of events at the request of the dean of enrollment management and working closely with Stevenson’s Grade 8 families as they navigate the transition to the Pebble Beach campus
- Serves as a resource to upper division parents and guardians throughout their time in the division, including supporting and implementing programming that furthers the School-family partnership
Student life partnership
- Supports the dean of students in major disciplinary cases and in daily student life affairs as needed and serves as a member of the School Conduct Committee
- Serves on a variety of committees at the request of the HOD, including Health & Wellness and Community Wellness. Supervises the work of the director of community education, supporting the development of health and wellness curriculum in grades 9-12
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in education or related field, advanced degree strongly preferred
- 10 years of relevant professional experience including prior experience in an academic leadership role
- Strong background in experiential learning, creative teaching, curriculum development and mapping, and a wide array of assessment approaches
- Demonstrated excellence in the role of faculty mentor
- High degree of confidence and competence with faculty development and evaluation
- Depth of experience partnering with diversity, equity and inclusion practitioners to support enhanced curriculum development and opportunities for meaningful engagement in the classroom
- Ability to articulate the School’s mission and program to constituencies including students, faculty, current parents, college counseling staff, and prospective students and parents
- Highly developed leadership skills and the enthusiasm to collaborate generously and productively with faculty and administrators
- Proficiency with SIS and Google Suite
- Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills
- A positive outlook and sense of humor appropriate to the age group
- Impeccable integrity and extraordinary work ethic
- Highly developed professional judgment and commitment to maintaining discretion and confidentiality
- Commitment to being part of a diverse, equitable and inclusive school community
Interested candidates are invited to use the link provided to submit a resume to:
Susan Fahey Khanna, Director of Human Resources
About Stevenson
Founded in 1952, Stevenson School is a selective co-educational boarding and day school with 750 students and 30 buildings on 50 acres of land and two campuses. The 500-student upper division, comprised of grades 9-12, is located on the Pebble Beach Campus, where about 60% of students reside in six faculty-supervised dormitories; the lower and middle divisions, totaling 250 students in grades PK-8, are located on the Carmel Campus.
As an American school with a global sensibility, Stevenson is premised on a vision of education as the means by which we discover ourselves in the world and thus contribute to its transformation. We believe that one’s education is best pursued in the company of others, for others’ benefit as well as one’s own. Our Latin motto—Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re (Gentle in manner, resolute in action)—inspires humility and perseverance. Our mission includes three aims: to prepare students for success in college and beyond, to foster their passion for learning and achievement, and to help them shape a joyful life.
In keeping with this project, Stevenson seeks to:
•Train students in critical academic, intellectual, social, and emotional skills;
•H
...elp students to develop honor and integrity;
•Teach students to engage productively and peacefully with others;
•Nurture students’ ambitions and healthy pursuit of excellence;
•Balance convention and innovation such that we remain true to our enduring values and relevant to the emerging needs of the present generation of students.
We expect all members of our community to be:
•Devoted to our tenets of scholarship and citizenship;
•Honest, honorable, and empathetic;
•Able to examine and be responsible for their beliefs and behavior, respectful of the consequences that attend both;
•Willing to risk failure in the pursuit of wisdom;
•Committed to global literacy, environmental stewardship, and civic engagement.
Stevenson offers its students, faculty, and staff a values-driven community experience influenced by the distinctive beauty, ecological biodiversity, and contemplative culture of the Central Coast.
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