Job Description Summary
The renowned University of Chicago Laboratory Schools seek an adept, experienced, and strategic education professional and supportive community leader to serve as Principal of the Early Childhood division (Nursery-3 through Grade 2), effective summer 2024. Founded by John Dewey and the origin point of groundbreaking developments in teaching and learning including progressive education and Chicago Math, today the Laboratory Schools (Lab) are home to the youngest scholars at the University of Chicago. As such, Lab provides a world-class education to over 2200 students from Nursery-3 through 12th Grade.
The Early Childhood division takes a whole-child, play-based approach to the growth and learning of 690 bright, enthusiastic, diverse students. Children arrive at Lab’s doorstep eager to get involved. Teachers respond with programs that support their drive for understanding, autonomy, and competence. Nursery and Kindergarten teachers, motivated by their deep belief in children’s capacity to figure out the world and represent their ideas, prepare an environment filled with possibilities and encourage choice, initiative, exploration, and collaboration. As children move into Grades 1 and 2, teachers help them transition to an environment in which curriculum guides their learning down specific paths. New skills and challenges are added in developmentally appropriate ways, and learning is structured to support purposeful freedom and provide each child with opportunities to move about, investigate, inquire, experiment, and exchange ideas. Children at Lab are immersed in language and its many uses, and their days are filled with mathematical thinking embedded in real-life questions about how many days they’ve been in school or how to follow a recipe. Projects linking language, science, and art media—paint, clay, music, movement—add depth and breadth to their developing minds. Starting in Grade 1, children leave the classroom for formal art instruction, and computer classes are added in Grade 2. The Early Childhood division boasts a dynamic teaching team of 94 classroom teachers, assistant teachers, and learning and counseling educators, 65% of whom hold advanced degrees, as well as a dedicated staff.
The Early Childhood division is located at Lab’s exemplary Earl Shapiro Hall campus. Earl Shapiro Hall was designed specifically to support our innovative program and magical experiences for young children. This light-filled building is designed to maximize the independence a child feels during the school day, and to seamlessly connect indoor and outdoor learning. It includes 35 classrooms, an early childhood library, outdoor play spaces, and a gymnasium.
The unifying features of the Lab community, enshrined in our mission, are our commitments to scholarship, exhibiting kindness, and honoring diversity. Lab’s theory of action, linking learning with diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as social-emotional growth, is embraced in Early Childhood as well as in Lower, Middle, and High School. Lab is invested in providing support and resources for neurodiverse students. Our team of educators strive to provide an experience of inclusion and belonging for teens who identify with historically marginalized characteristics and backgrounds.
The Principal — supported by an Assistant Principal, a Dean of Students, a Dean of Teaching and Learning, and administrative support professionals, and in partnership with faculty, special area and grade team leaders — is responsible for the strategic direction, leadership, and daily oversight of the Early Childhood Division, support of a talented faculty to further the development of their craft, and partnership with an engaged parent community. Reporting to the Associate Director of Schools (Lab’s seniormost program officer), the Principal holds a senior administrative leadership position at Lab and actively partners with the 16-member leadership team to develop and provide broad strategic guidance for the Schools. The Principal is responsible for day-to-day operations, students’ academic and social progress, professional growth of educators, and positive community relations. The Principal will ensure the recruitment, hiring, evaluation, professional development, and retention of an excellent, diverse team of educators. They will oversee program development in accordance with schoolwide strategic priorities. They will actively pursue Lab’s mission priority of honoring diversity. Based on strong relationships with students, families, faculty, and staff, a positive attitude and outlook, and a commitment to mission and collaborative problem-solving, the Principal will nurture the Early Childhood division’s sense of community.
The successful candidate for Principal will bring a robust teaching background, proven experience in educational administration, demonstrated success in fostering a climate of inclusion and belonging, and a strong history of putting theory into practice in early childhood education.
This is a full-time, year-round administrative appointment, beginning July 1, 2024.