School Director in Training (2024-2025 School Year)

POSITION : School Director in Training (SDiT) (2023-2024 School Year)

GRADE LEVEL : Hiring for both middle school and high school positions

LOCATION : TBD

SALARY : $95,000-$113,000 based on years of aligned experience up to 10 years. We also offer a if you are moving from a location greater than 75 miles from Denver!

STATUS : Full time year round, benefits eligible, exempt, in-person position (Denver, CO)

START : The start date for this role is June 2024 for new admin staff training. You can view the current School Year Calendar .

KEY ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

At DSST Public Schools we believe that every student deserves an exceptional education, and that strong school leadership is the single greatest lever to delivering the rigorous, vibrant, and equitable schools our students deserve.

The School Director in Training (SDIT) Program serves as DSST’s multi-year advanced leadership development pathway for rising School Directors.

The School Director in Training Program at DSST Public Schools is grounded in these core beliefs :

The school leader is the most critical lever driving school and student success.

Leaders are the drivers of their development and own opportunities to optimize their growth.

The pursuit of educational equity is the reason we do this work; to be an exceptional leader, one must fiercely own the pursuit of equity across all domains.

In Year 1, SDITs engage in rigorous professional development through intensive coaching, observation / debrief cycles tightly aligned to individual growth plans, targeted development sessions, and on-the-job stretch opportunities while working alongside a Mentor School Director as a school-based leader (typically taking on the responsibilities and ownership for instruction, student culture, and / or school operations).

SDITs serve as systems, culture, curriculum, and instructional leaders while coaching and managing teams towards exceptional results.

In Year 2, SDITs continue to engage in the rigorous on-the-job and supplemental development of Year 1 while layering on additional opportunities designed to prepare them to assume the role of School Director.

These opportunities may include : rotating leadership placements to learn alongside new Mentor School Directors, excellent school observations, robust external professional development, and the opportunity to serve as an Interim School Director at a DSST school.

After School Directors, SDITs serve as the most senior school-based leaders across the DSST network and assume exceptional responsibility for the results and success of a school.

In consideration of the leadership needs of the network and the experience level of an SDIT, there are instances where the multi-year program may be accelerated to allow a SDIT to assume the role of School Director after a single year.

You Should Consider This Role If :

You want to lead a DSST middle or high school. The core of DSST’s School Director in Training Program centers on preparing promising rising leaders (YOU!) to lead rigorous, vibrant, and equitable schools within 1 to 3 years.

You are mission-driven at your core. You are deeply connected and committed to DSST’s mission, and are unwavering in your belief that all students deserve access to an excellent education and can achieve at the highest level.

You are an unrelenting champion for equity. You believe rigor, access, and opportunity for all is education equity. You devote time to learning and reflection on critical concepts related to race, power, and identity.

You value and successfully develop relationships across lines of difference, and your unyielding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion drives actions and decisions.

You have a high bar for excellence and refuse to give up. You demonstrate the drive and aligned actions to take on more than is expected and never relent in pursuit of a challenging goal.

When things feel impossible, you innovate, iterate, and inspire your team to keep going with eagerness and optimism to achieve exceptional results.

You love working with people. You believe in a school community where everyone can both belong and be themselves. You have a strong understanding of and investment in people, an inclusive lens, and lead with a compassionate view of the human condition that can lead to transformative results.

You are an eager and continuous learner. You love a challenge, and feedback makes your heart grow fonder. You seek and own opportunities to grow, and are deeply and comprehensively committed to being a school leader worth following.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities :

Leadership

DSST Mission Driven : Demonstrate a sense of urgency about achievement for ALL students and preparing every student for post secondary success

Pursue solutions with tenacity that maximize student achievement. Is willing to do whatever it takes to get the work done right

Model professional maturity; emotional constancy in stressful situations, bringing out the best in others, seek solutions and positively motivating

Mentor and coach staff members to encourage growth and results

Identify and systematically develop future leaders

Acts as a strategic partner to the School Director; fully responsible for executing the vision of the leader in all areas

Supervise a substantial portion of the team

Culture

Cultivate school culture centered on core values that deeply care for each student and staff member and holds each student and staff member to the highest level of accountability

Coordinate with school leadership team to ensure Morning Meetings are robust and supportive of our values-based culture

Collaborate with school staff to maximize the ability of the school to support students’ academic and socio-emotional development

Provide leadership to all staff and students in establishing a positive, structured, achievement-oriented, and fun school culture

Instruction, Coaching and Evaluation

Provide instructional leadership informed by a nuanced understanding of DSST best practices

Use centralized coaching tool to track all coaching meetings, observations, and action steps

Provide teachers with specific, actionable, qualitative (i.e., narrative) and quantitative (i.e., rubric) feedback on their performance in all areas

Manage a data-driven instructional process that includes rigorous interim assessments that are effectively aligned with year-end assessments and college readiness.

