Overview

Overview

Ascend principals are the academic and culture leaders of our schools. They create school-wide visions, drive educational outcomes, and advance educational equity through the educators they lead. In short, they bring the Ascend mission to life. Our principals are passionate about developing their staff and rally their leaders and teams to achieve ambitious school goals. Through the intentional creation of vibrant school communities, principals inspire staff and students to engage in rigorous and purposeful learning. They succeed when those under their care succeed. They develop enduring and joyful relationships with students, teachers, parents, community members, and other network teammates, and they build and maintain a strong presence for their schools in the local communities.

Founding a new school

In August 2023, Ascend will open the doors to a new school: Flatbush Ascend Middle School (FAMS). Ascend has received Robin Hood funding to hire a FAMS principal a year in advance. The earlier hiring timeline will empower the “Year Zero” principal to build a founding vision for the school, develop familiarity with the Ascend model, develop community and family partnerships, and lead the hiring process from the start. Applications are due by October 28, 2022; We will identify and announce the FAMS principal by January 2023.

This role is an exciting opportunity for a collaborative and flexible thinker eager for feedback and professional development to play a central leadership role in growing and shaping one of our high-performing public charter schools. As an Ascend principal, you will assume a critical leadership role within a broader network committed to ensuring our students have the knowledge, confidence, and character to succeed in college and beyond.

Why extraordinary leaders lead at Ascend

Ascend is a network of K-12 public charter schools serving 6,000 students in 15 schools across Brooklyn—New York’s most populous borough. Our undertaking is to lead our students on a great intellectual adventure, provide them with an exceptional college preparatory education, and place them firmly on the path to success in college and beyond.

We guide our students to think critically and independently and to enjoy education as an end in itself. We teach a rich and rigorous liberal arts curriculum that nurtures students’ natural curiosity about the world. We foster a positive, non-punitive school culture where students feel connected, empowered, and safe to take academic risks. Even our school buildings are designed to reflect our high aspirations for teaching and learning and the notable accomplishments that occur within our walls.

To create this kind of vibrant learning community, we invest heavily in our faculty by providing ongoing professional training and support, and encourage our educators to collaborate closely and push each other to achieve great outcomes. Leading at Ascend means growing deeply in your career, expressing your voice, and playing a defining role in the future of your students, your school, and the Ascend network.

Ascend is committed to building a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist community, both through our hiring practices and our focus on creating a culture and environment where diverse perspectives, ideas, and identities are valued and integrated into our way of working and educating students. Ascend staff represent a wide diversity of racial, socio-economic, gender, religious, and national identities—opening a window to the entire Ascend community on the richness of humanity. We welcome all applicants who share our mission and vision to join us in our deeply consequential work.

Learn more about the Ascend approach by visiting our website.

Responsibilities

Curriculum and instruction

  • Develops school’s ability to foster a culturally responsive classroom
  • Collaborates with curriculum and instruction team to plan and execute curriculum and instruction that fosters student growth, creativity, and agency through aligned culturally relevant materials and pedagogy
  • Leads a team of secondary leaders to strengthen teachers’ knowledge of highest priority standards and inquiry-based instructional practices
  • Drives partnership with the student services coordinator and the special education team to ensure that all students, including those with exceptionalities, have the access and support needed to achieve

School culture

  • Establishes and leads a culture that results in a love of learning, student agency, and full range of student learning and growth
  • Builds an engaged, diverse, and inclusive school community
  • Creates, leads, and maintains a culture that encourages team members to innovate in an effort to ensure equity gaps are eliminated and college and career readiness is a reality for all students

Racial equity mindset

  • Creates and sustains a race equity culture, including skill building and leading self and others through awareness, growth, and development
  • Continuously strengthens personal and staff knowledge in academic standards and their DEIA considerations in conjunction with the curriculum team in order to promote effective instructional design
  • Cultivates a diverse, high-potential school leadership pipeline

Strategic leadership

  • Works collaboratively and thinks flexibly to support and improve systems and decision-making processes that strengthens outcomes
  • Creates and strengthens a data-driven culture that relentlessly seeks continuous improvement
  • Creates, strengthens, and maintains academic and culture systems and procedures

Effective teaming

  • Establishes, manages, and develops strong teams that collaborate, communicate, and work together for Ascend students and its community
  • Fosters and facilitates positive relationships and collaboration with network and school-based leaders to advance efforts that support achievement for all students and to advance Ascend’s mission and goals
  • Observes and coaches instructional staff and leaders to drive pedagogical growth and student achievement
  • Plans and leads professional development that results in improved pedagogy and student achievement
  • Utilizes meaningful feedback from students, staff, families, and the community to strengthen school programs and practices
  • Creates and executes coaching plans and evaluations to ensure development of all staff

Whole student focus

  • Establishes, fosters, and sustains a culture of academic success and social-emotional development through partnerships with students, staff, families, and the community
  • Creates and sustains a warm, welcoming, and inclusive environment for scholars, families, and staff
  • Creates and implements a vision that exhibits a deep belief in the potential of all students and leads to improvement for all learners
  • Engages families and the community in support of each child’s learning and the school’s learning goals

Operational management

  • Creates and executes systems and processes to support the short- and long-term goals of the school and supervises the effective use of resources
  • Develops systems and structures to hire and retain diverse, highly-effective staff

Technological fluency

  • Selects, uses, and coaches others in the use of effective technological tools to strengthen school results and student achievement
  • Leverages technology platforms to inform planning and decision-making in support of school goals and operations

Staff and reporting relationships
The principal reports to the managing director of schools and supervises all school staff members.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree, with advanced degree preferred
  • At least three years teaching experience with a proven track record of elevating student achievement
  • At least two years experience leading, managing, and coaching a team of adults and demonstrates ability to drive results through the supervision of others
  • A hunger for feedback and self-improvement
  • A high level of ownership over the overall outcomes of the scholars they lead
  • Ability to be a bold, tireless, and engaging change agent and culture creator
  • Self-awareness, demonstrating an accurate idea of one’s own strengths and weaknesses and an ability to treat all members of the school’s community with respect
  • Skilled in content, pedagogy, and data-driven instruction as evidenced by quantitative and qualitative data
  • Strong collaboration, interpersonal, and communication skills, including an ability to work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and with diverse perspectives
  • Strong organizational, self-management, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to handle many responsibilities simultaneously
  • Alignment with the educational philosophy and core beliefs of Ascend Learning

Compensation

Ascend Public Charter Schools offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package. Please visit www.ascendcharterschools.org/careers to learn more about the benefits of working at Ascend.

Ascend’s Vaccination Policy Statement

To prevent the infection and spread of COVID-19, and protect the health and safety of staff, students, family members, interns, volunteers, and visitors to Ascend’s premises from COVID-19 infection, Ascend requires all staff to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated for the coronavirus. This policy is mandatory except for staff with a documented medical or religious reason for not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

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