Details
Posted: 28-Feb-24
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Type: Full Time
Categories:
Director of Studies/Curriculum
Division Head/Principal
Preferred Education:
Masters
The Assistant Head is a central and important position to the work and success of Fayerweather Street School. The Assistant Head works in close partnership with the Head of School to advance the school’s mission and achieve educational and operational goals. The position will report directly to the Head of School and will have primary supervisory and oversight responsibility for the academic program.
Candidates should be familiar with progressive education including multi-age classrooms, thematic, emergent, and anti-bias curricula, and differentiated instruction. The Assistant Head will represent the Head of School as needed at meetings or functions within and outside the Fayerweather community. In consultation with the Head, this position will set the direction for the academic program, including long-term planning, curricular design, scope and sequence, and the evaluation and professional development of teachers. The Assistant Head of School serves as the counsel and collaborator with the Head of School. Specific duties and responsibilities include:
Main Responsibilities:
- Represent the interests of and assist in implementing the plans and initiatives established by the Head of School
- Serve as the Head of School’s point person for creating a healthy staff culture and identifying curricular and programmatic needs of the school.
- Build strong relationships with teaching staff within and assist them in articulating the school’s mission and strategic initiatives
- In close collaboration with the Head of School, oversee curriculum, assuring responsiveness to student needs and interests; manage the vertical integration of the curriculum ensuring excellence in all disciplines in alignment with the mission and strategic plan goals.
- Oversee teacher professional development and evaluation
- Oversee Educational Leadership Team, and serve as a member of the School Leadership and Enrollment Management Teams.
- Attend all board meetings
- Provide supervision and evaluation of direct reports: Director of Technology, Academic Support Staff, Extended Day Coordinators, and the School Counselor.
- Manage the professional development budget.
- Oversee the AISNE accreditation review processes.
- Strategically design professional development programs, including new faculty orientations, and Grade Level Team Leader meetings.
- Lead and coordinate hiring processes
- Supervise the development and management of the academic school calendar, and class schedules
- Attend team meetings and parent conferences as needed
- Contribute meaningfully to efforts in admissions, advancement, finance, operations, and long-term planning with the Head of School and Board of Trustees.
- Serve as Acting Head in the Head of Schools' absence
Skills and Qualifications:
- Master’s Degree (preferred) in a related field that supports the duties and responsibilities of this position. Bachelor’s degree required.
- Four to eight years of organizational, management, administrative experience
- Demonstrate significant school leadership and classroom experience
- Experience in budget allocation and making informed financial decisions regarding the academic program.
- Ability to recognize and articulate the long-term benefits of a PreK to 8th-grade education
- A continuous learner who is open to feedback and ongoing professional development.
- An appreciation and commitment to supporting the mission of diversity, equity, and belonging in instruction, curriculum, and relationships with staff, students, and families.
- Ability to lead, manage, collaborate and relate to a diverse population of students, staff, and administrators
- A genuine sense of humor and infectious optimism, integrity, and a love of teaching and learning.
- Excellent public speaking and presentation skills.
- Interest in and familiarity with educational, psychological, and sociological research as it relates to best practices in teaching and learning
- Ability to effectively respond to common inquiries from students, parents, faculty, or other colleagues and to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
- Flexibility; ability to act quickly and make important high-level decisions in a variety of circumstances.
Fayerweather Street School has a rich and progressive history of successfully educating students for over 50 years. Fayerweather Street School (FSS) is a co-educational independent day school enrolling approximately 200 students in Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade. Located in the Fresh Pond neighborhood in Cambridge, Fayerweather offers a progressive, hands-on experiential learning environment where the pace of childhood is respected, and where children develop a love of learning, know how they learn best and have voice and agency in their school community.
To Apply: Please submit your cover letter. Please be prepared to provide at least five references, and at least two of your references must be or have been, your direct reports.
About Fayerweather Street School
Fayerweather Street School has a rich and progressive history of successfully educating students for over 50 years. Fayerweather Street School (FSS) is a co-educational independent day school enrolling approximately 200 students in Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade. Located in the Fresh Pond neighborhood in Cambridge, Fayerweather offers a progressive, hands-on experiential learning environment where the pace of childhood is respected, and where children develop a love of learning, know how they learn best and have voice and agency in their school community. We help young people develop the knowledge, skills, and awareness to flourish in a complex, diverse, and increasingly interdependent world. We believe that truly knowing each child is the heart of a great education, and we are committed to building a diverse, welcoming, and equitable community in which compassion, humor, and respect are woven throughout the curriculum and spirit of the day.
To Apply: Please submit your cover letter and resume to Employment@Fayerweather.org.
Please be prepared to provide at least five references, and at least two of your references must
be, or have been, your direct reports.
Connections working at Fayerweather Street School