Posted: 11-May-26
Location: Stone Ridge, New York
Type: Full Time
Salary: $60,000-$62,500
Categories:
Preferred Education:
Lower School Division Director
Department: Administration
Reports to: Head of School
Classification: exempt
Our Mission
High Meadow School is a nursery through 8th-grade independent school that celebrates childhood, the joy of learning and play, and the power of community in a student-centered environment. We honor and welcome each child’s unique voice, identity, and approach to constructing knowledge. Drawing on current pedagogical research, we center diversity, equity, civic engagement, nature, and the arts in the school’s dynamic curriculum and culture. High Meadow students graduate with a strong academic foundation and a developed sense of self, ready to contribute their passions and values to building thriving, sustainable, and equitable communities.
Job Description
The Lower School Division Director at High Meadow School plays a pivotal role in implementing the school’s mission, culture, and programs across the Lower School years (1st-5th Grade) and ensuring a positive, student-centered experience for all children in the division. The Lower School Division Director oversees all aspects of the division, serving as both coach and supervisor to the Lower School faculty. This role involves developing the academic and social-emotional curriculum, ensuring student growth and well-being, cultivating a warm and inclusive learning community, and fostering strong relationships among faculty and parents. The Lower School Division Director collaborates closely with other Division Directors and the Head of School to promote cohesion across the school’s educational model and participate in strategic decision-making.
Essential Duties
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. High Meadow School complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended by the ADA Amendments Act, and all applicable New York State or local laws. Consistent with those requirements, High Meadow School will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with a disability if such accommodation would allow the individual to satisfactorily perform the essential functions of the job, unless doing so would create an undue hardship.
Schoolwide Responsibilities
- Oversee the overall development of a mission-aligned lower school program and culture that is cohesive with the other school divisions and promotes a sense of community, belonging, and engagement for lower school students, staff, and families.
- Collaborate with the Head of School, Assistant Head of School, Early Childhood Division Director, and Middle School Director to:
- Develop and maintain a cohesive academic and social-emotional curriculum scope and sequence that reflects the school’s progressive education model, incorporates throughlines of social justice, sustainability, and place-based education, and provides a substantially equivalent education to state and national standards benchmarks;
- Shepherd a positive, developmentally appropriate, and student-centered school climate and culture;
- Provide a unified approach to individualized learning and inclusive practices for all students, including those who are neurodivergent or have disabilities, across divisions;
- Ensure that the school’s expectations for students and its restorative approach to behavior are consistent across all school divisions and align with child development;
- Plan and lead schoolwide events;
- Enact schoolwide diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice initiatives with High Meadow’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Coordinator;
- Create and administer an annual scope for faculty and staff professional learning and development that is responsive to staff needs and goals;
- Lead initiatives for staff appreciation and faculty care throughout the school year;
- Foster cross-divisional faculty and student relationships through initiatives such as schoolwide faculty content area meetings, faculty committees, whole-school learning, and the school’s buddy program;
- Align expectations and strategies for communications between teachers and families across all divisions, and provide communications training and supervision for faculty to ensure quality;
- Advance strategic initiatives set forth by the Board of Trustees;
- Lead the school’s accreditation process with the New York State Association of Independent Schools on a 5-year basis; and
- Engage in ongoing learning, analysis of feedback, and reflection to further the school's work.
- Participate as needed in meetings with the High Meadow Board of Trustees.
Division Responsibilities
- Ensure the delivery of a high-quality, child-centered academic learning program to students in the lower school division.
- Provide relevant instructional coaching, goal setting, and mentorship to teachers in the lower school division.
- Provide guidance and training to lower school staff surrounding curriculum planning and implementation, inquiry-/nature-/play-based learning, classroom management, community building, rules and routines, social-emotional support, differentiation, assessment, progress reporting, student conferences, and ongoing reflection on practice.
- Train teachers in implementing and using division-specific curriculum, including the Mossflower Reading and Writing Project, UFLI, Handwriting Without Tears, and Illustrative Mathematics.
- Assist lower school teachers in establishing effective communication structures for families and oversee the distribution of weekly newsletters and trimester progress reports.
- Connect and coordinate the school's daily administrative operations needs with the lower school faculty's roles, including assisting teachers with supply purchases, planning field trips or classroom events, communicating with the school’s health office or technology coordinator, and requesting facilities support.
- Design and lead weekly divisional faculty meetings to build community, communication, and collaboration with students in mind.
- Work closely with the School Counselor and the Student Supports Coordinator to support individual students, create division-wide learning or community-building initiatives, encourage participation in the Child Study Team Process, and ensure that lower school students who receive mandated services per their IEP or 504 plan receive their accommodations.
- Participate in school-wide scheduling, bringing a focus to the needs of lower school teachers and students.
- Design and lead lower school-specific events for students, staff, and families, and participate as needed in the planning and execution of schoolwide events.
- Coordinate learning opportunities for families within the lower school division based upon need and interest.
- Assess the effectiveness of the lower school curriculum and provide suggestions for new curricular materials that could enhance the school's educational offerings.
- Act as a point of contact for lower school families when an issue or concern arises.
- Assist teachers in coordinating or providing support for lower school students when conflicts, behavioral issues, or emotional support needs arise.
- Collaborate with the Head of School to design and, at times, oversee the hiring process for lower school faculty positions.
- Work with the Director of Admissions, Retention, and Outreach to assess the goodness of fit for prospective HMS lower school students.
- Other duties as assigned by supervisor.
Desired Competencies*
*Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every one of the qualifications as described in a job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may come from a less traditional background. We would encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of the qualifications described.
- Bachelor’s degree in education, school administration, or another related field required; master’s degree preferred.
- A minimum of 5 years of successful employment experience in a school environment.
- Alignment to the HMS mission, core pedagogical beliefs, and organizational goals.
- A commitment to and experience in progressive, inquiry-based education practices and student-centered learning environments.
- A track record of commitment to work regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion in school environments.
- Strongly values student voice and leadership in all aspects of a school organization.
- Demonstrated ability to listen, empathize, and connect with people of all ages and backgrounds.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Demonstrated experience in leading and inspiring teams of adults.
- Able to balance multiple demands at once in a well-organized way.
- Strong collaborative decision-making skills that incorporate the perspectives of all stakeholders.
- Experience developing inquiry-based curriculum using the Understanding by Design Framework.
- An ability to look at students from a strengths-based perspective.
- Demonstrated ability to meet the needs of students who are neurodiverse or have disabilities.
- Adept project manager who can self-start, manage, and deliver upon goals for both individual and team-based projects.
- Willingness to support the everyday running of a small school, including participating in some student supervision and coverages.
- Able to maintain strict confidentiality practices and remain in compliance with the Family and Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regarding the collection of records from students’ previous schools, as well as student IEP or 504 plans.
