Posted: 16-Sep-25
Location: Santa Monica, California
Type: Full Time
Salary: $95,000-120,000
Categories:
Salary Details:
Required Education:
The Growing Place Position Description
Position: Campus Director, Growing Place Early Childhood Lab School
Location: 1802 4th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Status: Full-time, Exempt
Reports to: Executive Director
Start Date: July 2026
THE ORGANIZATION:
Growing Place is a non-profit 501(c)(3) child development center, established in 1985. Our mission is to create a better future by helping children develop into confident, compassionate, and creative problem solvers. Our unique program unifies children, parents, and teachers into a community that learns together. Growing Place provides the young children of working families with high-quality, full-day, year-round early education. Our philosophy holds that all children learn from interactions with other children and from interactions with the environment, as well as from interactions with adults. We are in dialogue with Reggio Children and use best practices from their school systems in our context. We fundamentally view children as competent, resilient, and curious individuals; teachers as researchers, facilitators, and collaborators of learning for children and adults; parents as authentic partners.
We operate two NAEYC accredited campuses in Santa Monica and are in partnership with the City of Santa Monica and Santa Monica College operating a third campus, Santa Monica Early Childhood Lab School (SMECLS), which opened in 2021. This campus serves as a demonstration site for ECE students enrolled at Santa Monica College.
Description of the Position
The Campus Director collaborates with children, staff, families, Santa Monica College, and the broader community to carry out the values and mission of the Growing Place. The Campus Director serves as the catalyst of the school to continuously reflect, innovate, and contribute to the evolution of the school. Working in concert with the Executive Director and community partners, the Campus Director is responsible for leading the school in a social constructivist curriculum design and implementation.
The Campus Director, with support from the Assistant Director, directs, manages, monitors, and maintains control over all aspects of campus operations. The Campus Director is responsible for all center operations, and leads the center’s pedagogical and curriculum development and implementation through a close collaboration. The Campus Director is responsible for the partnership between GP and SMC; and strives to ensure SMECLS is an exemplary demonstration site for all learners. The Campus Director holds a strong and clear vision of the organization’s purpose statement and how to actualize the school’s goals and objectives as outlined in our Strategic Plan.
The Campus Director is creative, organized, analytical, flexible, reflective and collaborative.
Responsibilities and Duties
Promote Effective Teaching and Learning
Work with Children
- Collaborate with staff and Educational Coordinating Team (ECT) to design and implement curriculum for the entire campus that is in accordance with the Growing Place philosophies and pedagogy
- Ensure that all children are given opportunities to thrive and structures are in place to support children with learning and/or developmental variations
- Build respectful, trusting, and positive relationships with all children
Work with Families
- Assure all staff have the skills and disposition to create authentic partnerships with families
- Welcome families and create relationships so they feel a sense of belonging
- Support with orienting new families on philosophy and pedagogy
- Participate in parent-teacher meetings and conferences
- Lead family events and engagements related to pedagogy; such as Coffee & Conversations, Parent-Teacher Dialogues, Back to School Night etc.
