Managing Director of PreK-12 Academics

ABOUT GREAT OAKS LEGACY CHARTER SCHOOL

The Great Oaks Legacy Charter School is a high-performing innovative charter public school in Newark NJ serving students from Pre-K to 12th grade on campuses across the city of Newark. Our mission is to prepare Newarks students for success in college and beyond.

Our model is based on the following guiding principles that guide our work daily

1. Creating a community that is built upon genuine and meaningful relationships. GOLCS staff rate our commitment to students as the #1 reason they teach/work at our schools.
2. Being surgical in our approach to differentiation of instruction and support for all students and team members. Our students receive daily tutoring embedded into their school schedule - facilitated by our AmeriCorps team members. Staff members receive individualized coaching and support in their roles.
3. Setting and exceeding high expectations for academic growth and character development for all students in preparation for success in college and beyond. Currently the historical college matriculation rate for GOLCS is 79% - nearly twice the national average for economically underrepresented students.

The Managing Director of PreK-12 Academics at Great Oaks Legacy Charter School serves as a key member of the GOLCS network leadership team. This role reports to the Chief of Schools works collaboratively with Managing Director of Student Support Services and manages a team of 5 direct reports.

Heres what youll be doing:

Lead the Implementation and Management of the Pk-12 Academic Program at GOLCS

• Develop and execute a Pre-K through 12th-grade academic strategy for the network that includes a focus on curriculum instruction and assessment that results in strong academic outcomes for students

• Manage the design and implementation of high-quality curriculum and complex projects across the organization with a clear focus on effective lesson internalization and execution for teachers

• Coach lead and develop a team of Network Achievement Directors and Instructional leaders to implement a high-quality curriculum across our schools across grades Pre-K through 12th

• Design and implement a strategy for curriculum and assessment adoption and/or modification and improvement to meet the demands of the range of standardized tests we measure as part of our WIGs and Excellence Standards: i-Ready ANet NJSLA SAT and AP.

• Develop and oversee systems and protocols for quality control and vetting of curricular materials assessments and professional development resources.

• Develop and oversee systems for data-driven instruction that facilitates the analysis of and response to mastery data and students GPA.

• Actively respond to data (achievement observation perception etc.) to engage in year-over-year improvement of program as well as mid-year course corrections as needed.

• Collaborate with School Directors to deploy talent and resources (e.g. additional coaching support model leadership etc.) based on takeaways from academic progress monitoring.

• Manage all academics and academic operations matters for the network including but not limited to: grading policies for each subject academic snapshots report card audits and gradebooks state testing coordination curriculum purchasing data and progress monitoring of academics network-wide academic course correction scheduling etc.

• Lead network-wide processes for driving student outcomes such as blended learning state testing academic progress monitoring test preparation etc.

• Develop and/or cultivate subject matter expertise across grades and disciplines Pk-12 in order to inform NJ-specific academic policies and decision-making about programs.

• Collaborate with the Data Team to develop and monitor outcomes on GOLCS dashboards.

• Lead the multi-year work and change management to establish the vertical alignment of each discipline across the Pk-12 with the ultimate goal of graduating students being college-ready academically.

• Manages the Director of Tutorial & Fellowship and sets a vision for the implementation of a high dosage tutoring model.

Develop and Lead a Teaching & Learning Team in the GOLCS Region

• Work as a connector between the academic program and school based Leadership teams by building relationships and investment with all parties and supporting the efficacy of teaching and learning across GOLCS.

• Develop the short-term and long-term strategy for growth and build-out of the school-based Instructional Team at GOLCS.
• Directly manage Network Achievement Directors at GOLCS including but not limited to weekly check-ins observations and feedback on practice and curriculum and artifact review. This will include working in schools across the Pk - 12.
  
  

Coaching and supporting the implementation of an academic program in a specific grade band and subject area.

This looks like:

• By working with campus leadership teams in each school across Pre-K - 8 build our school-based leaders content knowledge and instructional leadership capacity -- this may include engaging in walk-throughs student work analysis protocols coaching one-on-one meetings leading and monitoring content meetings supporting PD implementation and more.
• Provide direct support to our high school in Grades 9-12 by engaging in coaching & strategy sessions with each school-based Academic Deans
• Analyze data and student work from major assessments with instructional leaders at each school and make recommendations about responding to misconceptions and implementing instructional next steps.
• Serve as a point person for all things programmatic operational data-related and logistical from assessment questions to materials management related to early elementary middle and high school education at GOLCS.
  
  

Leading and engaging in professional development in a specific grade band and subject area.

