New York, New York
Concord, Massachusetts
Avon, Connecticut
Posted: 16-Oct-25
Location: El Cerrito, California
Type: Full Time
Salary: $120,000-$170,000
Categories:
Elementary School Division Head Search
Prospect Sierra is an independent, coed TK–8 school located on two campuses in El Cerrito, California, serving approximately 435 students.
Mission, Vision, and Values
Mission
Prospect Sierra (PS) inspires and equips students to create a more inclusive and just world through deep and meaningful intellectual engagement, self-knowledge, and care for others.
Vision
Our vision is to be a vibrant and inclusive educational ecosystem in which students, faculty and staff, and families learn, innovate, and thrive, creating mutual positive impact with the broader community.
Values
LOVE
At Prospect Sierra we intentionally lead with love. We practice curiosity, compassion, and joy to build authentic connections with, and among, students so that everyone thrives as their full self and feels that they matter. Our teachers inspire students to seek deep, meaningful inquiry and understanding, leading to a love of learning for its own intrinsic rewards and personal growth.
JUSTICE
Prospect Sierra is a community through which students, teachers, staff, parents and community partners develop trust, demonstrate cooperation, show respect for one another, and develop perspectives that are founded on an understanding of the rights and needs of others. As a learning community, we commit to diversity in our student body, teaching staff, and administration and take responsibility for centering the voices of those traditionally excluded because we know that diverse perspectives are necessary for academic depth and integrity.
INNOVATION
We approach innovation as a way of thinking, learning, and engaging that helps us clarify intention, take action, and practice responsive stewardship of our communities and the planet.
Our teachers, administrators, and staff prioritize the continual improvement of curriculum and learning experiences, in and out of the classroom, to be challenging, engaging, relevant to today’s dynamic world, and meaningful to our students’ lives now and in their futures.
IMPACT
As educators, learners, and community partners, we lead with the knowledge that we are all connected and that our care for one another is essential to achieve mutual benefit and serve the greater good. Our students combine in-depth disciplinary knowledge with academic, cognitive, and relational skills in order to define and solve problems creatively and take action in a rapidly changing global environment and contribute positive impact in the world.
Elementary School Profile
Prospect Sierra’s Elementary School, located at 2060 Tapscott Avenue in El Cerrito, California, is a vibrant learning community of approximately 200 students in grades TK-4. Our students come from a diversity of neighborhoods in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, spanning geographically north and south of our El Cerrito location. Prospect Sierra’s focus on ethnic and socioeconomic diversity is apparent in its demographics. More than 65% of our student body identifies as a student of color, and 74% of our elementary students identify as students of color. In addition, one in three students is on a flexible tuition plan.
At the Elementary School campus, usually called “Tapscott,” faculty are highly valued as knowledgeable, experienced professionals. A strong relationship of mutual trust and respect exists between faculty and administrators, the result of which is a cohesive community of professionals who collaborate to serve children well on a daily basis and to move the institution forward over time. An ethos of growth is at the heart of the faculty and staff culture and is evident in the strong commitment to professional development.
One of the most impressive aspects of Prospect Sierra is the deliberateness and thoughtfulness with which everyone works. Common priorities and ideals permeate every aspect of the school, from decision-making processes and administrative systems to curriculum and pedagogy to community-building efforts. As a result, the school’s values, programs, and operational practices reinforce each other as well as strengthen the sense of shared purpose among Prospect Sierra constituents.
The faculty work to seamlessly integrate challenging academics with social-emotional learning and values-building. As children grow in their intellectual development, they also gain an understanding of their impact on their communities and the environment locally and globally. They learn to appreciate diversity in all its forms and develop compassion for others, and they recognize and manage their own emotional needs. Through hands-on and project-based learning, study trips, service, and other experiences, students learn to solve the problems of today, identify the problems of tomorrow, and be agents of change in the world.
Prospect Sierra is home to a healthy and joyful culture that the next Elementary School Head will inherit. This is an excellent opportunity for the next leader to continue building a model of exceptional independent school education.