- Effectively communicate with families about the life of the school
- Publish newsletters and other relevant communications to families and the wider community regarding the work and mission of Growing Place
Work with Staff
- Cultivate a positive, healthy, and professional work environment
- Cultivate a culture of curiosity, reflection, innovation, and critical thinking and feedback
- Work alongside staff to promote positive language, constructivist teaching practices and developmentally appropriate practices
- Participate in consistent and authentic feedback from employees, including having a continuous performance management plan
- Ensure that staff understand and implement the Growing Place mission, values, and practices
- Effectively lead and facilitate meetings
- Design and lead professional development plans; specific to an employee, age-cohort, team, campus-wide or organizationally wide
- Lead and participate in creating, reviewing and editing documentation for classrooms and across campuses
Work with Community and SMC
- Deepen a working partnership with SMC E/EC Department faculty
- Deepen an understanding of SMC’s E/EC department and program
- Lead endeavors that highlight the teaching and learning model at ECLS
- Ensure opportunities for all adult learners to engage in learning at Growing Place
- Cultivate a strong, positive, and professional relationship with the Board of Directors
- Attend and participate in professional development relevant to furthering the organization’s mission
- Present at conferences that enhance the presentation of the Growing Place in the wider community
- Assist staff to prepare and present work to parents and the professional community
- Network with other schools to create partnerships and places of inspiration for future learning opportunities
Fiscal Responsibilities
- Collaborate with Executive Director, Business Manager, and Assistant Director to develop an annual budget that reflects the school’s values and educational goals
- Support a spirit of philanthropy with parents, community, and foundations
- Follow the fiscal policies and procedures handbook
- Collaborate with the Assistant Director on program report due to SMC and to implement operation agreements between SMC and GP
Enrollment and Marketing
- Support Assistant Director to conduct tours of the center for prospective parents
- Ensure all members of the community (parents, staff, etc.) understand the mission, values, and practices of the Growing Place
- Collaborate with appropriate parties to ensure that all communication/marketing materials reflect Growing Place’s mission, values, and practices
- Ensure visibility at Preschool/Career Fairs and local community events for recruitment of families and staff
Operations and Business
- Support positive partnerships to promote good business practices
- Stay abreast of best practices and research regarding children, families, teaching, learning, organizational structures
Campus Facilities
- Plan and ensure that the campus environment promotes teaching, learning, development of trusting relationships, beauty, richness, connection to the natural world and the context of the school, and safety for children and adults
- Provide training, direction and oversight so that materials in the center reflect our pedagogical and environmental values and are within our operating budget expense
Additional responsibilities will be assigned by the supervisor and outlined in the work plans.
Minimum Qualifications/Requirements
- A Master Degree in a related field (ie. Early Childhood Education, Educational Leadership/Administration)
- Experience in leadership, administration, supervision, mentorship
- Two (2) years of experience working with children ages 3 months-6 years old in a licensed quality child care program, NAEYC accredited child care center preferred
- Demonstrate an understanding of child development
- Demonstrate and easily communicate social constructivism, Reggio Emilia approach
- Qualify for Program Director Permit per the CA Commission of Teacher Credentialing
- Meet requirements of the CA Department of Social Services (TB status, required immunizations, CPR certification, fingerprint clearance)
Competencies
- Values parents as important partners in the work of the school
- Pays attention to the many ways that children make meaning of the world
- Collaborates with children and adults in positive ways
- Exhibits a positive, team player spirit
- Has a keen interest and curiosity about the nature of learning and teaching
- Finds joy in working with children and adults
- Approaches teaching as a life-long learner
- Embraces reflection as a tool for growth and learning
- Demonstrates commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity
- Seeks out resources to continually improve one’s practice
- Values learning from mistakes
- Establishes professional boundaries with children, parents, and colleagues
- Demonstrates professionalism in dress, attitude, communication, and punctuality
- Shows and values integrity for oneself and others
- Provides value add to the organization beyond the job position
- Demonstrates strong writing and communication skills
- Demonstrate skillful dialogue and relationship building with parents
Working Conditions
- Ability to stand and sit in indoor and outdoor environments designed for children ages 3 months - 6 years
- Ability to move rapidly from a sitting to standing position, and to be able to get down and up off the ground as needed
- Ability to push, pull, or lift up to 50lbs
- Working in all weather conditions
- Some travel, evening and weekends are occasionally required
- Requires developmentally normal hearing abilities and visual acuity
- Requires strong communication skills with children, families, faculty, and staff
Salary and Benefits
Starting Annual Salary: $95,000 - $120,000 (salary commensurates with experience)
Benefits:
- 4 Weeks Synchronized School Closure
- 10 days additional Paid Time Off (PTO)
- 9 Paid Days National/State Holidays
- Up to 72 Hours of Paid Sick Leave (PSL)
- Unused PSL will roll over to the next school year as Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Medical, Dental, Vision Benefits Covered at 100% for the base policy
- Life Insurance with a fully paid premium and a $25,000 benefit
- 403(b) retirement plan with a 50% match up to 3%
Application Process
Qualified candidates will be contacted to participate in a phone interview. Candidates who advance through the interview process will participate in an in-person interview with Growing Place administration. Finalists will be invited to participate in a ½ day interview that will include an opportunity to observe our classrooms and engage with constituents from our community (Board Members, parents, and staff).
Contact Info
No phone calls. Please send all required information to employment@growingplace.org