This looks like:

• As a resident content expert lead professional development for leaders and teachers across the Pre-k-12 while simultaneously providing feedback and support for the delivery of professional development at the campus level
• Design and implement the instructional teams annual professional development arc of the year
• Support content meetings in elementary and middle literacy or math on an as-needed basis.
• Collaborate with members of the campus-based instructional team on best practice sharing.

Serve as an Outstanding member of the GOLCS Network Leadership Team

Serve as a key leader of the Network Instructional Leadership team supporting network-wide decision-making communication and collaboration.

• Collaborate with the Executive Director Chief Schools Officer Network Leadership Team and School Directors in GOLCS in order to diagnose and support overall School Health.
• Develop strategies for driving improvements in academics culture and staff engagement alongside other members of the network leadership team.
• Participate in the academic Walk-Through processes to objectively score schools on instructional practice and to generate feedback designed to move schools forward.
• Participate in teacher rubric scoring and rating to help schools norm their scoring and calibrate the rubric scores for all teachers in a building.
• Participate in and/or lead routine meetings with academic teams at all levels of GOLCS in order to solve tactical matters engage in strategic work together build vertical content knowledge and program etc.
• Participate in routine and non-routine meetings with School Directors Instructional Leaders (network and campus based) to solve tactical matters engage in strategic work together and respond to the most pressing needs our schools have.
  
  

Qualifications

Must-Haves:

• Kid- and teacher-focused: makes recommendations and plans based on what is best for kids and teachers; exhibits a front-line obsession.
• Leadership experience -- has served as a School Leader (preferably) or network leader for two years or more. As a coach and leader for other leaders in our organization the person in this role needs to have walked the walk and has produced strong academic results for students that can be documented
• Exceptional content knowledge and alignment to our instructional vision -- knows the ins and outs of everything related to standards assessments and best practices within the discipline.
• Strong data analysis skills: can look at an assessment and data set (including sets of student work) diagnose challenges and immediately recommend clear next steps for instructional leaders and/or teachers.
• Presence and gravitas: can command the attention of a room when delivering feedback explaining data or leading professional development.
• Responsiveness service orientation and ability to invest and inspire others -- the Academics team exists to support and serve our schools and so a top-down mentality will not work well.
• Big picture thinking -- can develop and drive a vision that will serve schools across multiple cities. Does not get bogged down by logistics or uncertainty.
• Detail-orientation -- while keeping an eye trained on the big picture simultaneously does not let important details slip through the cracks including the tracking and monitoring of data and goals
• Excellent communication skills -- can speak and write compellingly about the discipline and all the nitty gritty details stakeholders will need to know in order to achieve results.
• Proactiveness does not wait for explicit direction but rather asks the appropriate questions and self-directs; takes on additional projects without compromising the integrity of existing ones.
• Flexibility -- sees unforeseen obstacles and challenges as an opportunity to design a better solution

Content knowledge and expertise -- and if not the ability to quickly and comprehensively learn content in order to consistently coach to a higher bar.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

We offer a competitive and fair compensation package that increases based on years of relevant experience. The minimum base salary for this role is $135000.00.

Great Oaks Legacy Charter School also offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Robust medical dental and vision insurance plans w/ comprehensive network coverage.
• Up to $5250 per year in tax exempt student loan and tuition reimbursement.
• Reimbursements for external professional development aligned to your role.
• Wellness reimbursements including gym memberships spa services and more.
• Online counseling services - for staff and their dependents - via top-rated therapy app.
• Pre-tax state pension plan benefit w/ addl. options available via voluntary retirement plans.
• Pre-tax dependent care health and transit flexible spending plans available.
• Convenient health screening and telemedicine support via VitalCheck Wellness platform.

DIVERSITY EQUITY INCLUSION & ACCESSIBILITY

GOLCS is committed to building a talented team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. Furthermore we believe that racial justice and equity is critical to our mission of preparing students for success in college and beyond. We strive to be an organization that is diverse equitable inclusive and elevates our student voices in preparing them for life and college.

GOLCS VACCINATION POLICY & COMMITMENT TO SAFETY

Great Oaks Legacy Charter School is committed to ensuring healthy and safe working and learning environments and maintaining our educational commitment to GOLCS students and families - with minimal disruption to instruction. With this in mind as of October 2021 Great Oaks Legacy requires vaccination against COVID-19 for all employees. Candidates who would like to apply for a reasonable accommodation from this policy based on a qualifying disability or sincerely held religious belief should reach out to for more information.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT

Great Oaks Legacy provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race color religion age sex national origin disability status genetics protected veteran status sexual orientation gender identity or expression or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local laws.

EMPLOYMENT TERMS

This Managing Director PreK-12 Academics is a(n) 12-month employee with salary to be recommended by the Executive Director for approval by the board.