Strengths and Opportunities
Prospect Sierra will remain a leader in TK-8 education by embracing opportunities for continual improvement. In the next three to five years, the Elementary School Division Head will be leading or helping to facilitate the initiatives below:
- Ensuring coordination and consistency of student assessments across departments and grade levels.
- Furthering the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the curriculum and community life.
- Continuing to strengthen student support systems through coordination of learning specialists and counselors with faculty, administration, and families.
- Working with the Senior Administration and Board to identify and address physical spaces that will best meet program needs.
- Integrating the 21st Century Learning Framework across the curriculum.
- Working with the Director of Development on fundraising initiatives that have a direct impact on Elementary School programs and/or faculty.
- Continuing to find innovative ways to support the school’s overall initiative to increase faculty/staff salaries while maintaining tuition increases at a minimum.
- Prioritizing initiatives to promote well-being and balance for faculty and staff.
Areas of Focus
- Quickly getting to know all Tapscott faculty and staff, their needs and strengths, in order to support them to do their best work.
- Finding ways to become immersed in student life and getting to know students as well as possible.
- Gaining a solid understanding of the elementary school curriculum and intricacies of the schedule, including research and initiatives to change aspects of the program.
- Working with the Associate Head of School for Program and Professional Development to do a thorough analysis of our curriculum, TK-8, and identify the professional development necessary to execute flexible, dynamic learning spaces for our students. Both division heads will play a key role in working with the AHSPPD as we create thoughtful and efficient ways to move our program forward.
- Embracing the collaborative, highly communicative, and supportive culture of the Senior Administration.
- Leading, while also developing the leadership capacity of the distributive leadership model that exists across the school.
- Maintaining the culture of open communication between faculty, administration, and parents that has been well established at the school.
Personal Attributes
- A leader who models a growth mindset and comfort with change, inspires and motivates others, and at the same time brings focus and balance to a hardworking, aspirational community.
- A person who values and respects children in the developmental ages and stages present in the division and beyond and seeks to bring their voices forward.
- An authentic person with integrity, intellect, creativity, and genuine interest in and care for others.
- A manager who can clearly highlight strengths as well as growth opportunities in the faculty and staff. Someone who prioritizes opportunities for growth and leadership, values a diversity of perspectives, and balances collaboration and decisiveness.
- A joyful and optimistic person with a good sense of humor.
Experience and Skills
- At least five years of relevant experience, ideally in an independent school, and preferably experience as a classroom teacher in elementary schools.
- Broad and deep knowledge of early childhood/elementary development, best practices in progressive teaching and social-emotional learning, and engagement with current research and national conversations about the future of education.
- Ability to understand and engage in problem-solving with administrators and the Board of Trustees on the school’s financial outlook.
- Ability to set clear priorities and define an appropriate pace of change that balances progress and innovation with reflection and sensitivity to the community.
- A nuanced understanding of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice; skill in growing and supporting programs and practices in these areas; and a recognition of one’s own identities and biases and how they may impact one’s perspectives and actions.
Other Considerations
- The position begins on July 1, 2026.
- Compensation is competitive to comparable schools in the region and commensurate to experience.
- Please visit our website, www.prospectsierra.org, for more information.
This search presents a rare opportunity to lead a healthy, happy Elementary School that is in a position of strength in every respect yet which has a bold vision and aspirations for the future. The new Elementary School Head will inspire, lead, and collaborate with the entire school community in ensuring that Prospect Sierra remains a leader in educational innovation and academic excellence, devises creative and thoughtful approaches to the stewardship of resources, and continually cultivates a diverse and inclusive community in which students, faculty, staff, and families thrive.
How to Apply
Please send a letter of interest, resumé, personal statement, and list of 3 references to esheadsearch@prospectsierra.org. Use “ES Head Search” in the subject line. Candidates who bring diversity in all its forms are encouraged to apply.
We will be actively reviewing resumés until the position is filled.