Chief Schools and Program Officer at KIPP Colorado

Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

About The Organization

KIPP Colorado Public Schools is a network of six free college-preparatory public charter schools open to all students. Our 350-person staff educates 2,500 students from ECE to 12th grade. We partner with our KIPPsters, educators, families and communities to ensure that we are all united around the goal of a choice-filled future for our KIPPsters and alumni. Our core values of excellence, belonging, belief, advocacy and courage are central to who we are and how we operate at all levels of our organization.

KIPP is a national network of tuition-free, public charter schools open to all students. There are 255 college-preparatory KIPP schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia, serving more than 100,000 students. Nationally, KIPP students are graduating four-year colleges at three times the national average for low-income students.

We believe in the unique gifts and brilliance of every student. We believe in setting a high bar for joy and academic excellence to ensure the infinite possibilities our students have before them become a reality. We aspire to create and reinforce a culture of achievement, belonging and support. We know that every student is different and we personalize learning based on a student's needs, skills, and interests.

Organization Website

You can learn more about KIPP Colorado at their website.

About The Role

What You'll Do

Role

The Chief Schools and Program Officer (CSPO) will take ultimate responsibility for instructional quality, academic performance and measures of success for our students, alumni, and schools to ensure we are serving families and operating high-quality schools. These metrics will make up our KIPP CO regional scorecard and be the ultimate measures of accountability for the person in this role. Metrics are inclusive of, but not limited to:

• Each KIPP CO school "meets expectations" on the state of Colorado School Performance Framework (SPF)
• Each KIPP CO school achieves a 60 median growth percentile (MGP) on all north star state assessments (ACCESS, CMAS, P/SAT)
• 50% of students in grades 3rd - 8th are on grade level in math and ELA as measured by CMAS
• 50% of students in grades 9th - 12th earn a "college-ready score" in math and ELA as measured by the Colorado P/SAT
• 80% of students meet or exceed typical i-Ready Growth
• 65% of students in grades K-2 score at or above benchmark as measured by mCLASS DIBELS
• 100% of seniors will apply to college; 100% of seniors will have a post secondary plan. 85% of seniors matriculate to college, CTE or military; 15% of seniors are career bound
• 80% annual retention of school leaders and/or teachers
  
  

Responsibilities Include But Are Not Limited To

Academic Strategy and Execution:

• Sets the vision, strategy and leads the implementation of KIPP Colorado's ECE-12 instructional model to achieve breakthrough student results, promote a strong culture of teaching and learning excellence, and foster educational equity for all students.
• Aligned to and/or as part of KIPP CO's Building Together strategic plan and KIPP Foundation's One KIPP plan, establish a regional academic vision, strategy and goals that attends to our RIDE Commitments, Portrait of a Graduate, and Commitment to an Exceptional Student Experience.
• Supervise and support principal managers to align school programs and implementation with the mission, beliefs, priorities, and initiatives of KIPP CO.
• Directly manage two Managing Directors of Schools to meet outcomes and develop their respective teams via expectation setting and accountability, school culture development, and school leader coaching
• As part of the annual planning process, oversee the annual school readiness process and arc of the year development in collaboration with the Executive Team, Managing Directors and Senior Directors.
• Work with MDs of Schools and MD of Academics and Teacher Development to ensure academic alignment and cohesion between Assistant Principal/Instructional Leader/Teacher and Principal
• Ensure continuous school-based and regional monitoring of student progress toward outcomes and related goals, including regular data analysis and evaluation of aligned instructional and social emotional development strategies
• Ensure ongoing development of team members to ensure a pipeline of talent on the Program and School Leadership Teams
  
  

Academic Program Leadership

• Ensure clear and integrated vision for all programs aligned to national best practices, grounded in equity, opportunity, student-centered, supporting each individual KIPP CO student to achieve graduate profile.
• Directly manage the Managing Director of Academics and Teacher Development to implement curriculum and assessments, meet outcomes, and develop their respective teams
• Manage all aspects of assessment administration, including standard operating procedure development, support for site assessment leaders, tracking completion rates, and overall coordination to ensure efficient and accurate execution.
• Oversee region-wide professional development including logistics, facilitating professional development for teachers in pedagogy and their specific content areas, in partnership with the CAO, Regional Content Leads and Principals
• Monitor progress to ensure all KIPP students are on track to achieve goals and graduate aims. Support development and execution of strategy aligned with goals and academic vision. Programs include:
• Leader Development (inclusive of PIR, principals, and all campus-based leaders)
• Teacher Development
• KIPP Forward
• Special Services (IEP, 504, G&T, MTSS, Mental Health and SEL)
• Multilingual Education
• Early Childhood Education
• Set a clear vision for the KIPP Forward program aligned to our graduate profile and national best practices, grounded in equity, opportunity, and access
• Support development and execution of alumni strategy to ensure connections with graduates, to promote persistence in whatever path they choose, and to support path shifts or reformulation where necessary
  

