Posted: 17-Jul-25
Location: Texas
Type: Full Time
Categories:
HEAD OF SCHOOL SEARCH
ANN & NATE LEVINE ACADEMY
Dallas, Texas
levineacademy.org
Start Date: July 2026
Mission
Ann & Nate Levine Academy is an inclusive, dynamic, Jewish day school which fosters leadership, creativity, critical thinking, and Jewish values while empowering its students with integrity, self confidence, and intellectual curiosity.
Position Overview
Many schools cite “community” as one of their strengths. At Ann and Nate Levine Academy, nobody has to tell you that (although they certainly do!). You walk in the campus, and you just feel it… that intangible but unmistakable sense of joy and warmth that comes from a shared sense of values, a shared sense of purpose and a shared commitment to and love of the school.
Historically a Conservative Schechter school, today Levine enrolls 430 children across a full range of observance and welcomes mission aligned students and families from 3 months of age through 8th grade.” Everyone cites its unwavering embrace of eternal Jewish values, its solid commitment to the State of Israel (in a non-political way), and the joys of Judaism as what sets the school apart from other fine independent schools.. Levine also delivers a rigorous secular education that rivals the top independent schools in Dallas. They continue to aspire to nothing less than to be at the top in both their Judaic studies, culture, secular studies and programming. As the only non-Orthodox Jewish EC – 8 school in the Metroplex, Levine Academy stands as a shining example of the essential formula for thriving Jewish pluralistic day schools in this competitive environment where enrollments in religiously affiliated schools are declining across the country. This was confirmed by its recent first accreditation by ISAS, the highest standard of school accreditation. This academic accreditation is something of which the entire Levine community is justifiably proud.
Enrollment at Levine Academy is consistently growing….so much so that they are undergoing a capital campaign to reconfigure and add additional space. Tom Elieff, entering his twelfth successful year as Head, has announced his intent to retire at the end of the upcoming school year. Levine seeks an inspired and inspiring, creative and innovative new Head to start July 1, 2026, to partner with the Board and the entire school community to help the school continue to grow and thrive and lead the school into its promising future.
Strengths of the School
As noted above, the remarkably close sense of community is the first thing that everyone talks about when extolling the virtues of Levine. Everyone seems to know everybody. Parents are friends in and outside of school. Everyone gets to know everyone else more than superficially and they all genuinely care about one another. This culture of warmth, of caring, of joy and, especially for a Jewish school in these challenging times, the feeling of Levine as a safe place for everyone, infuses and pervades everything about the school. In addition, the new Head will find many other strengths, including:
- From Early Childhood, children experience and embrace the joys of being Jewish, grounded in the timeless Jewish values and practices that have sustained Judaism for literally millennia. Levine is not a bubble…they know that they are preparing children for success in a largely secular, popular culture world. They know that the kind of character development that comes from a dual curriculum emphasizing the joys of Judaism alongside the practical foundation of an excellent secular studies curriculum, will create mensches and leaders for both the Jewish and civic worlds of the future.
- The faculty embody the essence of the secret sauce of Levine. They are skilled, they are compassionate, they go above and beyond and get to know and care deeply about each student and their families.
- Levine is known for and committed to “academic rigor.” At the same time, the school also provides social-emotional counselling and learning and other kinds of support for neurodiverse and other students who benefit from some personalized attention both in and out of the classroom.
- Pluralistic Jewish Day Schools embrace diverse populations in many respects. Levine has struck an effective balance that has been elusive for some other Jewish schools. Whether it is the range of personal Jewish observance, personal opinions on Israeli politics, family backgrounds or socioeconomic diversity; the school respects all and is united and focused on providing the best possible outcomes for its students. (see Portrait of a Graduate).
- Levine graduates are accepted at their high schools of choice, are ready for work at a broad range of high schools and often stand out as leaders in those high schools. The local private and public schools want our Levine graduates to be a part of their high schools.
- The new head will inherit a collegial, collaborative and competent administrative leadership team and administration.
- The school is blessed to have an engaged and wise Board of Trustees whose partnership with the Head is evidenced by the strong state of the school.
- Parents are involved and supportive of the school in many ways and are a distinguishing strength of the school.
- A unique highlight of Levine is the Friday morning Shabbat Services held at both the EC and the elementary/middle schools where parents, grandparents and alumni are encouraged to join with the children in the celebration of Shabbat. Students develop self-confidence through student leadership of Shabbat services.
- The school has an attractive campus, with natural light in the classrooms, ample outdoor space and up-to-date security infrastructure, policies and procedures.
- Multi-generational connections are common as are long-tenured faculty. There are several alumni working at the school and Past-Presidents remain engaged and supportive of the school as nonvoting board members. Many grandparents are engaged with the school as well as parents.
Opportunities and Challenges
Levine does not rest on its laurels. The desire for continuous improvement will provide the new Head with numerous ways to have great impact on the school, including:
- Almost halfway to its goal, the capital campaign will add capacity to the school, consolidate the entry bringing the EC and lower/middle school together, enhance the community spaces and athletic field, and will allow the new head to partner with the leadership and faculty to oversee the construction and assure the best utilization of these wonderful new resources. While not directly responsible for capital campaign leadership, the new head will have an important role to cultivate relationships with prospective donors to help close out the campaign. Additionally, the Head will serve as a compelling spokesperson and ambassador for the school’s values and vision to help secure gifts for annual fundraising.
