Career Center

Oakwood Friends School Overview:

Oakwood Friends School, an independent Quaker, college-preparatory, coeducational, boarding and day school in Poughkeepsie New York serves approximately 180 students in grades 6-12. Oakwood is seeking a full-time, year round Director of Community Equity and Inclusion.  We offers a generous benefits package that includes retirement, health, dental, vision, life, and long term disability insurance plans. Tuition Remission and 12-month campus housing available for individual and families.

The Director will: 

• Be a member of the senior administrative team 
• Report to the Head of School
• Engage with the Boarding and Day communities and reside in one of the on- campus houses or apartments
• Work directly with Department Chairs, Middle and Upper School Directors, and the Head of School
• Participate in Board of Managers’ Committee Meetings 
• Strive to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging throughout the OFS community
• Research and share pedagogical developments and inspire all members of the community to engage in this important work in keeping with our mission and vision, and our approach to teaching and learning
• Directly interact with students, faculty, and parents on a regular basis

This is a particularly exciting time to join the Oakwood Friends community as we focus on anti-bias and anti-racist school-wide curriculum, programming, and systems that will have a broad impact on the school community. The position requires a dedication to the School’s mission and appreciation for Quaker identity.

Responsibilities: 

Collaborate with the senior Administrative Team to:

• Assess, monitor, guide, and create curricular programs and initiatives across Middle and Upper School to ensure alignment with the School’s mission and vision
• Work with the Administrative Team to ensure the school’s policies, practices, and procedures align with our efforts to be inclusive, anti-biased, and non-discriminatory
• Foster conversations among senior administrative team members to support our effort to become an anti-bias/anti-racist school
• Support Admission efforts to monitor enrollment goals and processes that are equitable and reflect the School’s progress toward being an anti-bias/anti-racist school
• Conduct and coordinate institutional research, paying attention to the full spectrum of community members and their visibility and success in the School community
• Support equity and diversity in hiring and retention of faculty and staff in accordance with the School’s mission and vision
• Manage a budget related to equity and inclusivity 
• Set annual goals for student, staff, and parent programming and coordinate student attendance at conferences and trainings
• Prepare and present reports to the Board of Trustees

Collaborate with school community to:

• Create programs that are inclusive and deepen our school’s commitment to diversity, equity, and justice
• Collaborate with students to implement celebrations of holidays and cultural and ethnic calendar events to broaden knowledge for all and foster respect and interest in all cultures, ethnicities, and identities. 
• Foster relationships with Oakwood families to support their children’s success and strengthen their connections to the school community
• Design and implement parent education and events to help families appreciate and understand the School’s commitment to equity and diversity as necessary components of academic excellence
• Faculty advisor for the Middle and Upper School BIPOC affinity groups
• Lead and/or coordinate student programming to help deepen understanding of equity and anti-racist work, including through Quaker history and tenets
• Lead and/or coordinate professional development for faculty, staff, and administration regarding key skills and competencies related to equity, justice, and belonging
• Field concerns from parents, students, faculty and staff around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion and act as a liaison to generate, support, and mediate conversations 
• Partner with Division Heads, Department Chairs, and teachers to strengthen and support an inclusive curriculum that highlights the content, concepts, and skills that students need related to diversity, justice, and cross-cultural competency
• Monitor goal setting, programming, and other topics of interest
• Address the recommendations of the equity audit

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree and work experience in relevant fields
• Experienced educator with boarding and day school programs
• Experience in a leadership role in an academic institution ideally including expertise in diversity and equity work, curricular program development, and faculty/staff development
• Ability to manage daily responsibilities while maintaining focus on strategic and long-term goals
• Willingness to engage in challenging discussions and manage and facilitate courageous conversations
• Desire to reach out to and interact with students, parents, and employees to actively involve everyone in this work and a desire to be an integral part of the Oakwood community
• Team player and collaborative leader
• Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills with a demonstrated ability to connect with a broad range of constituencies

Interested applicants should send a resume and cover letter to: employment@oakwoodfriends.org

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu4Ud8nc4RU

Salary Range: 45k - 65k+

About Oakwood Friends School

About Oakwood Friends School: Oakwood Friends School is a NYSAIS accredited independent boarding and day school serving 160 students in grades 6-12. Founded in 1796, Oakwood is the oldest co-educational boarding and day school in the country. We have a 60-acre campus that includes academic, administrative, arts and athletic facilities, dormitories, a dining hall, 28 faculty housing units, lawns, fields, woods, a small wetland, a four-season greenhouse and a two acre solar array. Greater Poughkeepsie, with a population of 75,000, is the home of Vassar College and the Culinary Institute of America as well as several other college-level educational institutions. Located in the Hudson Valley, Oakwood is less than two hours from New York City and Albany by train or car. Superb hiking, cycling, x-c skiing, boating and climbing are within one-half hour of the campus; downhill skiing in the Berkshires and Catskills can be reached in one hour. Our college preparatory curriculum is rigorous, creative, and responsive to student needs and the interests and talents of our teachers. Classes are small and students and teachers know each other well, both within and beyond the classro...om. Students and teachers address each other by first names. We offer a full range of interscholastic and “life” sports, and the school is a member of the Hudson Valley Athletic League. Our curriculum prepares Oakwood students for post-secondary success in disciplines ranging from the arts to engineering to everything in between. We meet daily as a full school community for a 10-minute “Collection” each morning and weekly for Meeting for Worship in the Quaker tradition. Quaker values inform our work and community life, and, consistent with Quakers’ belief in acceptance and inclusion, our school community is religiously, racially, and economically diverse. All faculty are actively involved in the life of the school and in duties beyond the classroom. Our students, both boarding and day, come from across town, across the country and across the globe. Currently we have students from 12 countries, representing multiple faiths, cultures and perspectives. The school has over 60 employees, including housekeeping and physical plant staff. Half of our teachers and administrators live on the campus. Including faculty families and boarding students, our on-campus population is almost 200. Our dining hall is open for three meals a day when school is in session, and meals are available as a benefit to faculty, staff, and their family members. Campus housing is available to many faculty and accommodations range from small apartments to large houses. Pets are welcome. Since its founding as a Friends school, Oakwood has been devoted to the fundamental Quaker belief that there is “a divine light in all of us.” In putting that belief into practice, Oakwood remains firmly committed to its long-standing goal of having an inclusive, diverse community of students and staff living and working together in an atmosphere of mutual respect and enrichment. Oakwood Friends School provides equal opportunity in the administration of its admissions, educational, and hiring practices.

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