Elementary/Middle School Principal

Northwest Christian Academy (NCA) is now accepting Principal applications for the 2025-26 school year.

About Northwest Christian Schools of Lacey:

Northwest Christian Schools of Lacey (NCS) is an evangelical Christian school offers education to children from Preschool – 12th grade. We are located on a beautiful 14-acre campus in Lacey, Washington. We are the only Christian private school in Thurston County that offers education from infancy to graduation. Northwest Christian Schools of Lacey is comprised of three schools:

• Northwest Christian Preschool (NCP)
• Northwest Christian Academy (NCA)
• Northwest Christian High School (NCHS)

Our Mission:

The mission of Northwest Christian Schools is to provide a Christ-centered environment with a superior education that prepares students to have a positive impact in our world for Him. .

Reporting Relationship:

The NCA principal reports to the NCS head of school (HOS) and works closely with the Northwest Christian High School principal. The HOS reports directly to the NCS school board. The two school principals and the HOS make up the leadership team of Northwest Christian Schools of Lacey. Together they make academic decisions for the schools, in alignment with the vision and goals cast by the NCS school board.

Position Summary:

The NCA principal serves as the educational and spiritual leader for NCA and is responsible for managing the school policies, regulations, and procedures to ensure that all students are supervised in a safe learning environment that meets the approved curricula and mission of the school. Achieving academic excellence requires the principal to work collaboratively to direct and nurture all members of the school staff, faculty, and to communicate effectively with parents and students.

Inherent in the position are the responsibilities of scheduling, curriculum development, extracurricular activities, personnel management, working together to facilitate emergency protocols and collaborating with the head of school.

The NCA principal will be the academic and instructional leader of NCA, working with the NCS head of school, to oversee the financial and business affairs of the school. The NCA principal may also assign other key personnel to give leadership to or assist with various school events and activities. Recognized as the head of NCA, the NCA principal directly supervises all faculty and staff within NCA.

Qualifications:

• Have received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord
• Be an active member in good standing of an evangelical church
• Be 21 years of age or older
• Hold a Bachelor's Degree or greater from an accredited college or university and a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration, or related field, is preferred
• Completed three years of teaching (at desired school level); five years preferred
• Demonstrated three years of successful school-based leadership experience, preferably at desired school level
• Possess a state teaching credential and/or ACSI credential, required
• Hold a Washington State principal certification*
• Have excellent communication skills, including written, graphic, verbal and listening

(* Allowable substitutions: Any equivalent combination of education, experience, and training that would provide the applicant with the desired knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform the work and to meet certification requirements, may be allowed at the head of school’s discretion)

Note: The principal role is considered a WA state exempt salaried position.

HOW TO APPLY

Email the following items to the NCS Head of School.

• Completed application can be accessed at EMPLOYMENT - Northwest Christian Schools of Lacey (ncslacey.org)
• Resume
• Letter of interest
• 2 Letters of recommendation (one must be from a previous/current supervisor)

Necessary Spiritual Qualities:

• Maintain high standards of ethics, honesty, and integrity in all personal and professional matters
• Sign and actively support the school’s Statement of Faith
• Demonstrate a desire for spiritual growth as evidenced by an active prayer life, Bible study, and spiritual outreach to others, seeking to live life as His disciple
• Be a Christian role model in attitude, speech, and actions toward others
• Have a conviction that God has called him/her to Christian school ministry
• Is widely trusted in the school community; is seen as direct, truthful individual; helpful; keeps confidences; admits mistakes; is warm and easy to approach; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact to diffuse tense situations
• Follow the Matthew 18 principle in dealing with conflict with students, parents, staff, and administration

Specific Responsibilities:

Lead and Develop School Personnel:

• Assure teachers have access to essential equipment and supplies
• Identify technology needs of teachers and provide training to promote technology in the classrooms
• Lead staff in the analysis of student achievement data, develop school improvement and student academic achievement plans and evaluate the plans throughout the school year
• Use of data to guide instruction; conducting periodic analysis
• Select, hire, and supervise staff and provide professional development to meet the needs of staff, based on student learning needs; assemble a talented team
• Listen to concerns of faculty and staff and show compassion and empathy
• Develop cohesive teams of people; guide teams to establish and achieve goals; assess each person’s strengths and use them; promote confidence and optimistic attitudes
• Develop, implement, and evaluate programs
• Supervise instructional and support staff by establishing clear directions; setting goals, and assigning responsibilities; promote staff development
• Support faculty and staff in a way that leads to a positive campus culture
• Be a leader who communicates a compelling and inspired vision or sense of core purpose; makes the vision sharable; motivating the entire staff

Oversee Curriculum and Educational Planning:

