Chief Academics Officer

The CAO reports directly to the Chief Schools Officer and is responsible for ensuring high quality curriculum, assessment strategy, and world class civics, arts, physical education, and Global Citizens programming across the DPPS multistate network. The CAO is also responsible for setting all academic and grading policies, all master schedule bottom lines, and all calendars for the network in order to ensure we realize our mission for all of the scholars that we serve. The CAO is responsible for driving the academic vision for the network and is ultimately accountable for the network-wide academic results. They will accomplish this by: developing a rigorous, research-based national K-12 academic vision which includes a plan for world class supports for our scholars with special needs; leading strategic academic planning processes for the network and for each region in order to set SMART goals and priorities, curriculum and assessment strategy annually which serves and empowers our diverse student population, regularly analyze data to drive decision making and progress monitoring throughout the school year, and support the implementation of the academic vision at all the schools.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities of the Chief Academic Officer include:

• Ensuring DPPS maintains its high level of academic achievement and growth in New York and meets or exceeds all annual benchmarks in each region outside of New York; holding a high vision and bar for excellence for our curriculum, our assessment strategy, our special education supports and strategy, and for academic and civic outcomes at each school in our network.
• Driving curriculum, assessment, professional learning and the infrastructure for and development of instructional practice;
• Working closely with other members of the academic team and special education team to plan and execute on highly effective, aligned professional development for teachers and leaders;
• Leading the network academic leadership team, including the VP of Academics, Director of Civics, Athletics Director, and Arts Director.
• Leading the network college and career readiness teams, including the VP of Career and Technical Education and the VP of College Success.
• Leading the network Global Citizens program ensuring equity in travel and cultural exchange experiences for scholars across our multistate program and expanding program opportunities during the February, Spring, and summer vacation break as well as trimester-long study abroad experiences for high school juniors and seniors.
• Ensuring clear performance evaluations systems for instructional staff, including clear performance frameworks, timely evaluations and accessible data.
  
  

Leadership Across Three Regions

• Partner with the Regional Superintendent/ Chief Schools Officer to ensure the entire organization is leading for learning (e.g. teacher observations are held sacred in frequency and quality across all schools, teacher feedback is delivered in writing and in practice-based one on one coaching sessions at a regular cadence for emerging, developing, and master teachers, curriculum is being implemented to fidelity in each school, and the assessment strategy is rigorous, customized to the needs of the population, and strictly adhered to by school-based teammates and Network based support staff, including the execution of data-driven remediation blocks
  
  

Qualifications

• A deep commitment to the mission and core values of Democracy Prep Public Schools and an unwavering belief in the potential of all our scholars.
• 10 years of work experience, including 4 years of experience as a high-performing principal and/or principal manager, with experience closing the student achievement gaps between racial, ethnic, and economic groups (experience as a principal manager or principal advisor strongly preferred).
• An unwavering commitment to and action towards anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion, with an ability to serve as an exemplar for the organization’s values and foster an inclusive and respectful workplace.
• A strong desire to collaborate with the Chief Schools Officer, fellow senior leaders, and school leaders in service of excellent academic and civic outcomes for all scholars.
• Deep experience in the design, integration, implementation, and management of a school, including knowledge of curricula, instructional practices, school operations and management, and talent development.
• The ability to analyze and use data on a regular basis to drive decision-making.
• The ability to design, oversee, and launch new programming.
• Expertise in instructional design and implementation, including curriculum and assessment.
• Expertise in tutoring design and implementation, and regular analysis of data and setting of goals and benchmarks in order to drive excellent results in schools.
• A deep commitment to both racial equity and improving the lives of kids from low-income communities with experience working with diverse communities of color and in low-income communities.
  
  

Compensation

Salary range for this role is $210,000-$240,000 with an offer that is commensurate with your experience. Democracy Prep Public Schools offers comprehensive benefits, and a working environment that includes the necessary technology and resources to succeed.

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Democracy Prep is an Equal Opportunity Employer and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, domestic violence victim status, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances. Our mission is to educate responsible citizen-scholars who will change the world. We strongly believe that by building a DREAM team that represents numerous perspectives, backgrounds, and expertises, we can achieve this goal together. This is a value we highly support and strongly encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply.