Posted
December 20th, 2024
Upper School Principal
Summary:
Orangewood Christian School is seeking an Upper School Principal to begin on or before July 1, 2025.
The Upper School Principal (Principal) creates, leads, and supports a shared vision for academic instruction and student learning, and its alignment with the school’s mission, values, and goals. As a member of the school’s senior leadership team, the principal leads the work that this team is engaged in, including pedagogy, cocurricular programming, Christian discipleship and spiritual formation, student experience, service, campus development, and efficiency and systems.
This multi-faceted role offers significant opportunity on a broad scale for a highly relational, Christian leader successful in building and leading strong teams, who is knowledgeable about K-12 Christian education, curriculum and instruction, teacher professional development, and is focused on providing transformative academic and programming experiences for students at the middle school and high school levels.
Essential Functions:
• Develop and implement the school’s academic and student life vision in collaboration with the school’s senior leadership, administration, operations, and instructional staff.
• Lead and support the development and implementation of the school’s short and long range plans for student teaching and learning, discipleship, and all areas of student life.
• Develop and implement a strategic plan furthering a shared vision for student learning aligned to the school’s mission; communicate this vision and implement the plan effectively while garnering support for and from stakeholders.
• Ensure academic excellence in each division, and coach and lead others in the implementation and ongoing support of that vision and practice.
• Support the school’s work in creating and nurturing a welcoming and diverse student and team environment.
• Oversee a Christ-first, student experience and educational journey such that each Orangewood student is equipped and prepared for life beyond the school.
• Guide Orangewood’s fine arts, athletics, international students, and other upper school offerings.
• Lead the hiring, retention, and development of upper school administration, faculty, and staff.
• Empower leaders through supporting local subject matter experts (administrators, teachers, and staff) in their ability to lead transformational change by modeling forward-thinking student teaching, instruction, and discipleship.
• Ensure that staff and students have access to the appropriate resources and tools for productivity, teaching, learning, and operations; identify ways to provide or support access where needed.
• Investigate evolving trends and emerging student instruction, instructional coaching, assessments and the use of assessment data, and student learning activities; consult with the key school leaders to identify and define the student, instructional, and faculty professional development needs each school year, as well as serve as the school’s lead line of support.
Qualifications and Personal Attributes:
The ideal candidate will offer most, or all, the following qualifications and qualities:
• Deep appreciation for, and active modeling of Orangewood Church and Orangewood Christian School’s mission and values.
• Experience as a curricular leader and instructional coach.
• Facilitate abiding connections across all divisions and departments.
• Systems thinker and expert project manager, with the ability to see the bigger picture and attend to details with high level organizational and relational skills.
• Collect and use data to drive data-informed decision making.
• Model a flexible and collaborative spirit necessary to partner with parents, students, faculty and staff, and administration.
• A commitment to professional development, for self and others.
• A highly relational leadership built on trust, availability, kindness, awareness, and responsiveness.
• Organizational fluency to manage multiple, and often complex streams of information and to effectively respond to situations as they emerge.
• Experience in recruiting, hiring, onboarding, developing, and retaining exceptional team members.
• The confidence and humility to advocate for and embrace new ideas, invite disagreement, and welcome feedback.
• Model a leadership style characterized by winsomeness, curiosity, warmth, consistency, and optimism.
Supplemental Function:
• Attend, and often lead, senior leader meetings and other team meetings, as required.
• Drawing from one’s calling, use their personal gifts and talents to further the Kingdom of God.
• Serve as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the school community and beyond, through actions, speech, and attitude.
• Perform other duties, as assigned.
Required Personal Qualities:
The employee shall:
1. Be a mature believer and disciple-maker of Jesus Christ.
2. Be or become an active member of Orangewood Church.
3. Embody and model Orangewood Church and Orangewood Christian School’s values.
4. Agree with and actively promote the school’s Statement of Faith.
5. Strive to model Christ in attitude, speech, and actions both in and out of school to students, parents and fellow employees.
6. Agree with and adhere to the OCS Lifestyle Statement.
7. Have the spiritual maturity, academic abilities, and personal leadership qualities to equip students to transform the world for Christ and His kingdom.
Additional Personal Qualities:
The employee shall:
1. Demonstrate strong leadership presence, enthusiasm, courtesy, flexibility, integrity, gratitude, kindness, self-control, and perseverance.
2. Meet everyday stress with emotional stability, objectivity, and optimism.
3. Have a strong command of the English language in both verbal and written communication.
4. Respectfully submit and be loyal to constituted authority.
Work Environment:
X Offices X Classrooms □Outdoors X Community
□All facilities including roof and crawl spaces □ Other:______________________________
Physical Demands:
□Walking/Standing X Lifting/Moving (number of pounds 25) □Stretching
□Exposure to cold/Heat X Talking/hearing X Vision (close and distance)
X Bending/climbing □Other
- 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. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Requirements
Preferred Education Requirement: Master’s degree, or higher, in education, education leadership, educational administration, or curriculum and instruction
Certification(s) Preferred: Administrative certification and/or teaching certification
Years of Experience: 10 years, or greater
