About KIPP DC Public Schools

By 2025, KIPP DC will build upon two decades of proven results to develop into a more impactful, innovative, and inclusive school system that provides joyful, identity-affirming learning experiences so that all students and alumni achieve extraordinary outcomes.

Our work is grounded in a commitment to excellence, equity, and justice. We believe all students have the right to rigorous, relevant, and joyful learning experiences led by exceptionally talented and diverse educators who promote student achievement and a sense of belonging. We believe students and teachers best succeed when surrounded by an ecosystem of supports, including our central headquarters team that supports KIPP DC’s 20 schools, 7,300 students, and 1,500 teachers, leaders, and staff members dedicated to this mission.

About the Legacy Learning Center Program Director Role

The Legacy Learning Center is a 9-12th grade program located within Legacy College Preparatory High School that serves students whose Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) indicate that they require specialized instruction in a full time setting. The Legacy Learning Center uses multiple adults per classroom and wrap-around services to effectively support every student.

The Legacy Learning Center Program Director leads the program in driving academic outcomes, care, and a sense of belonging for our students as a key member of the leadership team. Through goal setting and planning, designing meaningful school culture, strong instructional leadership, coaching staff, and managing operations, this person will set the vision for a rigorous and joyful school for all.

The Program Director is an exempt role and reports to the Principal of the school, and serves on the school leadership team.

Key Responsibilities

• Vision & Goals
  • Support development of School Leader’s school-wide vision and takes an active role in investing and mobilizing teachers to achieve the collective goals of the school; owns the implementation of select school priorities in support of the school-wide vision
  • With guidance from the School Leader, leads the planning and goal setting for the Legacy Learning Center program teachers and ensures alignment with school-wide goals
  • Set, communicate, and execute a vision for a school-wide initiative/priority that addresses an inequity
  • Connect teams' vision, goals and actions to KIPP DC's goal of becoming an anti-racist organization
• Plan & Prioritize
  • Prioritize and manage own time to accomplish short and long-term goals or priorities
  • Demonstrate strong judgment and data-based, timely decision-making
  • Act decisively to overcome barriers and make difficult choices with the long‐term and short‐term impact in mind
• Lead School Culture
  • Set a vision of excellence for student and staff culture, along with the School Leader, and executes on plans to uphold it
  • Build positive, affirming and joyful student culture across teams
  • Build an inclusive grade-level/department or school-wide environment for special populations
  • Manage parts of the daily school operations (e.g. arrival/dismissal, lunch/recess) 
  • Act as the first Leadership Team contact on student intervention and family communication; determines appropriate next steps and follow ups 
  • Plan for and predictably respond to student behavior that doesn't meet school culture expectations. Coach, support and follow up with teachers in service of empowering them to do the same
  • Maintain calm and poise in unpredictable, potentially stressful, situations with students
• Instructional Leadership
  • Establish & communicate experiential and academic goals for students dependent on the IEPs
  • Demonstrate strong student achievement results across classrooms that they coach
  • Understands curriculum, pedagogical practices, standards, lesson plans, unit plans, assessments & each one's purpose for multiple grade levels or departments
  • Collaborate with other coaches and leaders to support teachers in instructing and assessing and connects teachers with relevant resources to improve their content knowledge and instruction
  • Participate in ongoing learning to build knowledge outside of own content area expertise
  • Lead data-driven instruction by analyzing homeroom specific and grade/department level data and developing and executing plans to address gaps and by helping teachers do the same thing for their classes
  • Lead a culture where special educators, instructional assistants, dedicated aides and other team members collaborate to meet the needs of unique learners 
• Manage & Develop
  • Builds trusting, strong relationships with teachers and school staff as the foundation for development and management work
  • Capture sharp, meaningful evidence during observations
  • Ground feedback and next steps for teachers in student impact and data 
  • Identifies high-leverage coaching focuses ground in student impact, transferability, context and teacher match
  • Develop, rely on, and refine systems that result in the effective coaching of all teacher
  • Identify an academic gap across a grade level or department and develop and execute a plan that results in improved student experiences and outcomes
• Hire & Retain
  • Actively and regularly communicate with principal about progress, strengths, areas of growth, and potential trajectories of individual team members
  • Collaborate with School Leader to run school based internal hiring processes for teacher leader positions where applicable
  • Understand and practice fair and legal employment practices
• Operations Management
  • Take the lead on staff facing, school based systems (i.e. testing, school schedule, arrival, dismissal, etc.)
  • Support the leadership team in executing school operational systems such as arrival and dismissal, mealtimes, family communication and other operations