Senior Leadership

• Along with the CEO and other members of the Executive Team, serve as one of the most senior leaders in our organization, helping us achieve our goals, exercising strong judgment in making critical decisions about what we prioritize and how we operate, and ensuring collaboration, cohesion and relational trust across all functional areas of the organization
• Serve as the primary liaison to the KIPP Colorado Board of Directors' School Performance Committee to share the vision for and progress in academic achievement in schools
• Engage with KIPP Foundation to ensure alignment and coherence with national priorities and expectations and serve as point of contact for KIPP Foundation academic initiatives
• Makes leadership decisions with students' and families' best interests and needs in mind and holds peers and staff accountable to do the same
• Leverage effective change management practices and strategies that are people- and relationship-centric
• Manages change to align teachers, instructional staff, and leaders with the instructional vision, as well as providing coaching, training, and tools to ensure effective implementation of curriculum and instructional programs.
• Serve as the liaison to Denver Public Schools, our authorizer, for compliance matters, ensuring adherence to regulations and policies related to ECE, MLE, Read Act, 504, and discipline.
  
  

Academic And Organizational Equity

• Contribute to organizational RIDE Commitments vision and drive the vision and strategy for academic equity, including dismantling and disrupting academic and student culture systems that are inequitable, racist, or biased. Promote educational equity (equitable outcomes and processes) as a guiding principle across the entire school network, and ensure it is reflected in curriculum, instruction, and assessment systems.
• Establish and promote a clear vision of educational equity for all students as a guiding principle across all schools, and ensure it is reflected in curriculum, instruction, and program offerings, including for all special population students and services.
• In partnership with Chief Operations and Strategy Officer, develop organization-wide systems to collect input, analyze data on equity at schools (both qualitative and quantitative), and monitor/report on progress.
  
  

You should consider this role if you are…

• An outstanding instructional leader with a strong record of achieving excellent student outcomes
• Capacity builder with a deep belief in the potential of people to grow, develop, and learn
• A systems thinker, change management expert, and designer of organizations who recognizes that people execute that change
• An anti-racist, equity and culture champion
  
  

Who You'll Work With

• You will report to the Chief Executive Officer and sit on the organization's leadership team
• You will supervise two Managing Directors of Schools and the Managing Director of Academics and Teacher Development, with the ultimate goal of ensuring the academic program's alignment, accountability, and progression towards positive student outcomes
  
  

Required Skills And Experience

• Believe deeply in the mission, values, and Race, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (RIDE) commitments of KIPP Colorado Schools and that all children can and will learn
• Minimum 10 years of progressive work experience with 6 years of supervisory and management experience, preferably in a large, dynamic, mission-driven organization managing large multi-layer teams
• Minimum 3 years of experience in a Principal role with a record of achieving outstanding academic results for students from traditionally under-resourced communities or populations
• Minimum 3 years of experience managing and/or coaching principals or school system leaders to drive student academic results
• Ability to set a clear academic vision and aligned priorities, develop strategic plans, and empower others to achieve them
• A full understanding of and alignment to our Commitment to an Exceptional Student Experience)
• Deep knowledge and experience in the design, integration, implementation, and management of a school or school system including knowledge of curricula, instructional practices, school operations and management, and teacher and leader development
• Demonstrated effectiveness in exceptional people leadership and management, including selection and hiring, coaching and development, managing and improving performance, building inclusive and effective adult culture, and retention and promotion of top performers
• Experience leading school-level change management and and programmatic initiatives to improve academic culture and achieve excellent academic results for ALL students, with equity (e.g., low suspensions, low attrition) in mind
• A strong belief that school improvement is a human endeavor and experience building system-level capacity to improve teaching and learning
• Demonstrated success in leading others to close learning gaps for students, particularly between subgroups and for special populations of students who are often the most marginalized (including special education, English language learners, etc.)
• Experience working within predominantly Latinx and/or under-resourced communities; professional experience in or personal ties to Northeast and Southwest Denver, preferred
  
  

Additional Details

Location and Work Environment

The incoming CSPO will spend their time in and around Denver, specifically at KIPP Campuses, our Home Office, or other KIPP or PD events. There will also be occasional travel to conferences outside of the area. There will be flexibility to work remotely in certain situations.

Compensation

Starting salary for this role begins at $173,400 and is commensurate with experience. Please submit a comprehensive resume to assure all your experience is accounted for! Tip: We don't care if your resume is more than one page, we are eager to see and compensate you for all of your experience and accomplishments

Race, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity at KIPP Colorado

KIPP Colorado Schools is dedicated to equal employment opportunities and fair labor practices. KIPP Colorado Schools, KIPP Denver Collegiate High School, KIPP Northeast Denver Middle School, KIPP Northeast Elementary, KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy, KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy and KIPP Sunshine Peak Elementary provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals based on job-related qualifications, and the ability to perform a job without regard to race, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, religious creed, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, genetic information, legally protected medical condition, veteran status, sexual orientation, or on any other basis made unlawful by federal, state or local laws. It is our policy to maintain a non-discriminatory environment free from intimidation, harassment or bias based upon these grounds.