Able to align all other school leadership components to the data driven instructional process (professional development, curriculum development, teacher observation / supervision, etc

Work with teachers to create and refine DSST curriculum documents (assessments, plans, data tracking), which correspond to college readiness standards, core instructional practices, and the benchmark assessment program

Create, maintain, and update whole school, grade level, and teacher level student academic and assessment records and reports

Oversee required standardized testing

Identify and arrange for staff development opportunities which relate to core instructional practices, standards based assessments, and content areas

Co-manage department chairs to ensure effective outcomes within departments

Systems

Implement systems that sweat the small stuff, maximize the programmatic goals of the school, and are scalable as the school grows

Develop solutions to complex problems involving all stakeholders

Manage with fiscal responsibility - develop a disciplined planning process that identifies the school’s highest-priorities

The School Director in Training will be evaluated based on data-driven performance indicators including, but not limited to student attendance, measurable student learning gains on nationally-normed tests, internal benchmark assessments, and student retention and parent / student satisfaction.

Additional Duties :

Recruit and hire school faculty

Serve as a recruiter for new students; actively engage prospective families in an effort to draw more students to choose your school;

be willing to take on additional tasks to support recruitment, as needed

Actively engage in the community in which your school in located, and the broader Denver / Aurora community as well. This includes community outreach, touring your school with elected officials and other community leaders, host community events and encourage staff to be present in community.

Actively engage in family communications by establishing norms and cadence with staff, and modeling strong positive family communications

Work with DSST Home Office to create network-wide standards, curriculum, and assessment documents

Work with DSST Home Office to create network-wide new teacher professional development; create school-specific new and returning teacher professional development

Participate in network wide Instructional Leadership Development and Culture Leadership Development

If applicable, teach course(s) within the school

If applicable, act as a student advisor for a group of students

IDEAL QUALIFICATIONS

Proven commitment to and experience with serving students of color, students with disabilities, and / or multilingual students

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

An unwavering belief that all students can succeed in high school, reach their most ambitious post-secondary goals, and lead exemplary lives

Desire to personally professionally grow in their practice of becoming an anti-racist educator

Self-awareness, a regular practice of reflection, and a desire to continuously improve

Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited university

Demonstrated evidence of success coaching, leading, and managing adults towards exceptional results

Demonstrated conviction and unyielding commitment to equity

A deep love for students, teachers, families, and making a school a place where everyone can thrive

5+ years of experience working in schools and classrooms

3+ years of experience in school-based leadership as an assistant principal or similar level

Experience in 6th-12th grade school leadership highly preferred

Experience as a principal, and / or other senior school-based leader highly preferred

WHO WE ARE

At DSST Public Schools, we are proud to be the largest and highest-performing network of public charter schools in Denver and Aurora with 100% of our students having been accepted into college or post secondary programs since our inception in 2004.

When you join DSST, you play a part in ensuring ALL students at our 16 schools have access to a transformational and joyful education.

We encourage you to visit our to learn more about why we’ve been selected as the 2018 Broad Prize Winner and as a Denver Post Top Place to Work .

Not interested right now but might be in the future, or want to learn about other positions? Complete our to connect with a member of our Talent Team.

INTERVIEW EXPECTATIONS

For most of our positions, we hire on a rolling basis. Therefore, we recommend that you submit your application as soon as you are able! You can learn more about what to expect in our interview process.

TOTAL REWARDS

At DSST, we know that our people are the greatest asset we have in reaching our mission of eliminating educational inequity.

We work hard to build a work culture that allows our staff to not only feel fulfilled by the work they do but also feel supported to live a joyful, healthy life.

We want this work to be your life’s work. and to learn how we deliver on our commitment to the human condition.

Some Highlights :

Staff Experience Bonus : DSST celebrates staff that continue to choose our network by rewarding a bonus every 3 years in increasing increments from $3,000-$6,000.

Excellent Healthcare Plan : We encourage you to check out our to see the ways we are committed to the wellness of our staff.

We are always looking to improve how we care and, through staff feedback, we’ve been able to implement innovative new benefits such as Fertility Benefits as well as staffing a Mental Health Counselor that is dedicated solely to DSST Staff.

Time Off : DSST Staff enjoy + paid PTO (from Day 1!)

Career Development : In addition to weekly coaching from a designated coach, you’ll have access to internal training and development pathways designed by our Professional Development & Training Team as well as external development opportunities.

REFERRAL

Know someone who would be a great fit? Refer them! Anyone can refer a candidate and we offer a $500 referral bonus for every successful referral.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

DSST Public Schools is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not exclude participation in, deny benefits to or discriminate on the basis of, race, color, religion, National origin, sex (including pregnancy and related conditions, sexual orientation, or gender identity), Age (40 and older), Disability, Genetic information (including employer requests for, or purchase, use, or disclosure of genetic tests, genetic services, or family medical history), retaliation for filing a charge, reasonably opposing discrimination, or participating in a discrimination lawsuit, investigation, or proceeding in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in its programs and activities.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. This position is active and may require standing, walking, bending, kneeling, stooping, and crouching throughout the day.

The employee must lift and / or move items up to 30 pounds. The employee must have sufficient hand, arm, and finger dexterity to operate a computer keyboard and other office equipment.

Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.