Vice President of Academic Programming

POSITION: Vice President of Academic Programming

LOCATION: DSST: Home Office located in Denver CO

SALARY: $131300 $158800 for up to 10 years of aligned experience

STATUS: Full time benefits eligible exempt inperson position (Denver CO)

START: June 11 2025. You can view the current School Year Calendar

Overview: The Vice President of Inclusive Academic Programming at DSST Public Schools holds a crucial position charged with leading a comprehensive 612 academic program. This role ensures that students are not only prepared for success in STEMmajor college programs but also poised to become future leaders in STEM fields. Reporting directly to the Chief of Schools the Vice President will oversee the Academic Programming and Assessment STEM and College Success teams.

Key Responsibilities:

Academic Leadership Team

• CoLead Academic Leadership Team: Partner with the Vice President of Teaching Learning and Curriculum to colead the Academic Leadership Team fostering a culture of shared ownership among Academic Directors over the student academic experience and outcomes.

• Establish Collaboration Structures: Together with the Vice President of Teaching Learning and Curriculum develop crossfunctional collaboration structures that facilitate Academic Team weekly monitoring and responses to OKRs (objectives and key results) as well as quarterly data reviews and action planning ensuring prompt and effective support for school support practices and programing implementation.

• Manage and Develop Leadership: Manage and develop a team of directors responsible for STEM programming Academic Programing and assessments and College Success ensuring strategic alignment and the achievement of key educational outcomes.

Academic Programming and Assessment: Manage and develop the Director of Academic Programming and Assessment with these as priority areas:

• Implement New Middle School Program: Lead the launch of a new middle school program that delivers comprehensive STEM education to all students and offers differentiated courses in math and literacy to meet diverse student needs.

• Redesign High School Program: Oversee a thorough redesign of the high school program focusing on strengthening STEM education and college preparedness. This effort includes enhancing Advanced Placement programming to improve STEMmajor readiness and improve overall college readiness.

• DataDriven Program Assessment: Employ datadriven strategies to evaluate the effectiveness of academic programs and make necessary adjustments. This process is key to fostering continuous improvement and maintaining high standards of academic excellence.

• Refine Academic Systems: Ensure that academic systems including credit recovery scheduling summer school and grading practices uphold high expectations and equitable outcomes thereby enhancing overall student achievement.

• Assessment Strategy and School Leadership Enhancement: Collaborate with Content Directors to refine and execute a robust assessment strategy aligned with our North Star Assessments (CMAS P/SAT AP). Coordinate networkwide data days to enhance schoollevel analysis and action planning. Ensure each school has strong School Assessment Leadership practices that not only results in effective assessment proctoring but also cultivates a culture conducive to high academic performance.

STEM Programming: Manage and develop the Director of STEM with these as priority areas:

• Develop and Implement STEM Strategy: Craft and execute a longterm STEM strategy for grades 612 that enhances student achievement in critical STEM Advanced Placement courses and science CMAS assessments.

• Middle School STEM Lab Curriculum: Design and implement a rigorous relevant STEM Lab curriculum for middle schools in collaboration with educational and industry partners to ensure practical realworld application and engagement.

• Enhance High School STEM Pathways: Strengthen high school STEM pathways and increase student participation in STEM internships industry partnership summer programs and afterschool activities ensuring a continuum of exposure and experience in STEM fields.

• CrossFunctional Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement: Foster crossfunctional collaboration across the organization to clearly communicate and embed the STEM vision ensuring it is universally understood and embraced by all stakeholders.

• STEM Teacher Development: Work closely with the Teacher Development Team to ensure robust professional development and training programs for STEM teachers enhancing their instructional skills and subject matter expertise.

• Lead Network STEM Collaboration Structures: Chair a crossfunctional network STEM working group that fosters collective ownership and enthusiasm for the STEM vision among Science Technology Engineering and Math teachers School Directors and Network Staff.

College and STEM Career Success: Manage and develop the Director of College Initiatives with these as priority areas:

• SchoolBased Counseling and College Enrollment Cycle:
  Ensure all schools have strong College Success leadership and effectively implement the college enrollment cycle. This includes meeting network goals for applications submitted per student FAFSA completion enrollment meetings and ensuring the average graduation rate of colleges seniors enroll in is within three percentage points of the ideal average graduation rate for the senior class.

• Maintain and Build Out Partnerships:
  Expand the number of higher education partnerships that increase college access for DSST students. Develop a threeyear strategic plan to guide and grow this partnership work.

• Strengthen Alumni Support and Engagement Strategies: Enhance alumni support to increase college graduation rates. Implement a communication strategy that boosts alumni engagement resulting in no more than 15 of alumni opting out of communications and reducing summer melt from 9 to 7.

• Ensure College Success / High School Academic Program Alignment:
  Lead the implementation of impactful college seminars at each school that nurture students college and careergoing identities. Partner with the Director of Academic Programming and Assessments to strengthen alignment between the high school academic program and Advanced Placement courses with a focus on better preparing students for STEM majors.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelors Degree from an accredited college or university

• 6 years experience in schoolbased leadership or Regional Home Office leadership

• 10 years of professional experience

• 6 years experience in team or department management

• 6 years experience managing multiple projects work streams or initiatives

• 6 years experience managing systems and processes involved in the of multidepartmental work

• 6 years experience in setting & of strategic vision and goals for multiple teams/departments

• 6 years of demonstrated success working across multiple teams/stakeholders (both internal and external)

• Experience with change management on the organization level

• Experience in developing & executing systems that achieve efficiency and scalability; can lead large scale workstreams

• Excellent written and oral communication skills particularly when communicating with senior leaders

• Excellent organization time management and followthrough; a high sense of urgency

• Outstanding problemsolving and critical thinking skills and ability to use data to drive decisionmaking

• Excellent people leadership skills; able to provide timely and actionable feedback to inspire and move direct reports to action

• Ability to take full ownership and responsibility for the success of multiple departments priorities and goals

• In depth understanding of school needs in urban charter/public school contexts

• Ability to multitask and lead multiple highpriority projects and deadlines at once

• Ability to thrive in a fastpaced entrepreneurial environment

• Collaborative and teamoriented

• Full commitment to DSSTs mission vision and core values

WHO WE ARE

At DSST Public Schools we are proud to be the largest and highestperforming 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 7500 students at our 16 schools have access to a transformational and joyful education.

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 here.

WHY JOIN DSST

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 lifes work. Check out why our teachers love working at DSST as well as our benefits website to learn how we deliver on our commitment to the human condition.

• Health and Supplemental Insurance: DSST staff have access to comprehensive medical benefits including fertility benefits and a mental health counselor that is dedicated solely to DSST staff.

• Time Off: DSST Staff enjoy 11 weeks off per year paid PTO (from Day 1!

• Professional Development: As a learning organization DSST values both internal and external development opportunities for staff. See some examples below:

  • DSST Back to School Development Series including New Staff Institute New Educator Institute New Leader Institute Leader You and Teaching & Learning Institute.

  • Weekly 1:1 Coaching from a School Administrator at your campus.

  • Clear internal career pathway opportunities such as our Apprentice Teachers Emerging Leaders and School Director in Training Programs. Read more here.

• And more!

DSST COMMUNITY REFERRAL PROGRAM

Not a best fit role for you but know someone else who would be a great fit Refer them here and earn $500 if they are hired!

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.