KIPP Nashville Public Schools is a network of high-performing, free, open enrollment K-12 schools that has been committed to positively affecting student outcomes in Nashville since 2005. KIPP Nashville is part of the acclaimed KIPP Network, which educates 100,000+ students nationwide and supports students from Kindergarten through college, career and beyond. Through the KIPP Forward program, our team helps students identify their career of highest aspiration and develop the skills and confidence to chase their dreams.
 
The mission of KIPP Nashville is to, together with families and communities, create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence they need to pursue the paths they choose - college, career and beyond - so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world. If you share in this belief, if you have a proven willingness to do what it takes for students to be their best, if you thrive in an environment that is both collaborative and entrepreneurial, then you are already a KIPPster.

Position Overview

The Head of Middle Schools is a senior member of the regional leadership team, directly managing a portfolio of schools, principals, and initiatives that impact the education of future graduates. The HoS is responsible for the superior performance of schools. S/he is a skilled manager and team leader with exemplary instructional and coaching acumen. Our Heads of Schools support the technical skill building, continuous improvement, and impressive results of schools academically, culturally, and in human capital practices. S/he is driven by goals and uses data in making decisions, providing in-depth monitoring of regional performance metrics and producing compelling plans to motivate and inspire others to act and share investment in achieving operating outcomes. S/he can both build and execute strategy, motivate others to make change, and invest and build relationships with other business partners to support the ambitious academic outcomes of our schools. S/he has a keen attention to detail and can also see the big picture.

Major Duties & Responsibilities
I. Hire and Manage Principals 

• Manage 3 middle school principals and ensure a strong culture among principals that is marked by service, support, psychological safety and continuous improvement, and helps to create the conditions for equity and inclusion among senior leaders;
• Support principals to effectively lead, develop and manage their direct reports and respective teams to drive academic excellence in a nurturing school environment while achieving both cultural and organizational priorities;
• Refine the performance management and evaluation of principals and supports principals to systematically manage the performance evaluation of all staff;
• Implement a system to appropriately recognize school-based leadership excellence and effectively address poor performance;
• Work in collaboration with the Chief of Schools and ED to hire and onboard effective Principals who embody the mission and beliefs of KIPP Nashville; and
• Participate in and inform the refinement of principal and assistant principal selection/hiring, in partnership with KIPP Nashville’s Talent Team and the KIPP Foundation.

II. Develop Principals and Assistant Principals

• Work with Chief of Schools to ensure alignment and cohesion between Assistant Principal, Instructional Leader/Teacher and Principal professional development, priorities, and vision;
• Collaborate with Chief of Schools on the development of principals and assistant principals;
• Support and develop principals through planning and implementing professional development, creating development plans that are aligned to clear academic and organizational goals and milestones, and tracking principal progress;
• Create common structures with members of the leadership team for developing and communicating with principals; and
• Collaborate with regional operations and finance leaders to support principals to create and implement a comprehensive and fiscally sustainable annual operating budget for their school, for which the principal is ultimately responsible.

III. Direct middle school program team

• Direct the efforts of our middle school program team, including academics, music, and student culture leaders;
• Monitor school progress to performance goals, directing the team to make appropriate interventions to regularly improve performance;

IV. Drive teaching and learning through Principals

• Work with Chief of Schools to create a coherent and high leverage academic and culture strategy across the KIPP Nashville region;
• Supervise principals in continually aligning school programs with the mission, beliefs, priorities, and initiatives of KIPP Nashville;
• Drive improvements in teaching and school culture through real-time teacher coaching. Develop principals and assistant principals to become strong real-time teacher coaches.
• Improve academic outcomes across all content areas;
• Ensure strong attention-to-results practices--short-term and long-term--within and across schools so that desired outcomes are achieved; and
• Manages long-term and annual school planning in collaboration with members of the leadership team. 

V. General Management

• Ensure principals delegate and develop their leaders and teachers.
• Ensure principals have clearly articulated plans for daily operations and implementation of student services, including support services, discipline and management, and crisis intervention;
• Through modeling and feedback, serve as a powerful culture leader of KIPP Nashville to help ensure that we all consistently walk the talk of our mission and beliefs;
• Works with principals to create and implement a comprehensive and fiscally sustainable annual operating budget and staffing plan; 
• Partners with schools and regional leadership to support student recruitment, enrollment, and retention activities; and 
• Supervise principals to ensure adherence to the Board-approved final budget. 

• At least 2-4 years of experience as a high-performing principal or principal manager; at least 2-4 additional years of successful teaching experience with specific experience closing the student achievement gaps between racial, ethnic and economic groups;
• A passion for, understanding of and commitment to creating academically excellent and joyful schools that continuously improve and support each of our students to realize their dreams and develop the character and habits of mind essential for college and career readiness, and global citizenship; possess a deep commitment to both racial equity and improving the lives of kids from low-income communities; experience working within low-income communities required;
• Seasoned leader who is a good person, emotionally mature, and a team player that can reliably identify key opportunities and career paths for rising and current leaders, gives/receives feedback with humility, and holds themselves and others accountable to high standards;
• Systems builder with the ability to scale best instructional practices across multiple schools and lead change processes with an eye towards long-term sustainability;
• Commitment to building relationships and trust with leaders, teachers, students, parents and the Nashville community;
• Exceptional organizational skills, including a commitment to maintaining a comprehensive calendar and an ability to build and execute against weekly and monthly priorities;
• Ability to take and quickly implement feedback; and
• Demonstrates a professional demeanor with strong self-confidence and initiative.

Our comprehensive compensation package includes life insurance and long-term disability coverage provided by KIPP Nashville, voluntary medical and dental plans, in addition to retirement benefits and an annual salary increase. Salary is commensurate with experience. To establish equitable salary practices, the compensation package is derived from the regional KIPP Nashville Public Schools pay range. This position is exempt and will follow a 12-month schedule.