Director of the Anne & Jim Kenan Preschool

The Atlanta Speech School: Director of the Anne & Jim Kenan Preschool

The Anne & Jim Kenan Preschool (Kenan Preschool) at the Atlanta Speech School seeks an exceptional leader to serve as Director. This position offers the opportunity to support and inspire our knowledgeable, engaged, and self-motivated team of professionals who are deeply committed to building the foundations for deep reading in each child they serve. Further, this person will have the singular opportunity to join with colleagues to impact the preschool education of young children in all fifty states and 138 countries where 340,000 members of our free online Cox Campus advance their teaching abilities.

Kenan Preschool is one program of the Atlanta Speech School. The Atlanta Speech School is the nation’s most comprehensive center for language and literacy and, as the educational equivalent of a teaching hospital, provides an unmatched chance to learn from both peers and experts in the field. The Director of Kenan Preschool is positioned to contribute to the School’s growing body of knowledge and influence in the sciences of early healthy brain development, language acquisition and reading brain construction.

Beyond seeking proficiency, we work to construct a Deep Reading Brain for each child at the School and, through our Rollins Center for Language & Literacy and its internationally renowned online professional development platform, Cox Campus, every child beyond the school. Deep reading requires learning to make connections between what we read to what we think, feel, and who we are. On the path to deep reading, children gain language, build executive functions and critical thinking and find empathy to go on to make the greatest possible difference in the lives of others.

Pediatrician and preeminent expert on trauma-informed practices with children Dr. Renee Boynton-Jarrett says that infants, when born, instinctively ask first, “am I safe?” followed by “am I connected?” The earliest experiences of a child shape not just their immediate well-being, but their long-term mental, emotional and physical health. To reach the deep cognitive space of the brain where learning occurs, we must first find a way into a child’s world. We believe that we are in a covenant with families to provide sanctuary for each child so they may, themselves, offer safety and connection to others for a lifetime.

The Mission of the Atlanta Speech School is to bring deep reading to each and every child so they can find their voice to determine their own future and make the greatest difference in the lives of others.

PROGRAM SUMMARY:

With an unmatched focus on the critical learning period from two to five years old, the Kenan Preschool is a mainstream preschool program that serves children from across Atlanta. Representing 22 Zip codes, children at Kenan receive research-based practices for language development and early literacy through educators who ensure each child has what they need to build a strong foundation for all future learning. The Kenan Preschool is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and licensed by Bright from the Start, Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Director of the Kenan Preschool at the Atlanta Speech School provides strategic leadership, vision, and execution for the preschool program while ensuring daily support for students, parents, and staff. This individual facilitates a highly collaborative team that includes teachers, a curriculum specialist, an admissions coordinator, a preschool counselor, an occupational therapist, a speech-language therapist, and an outplacement coordinator to deliver exceptional services for children ages two through five. The Director is entrusted with investing in the professional development of all staff, upholding the overarching responsibilities to the children, their families, the program, and the School, and serving as the Kenan representative on the School’s Leadership Team, guiding the development of the School’s three preschool programs and the Atlanta Speech School as a whole. Beyond campus programs, the Director of Kenan Preschool is an integral part of the School’s efforts to bring what is available to each child at the School to every child through Cox Campus content, programs, and the global educator community.

Candidates will demonstrate a thorough understanding of early childhood development, early childhood developmentally appropriate practice, and children’s learning profiles and psychoeducational evaluations, including academic development, cognitive processes, executive functions, and social-emotional development.

Programmatic Responsibilities

• Develop goals, direction, and policies of the program
• Attend regularly scheduled meetings with the Chief Academic Officer
• Develop and implement criteria for admissions, outplacement, and student outcomes
• Conduct ongoing program evaluation and identification of needs
• Plan parent and staff education programs
• Participate in budget review and manage funds allocated to the Kenan Preschool
• Attract, recruit, and hire highly skilled and motivated staff

Responsibilities to Parents & Students

• Conduct orientation and parent education meetings
• Be available for parent contacts, conferences, calls
• Develop procedures to identify and help children who are not progressing satisfactorily
• Observe children and make recommendations
• Participate in discussions of enrollment and outplacement issues
• Clearly communicate with parents regarding departmental guidelines/policies, schedules and procedures in person, in writing, and through other social media
• Assist with the development and review of individual goals for children
• Oversee review of student records and selection of materials released to other agencies

Responsibilities to Staff

• Assign staff placement and duties
• Observe and mentor staff following Atlanta Speech School guidelines
• Participate in parent conferences as requested or required
• Confer with teachers regarding students, concerns, and plans
• Demonstrate lessons as necessary
• Recommend, develop, and provide staff development opportunities that align with program needs and/or staff needs
• Support staff engagement in overall Speech School professional development (Montag Lecture Series, etc.)

Administrative Responsibilities

• Host weekly staff meetings
• Plan the Kenan calendar to include events such as student activities, parent conference days, special events, and teacher work/planning days
• Monitor and plan for department budget needs

Responsibilities to the Leadership Team

• Collaborate with other Directors within the School to establish best practices and provide the best services
• Periodically facilitate Leadership Team and Roundtable meetings
• Be a collaborative partner in decision-making for the Atlanta Speech School

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Applicants should hold a master’s degree or higher in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Reading, Speech-Language Pathology, Early Childhood Special Education or other related fields from an accredited university
• Current Georgia clear/renewable teaching certificate or eligible for certification
• Minimum 8-10 years experience working in an early childhood setting or similar experience demonstrating knowledge of early childhood education and language and early literacy instruction
• Excellent oral, written, organizational, and interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively

SALARY: Salary is commensurate with credentials and experience.

TO APPLY: Please submit all the following documents to ensure that your information is considered: cover letter, resume, and written submission:

We seek colleagues who bring their own intrinsic promise to themselves relative to the difference they hope to make in children's lives. Such a promise will always be more important to someone than a requirement/standard of practice that we would impose upon them. In other words, we want people to join us because they have determined that we are the best place where they can keep their own covenant with themselves and children.

Based on what you know to date, what about our work suggests that the Speech School and this position could be that place for you? What else would you need to know to help you make that determination? (Please limit the response to 500 words).

Email: hr@atlantaspeechschool.org

Subject line: Director of the Anne & Jim Kenan Preschool

Atlanta Speech School

Founded over 86 years ago, the Atlanta Speech School has evolved into four school divisions, four clinical programs, Rollins Center for Language & Literacy professional development program and Rollins’ free online Cox Campus. Across all our programs we are driven to ensure that each child can find their voice. The School has never turned away a child in need of our specialized services based on their family’s financial circumstances.