- While the faculty is strong, ongoing efforts are needed to attract, retain, and support teachers through meaningful professional development, ensuring Levine remains a center of educational excellence.
- As in all EC-8 schools, retention of current students and attracting new enrollment at key transition points of EC-Kindergarten, Grades 5-6 and remaining until 8th grade, requires constant attention and effort.
- Academic excellence in both teaching and learning is a moving target, and the Head must set the highest standards and encourage innovation to keep current with thought leadership and best practices in education.
- While core academics are excellent, there is always a desire for more extra and co-curricular offerings. Recent and ongoing enhancements to STEM and athletics have been universally applauded; art and music are areas where greater variety would be welcomed.
- Strong external relationships are essential for Levine. The head’s role cultivating those relationships with the high schools is an important part of the high school placement success. Levine wants to be known throughout the region as a top school, and as competition strengthens, building the school’s external reputation is a key to continued strong enrollment. There is a desire for the Head of Levine to be a leader in the overall Greater Dallas Jewish community which is growing and thriving (see Appendix). There are even 7-8 Kosher restaurants in Dallas! Who knew??
- A unifying leader dedicated to fostering a strong sense of unity and connection across all three divisions; Early Childhood, Lower School, and Middle School, to further support a cohesive, one school community.
- The school has clearly articulated expectations for students (behavior), parents and faculty/staff. It is important to consistently enforce adherence to those expectations in firm but understanding ways. The celebrated warmth and inclusivity of the culture that everyone loves must be balanced by acceptance of the responsibilities that come with being a part of such a tightly knit community.
- While Hebrew language and liturgy are essential aspects of Jewish identity, it is equally important to assure that students are culturally Jewish as well as religiously so. Developing the abilities and confidence to be proudly Jewish in a society that can at times make that difficult, takes ongoing work, tact, understanding and commitment.
Qualifications and Personal Attributes
Levine is a school that needs and deserves an exceptional leader with an exceptional track record of success. The job is demanding, multi-faceted and all-encompassing; but also has the potential to be among the most rewarding in the Jewish day school world. Among ideal traits in successful candidates are:
- A highly relational, high EQ leader who reaches out and connects with everyone to make them each feel known, welcomed, and unconditionally valued in the Levine community.
- A personal commitment to excellence in all things and the ability to translate that to high standards and expectations for all people and all things at Levine. Setting a “tone at the top” of high expectations and high accountability.
- Collaborative leader with a desire to be inclusive wherever possible and able to make decisions, including necessary-but-tough ones, when necessary. Being compassionate and understanding but also having a firm approach to holding everyone accountable.
- A personal commitment to the values, importance and most of all, the joys of Judaism. Stemming from that, the ability to make the case for Jewish education as an exceptional character-building foundation for students to become successful in a complex secular and multi-cultural world, in whatever path they choose to take after Levine.
- A marketer at heart. Ability to properly articulate the values of a Jewish education-the need to instill Jewish values in our children to be able to combat antisemitism.
- The ability to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the school through thoughtful stewardship and fundraising
- Assume the leadership role for the administrative team, to include financial acumen.
- Familiarity with the best tools of the trade in enrollment management, marketing, fundraising, budgeting and strategic planning.
- Able to work collaboratively with the rabbinic leadership of the school to assure the quality of the Judaic program. Committed to building relationships with the congregational rabbis and other Dallas Jewish communal leaders and tell the Levine story and expand the base of support for the school.
- Sufficient academic experience to know what great teaching and learning look like. Able to support the three directors and their Judaic and secular subjects’ faculties in their efforts to deliver the best education to their students. Sufficient technological literacy to assure that a Levine education takes advantage of the best of technological tools.
- Strong administrative leadership experience to be able to assemble, lead and empower an administration that operates at a high-performance level consistent with the culture and values of the school.
- An excellent communicator who can speak and write with thoroughness and clarity, providing both information and inspiration in a timely manner to the various constituencies of the school.
- Experience with and eagerness to work in a best-practices relationship with the Board.
- A desire to be visibly immersed everywhere in the life of the school, from the carpool lane to the classroom, to B’nai Mitzvot on Saturday mornings, to the soccer game across town.
- A strategic thinker who can partner with the board in planning an exciting long-term vision for Levine, combined with managerial systems thinking that can get into the nuts and bolts of leading the school to take the steps here and now to accomplish that long term vision.
- And, finally, enthusiasm, resilience, calmness, adaptability and a sense of humor to thrive in everyday school leadership as well as handling the inevitable unforeseen slings and arrows that come the way of Heads in great schools.
To Apply
Interested and qualified candidates are invited to contact the consultant in confidence. Candidates will ultimately need to submit the following materials as separate PDF documents:
- A cover letter expressing their interest in this particular position;
- A current résumé;
- A statement of your philosophy of pluralistic Jewish education as well as experience with both the academic and administrative functions of high performing schools;
- A list of five professional references with name, relationship, phone number, and email address of each (references will not be contacted without the candidate’s permission) to:
Skip Kotkins
Senior Consultant