Competencies

• Student Focus: builds strong relationships and holds high expectations for students, holds students’ best interests in mind, keeps owns commitments to students and makes sure others do the same and builds a culture of respect for all students
• Achievement Orientation: sets challenging goals for self and others, takes initiative to go above and beyond to to achieve results, follows through on commitments, demonstrates resilience and flexibility 
• Continuous Learning: Takes responsibility for behavior, mistakes, and results, takes calculated risks, uses research to inform practice, continually seeks opportunity for improvement, values creativity and innovation, shares effective practices with others 
• Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: Gathers information from multiple sources, sorts out complexity, anticipates problems, breaks down information and effectively analyzes 
• Self-Awareness: demonstrates understanding of own identity, privilege and power, understands strengths and weaknesses and the impact on others’ perceptions, seeks feedback and self-development 
• Cultural Competence: demonstrates knowledge and respect for cultures of community served, creates an inclusive environment, adjusts behavior according to cultural norms and cues, works effectively across difference, creates and sustains an environment in which people from diverse backgrounds can succeed 
• Impact and Influence: adapts leadership style to influence others, anticipate reactions of others and makes a compelling case for a position, stimulates others to take action and accomplish goals
• Individual Reflection: Reflect on own identity; maintain strong self-care practices; demonstrate a growth mindset
• Stakeholder Management: expertise in cultivating trusting relationships; develops mutually beneficial relationships and partnerships, gains trust of key stakeholders, consistently demonstrates respect and appreciation for others

KIPP DC is looking for Program Director candidates who are committed to KIPP DC’s mission that all students can learn and achieve at high levels, have a strong instructional background, a commitment to creating identity-affirming learning experiences, and are looking to develop the leadership skills necessary to lead great schools. Specifically, candidates should have:

• Bachelor’s degree 
• Minimum of five years combined of lead teaching and school-level instructional experience (with a minimum of one year of school-level leadership experience in addition to the current school year) 
• Demonstrated academic results
• Demonstrated leadership, management and coaching experience 
• One year of experience as a vice principal or equivalent role (preferred) 
• Experience teaching core subjects (ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, Special Education) (preferred experience, not required)
• Unquestioned integrity and commitment to KIPP DC’s mission and to advancing its anti-racist ambition through their work with staff, students, alumni, and families 
• Demonstrated experience with supporting learning of special needs populations, staff development, and pedagogy 
• Unquestioned integrity and commitment to KIPP DC’s mission and to advancing its anti-racist ambition through their work with staff, students, alumni, and families

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

​​KIPP DC Public Schools does not discriminate against, or tolerate discrimination against, employees or applicants for employment on any legally-recognized basis or protected class including, but not limited to, actual or perceived race; color; national origin; immigration status (except as necessary to comply with federal, DC, state, or local law); religion; sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and related medical conditions); age; physical or mental disability; medical condition; sexual orientation; gender (including gender identity or expression); marital status (including domestic partnership status); genetic information; political affiliation; pregnancy; family responsibilities; personal appearance; veteran status; uniform service member status; status of being unemployed; status as a victim or family member of a victim of domestic violence, sexual offense, or stalking; matriculation; or any other protected class under federal, state, DC, or local law.

Click here or here to review KIPP DC’s non-discrimination policy and KIPP DC’s Title IX Coordinator’s contact information.