• Oversee the evaluation and development of all curriculum and books
• Ensure that sound educational and academic goals are set
• Ensure that the school is well equipped and well supplied with teaching materials, supplies, and resources as finances allow
• Establish and promote high standards and expectations for all students and staff
• Lead the school in all legal matters pertaining to education by staying abreast of legal requirements and trends
• Utilize the resources and participate appropriately with organizations such as ACSI and the WA State Board of Education, in order to keep abreast of current, major trends in education, including Christian education.
• Also ensure that all required paperwork is filed with the State of WA such as health forms, attendance records, enrollment, etc.
• Oversee the development of the annual school calendar
• Oversee all achievement and standardized testing
• Hold regular faculty and staff meetings
• Coordinate RTI (Response to Intervention) meetings, student plans, and progress monitoring throughout the school year

Interact with Students and Families:

• Oversee the reenrollment and enrollment annually and serve on the NCA admission team
• Maintain positive, cooperative, and mutually supportive relationships with students and families
• Supervise procedures for identifying and addressing special needs of students. These needs include but are not limited to, health concerns, special learning needs, and physical, emotional, and spiritual needs
• Establish and maintain a communication process that keeps all students and parents informed

Plan and Monitor NCA School Finances:

• Oversee budget compliance for NCA throughout the fiscal year
• Approve requests for purchases by the faculty and staff while balancing the needs of the school with the budget
• Share financial information with the school’s accountant and the NCS head of school
• Oversee the annual (PTF) Parent Teacher Fellowship account funds and ensure proper accounting of funds
• Oversee the annual fundraising event plans for the NCA PTF
• Identify areas of the NCA facilities that need improvement and implement fundraising strategies to support improvements
• Assure an accurate accounting of student extracurricular funds, activity funds, and monies collected from students, maintain appropriate financial records

Lead Institutional Advancement:

• Represent NCA as a member of our community
• Facilitate an updated Faculty Handbook and Student/Parent Handbook for appropriate availability and website accessibility
• Maintain regular communication with the constituencies of the school through newsletters, direct mail, weekly news, and website
• Oversee the planning of long and short-term fund-raising endeavors
• Represent NCA and lend support as needed for the annual NCS auction fundraiser
• Plan and organize, together with the NCHS principal, strategic events for junior high students to increase the retention rate of enrollment between 8th and 9th grade

Lead Spiritual Advancement:

• Oversee spiritual development of NCA students by ensuring the chapel program and devotion time in classrooms are providing adequate Biblical instruction to students for transformation toward spiritual maturity in Christ
• Ensure that teachers are integrating a Christian worldview into the classroom
• Demonstrate a reliance on prayer to faculty, staff, and students by incorporating corporate prayer in chapel, in meetings, in the classrooms and at school events
• Collaborate with the NCHS principal to schedule times for campus wide worship and prayer with a focus on providing a venue for students to use their talents and gifts to worship together

_ Miscellaneous:_

• Manage, evaluate, and supervise effective and clear procedures for the operation and functioning of the school, consistent with the philosophy, mission, values, and goals of the school. This includes instructional programs, extracurricular activities, discipline policies, building maintenance, program evaluation, personnel management, office operations, and implementation of emergency procedures to ensure a safe and orderly climate
• Create a sense of family by collaborating with students, staff and parents
• Ensure that appropriate safety measures are in place on campus to provide a reasonably safe school environment
• Work with the facilities manager and head of school to assure that school facilities and equipment are safe and in good working order
• Determine when school is to be closed or delayed opening due to adverse weather conditions or emergencies
• Coordinate with the athletic director about the athletic program
• Collaborate with NCHS athletic program to ensure the NCA athletic program offers a feeder program into high school athletics
• Ensure classes have substitute teachers when needed. Teach classes on a temporary basis and fill in for classes or the office as emergencies arise and ensure that all classes are properly staffed
• Oversee plans for school events such as Promotion, Parent Orientation, graduations and Open House, etc.
• Plan and develop new programs to enhance the educational opportunities offered by NCA
• Work with the international director to ensure that enrollment and reenrollment for international students is in keeping with market sustainability
• Ensure compliance with school policies and all state and federal education laws that pertain to private Christian education
• Assure proper completion and submission of required annual OSPI & State Board of Education reports and approval
• Communicate regularly with the head of school and school board regarding the needs, successes, and general operation of the school
• Provide monthly reports to NCS School Board and attend monthly board meetings
• Assure safe storage and integrity of all public and confidential student records, sharing such information with legal parameters
• Work with the head of school to ensure the NCA web content is up to date on our school website
• Work with campus IT personnel to assure functionality and reliability of internet and network access

This job description does not state or imply that all of the duties and responsibilities that are to be performed are listed. This position requires following the instructions and policies, as well as performing the duties that are expected of the principal, the personnel handbook, and the school board.

Physical Requirements:

• Require vision (which may be corrected) to read small print
• Require the mobility to stand, stoop, reach and bend as well as mobility of arms to reach and dexterity of hands to grasp and manipulate small objects
• Require the ability to sit for long periods
• Require the ability to walk around campus and up/down stairs
• Perform lifting, pushing and/or pulling which does not exceed 25 pounds and is an infrequent aspect of the job
• Is subject to inside and rarely outside environmental conditions
• Mental acuity to perform the essential functions of this position

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $80,000.00 - $82,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: In person

Salary : $80,000 - $82,000