Managing Director of Academics

Description

Who We Are

Serving more than 3,100 scholars in seven schools across two cities, RePublic Schools is the only school network solely dedicated to reimagining public education in the South. 

Part of reimagining education in the South means that we confront the historic inequities that work against our scholars and actively work to dismantle those inequities. We are doing this by intentionally creating environments that embrace, honor, and celebrate our scholars’ identities and experiences, as well as the identities and experiences of every member of our community. 

RePublic Schools is seeking an innovative, dynamic Managing Director of Academics to lead the vision and implementation of excellent curriculum and instruction for our schools. Consonant with our vision and values, the Managing Director of Academics  will execute the academic program across all campuses and develop school instructional leaders. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer and serving on the Academics Team, the Managing Director of Academics  will champion our core values.

While this position will support instruction across  all RePublic schools, it is based out of our Jackson, Mississippi home office and will require up to  25% annual travel during the school year to Nashville to support leader and teacher development and curriculum support.

Who You Are

You are a passionate instructional leader with a bold vision for academic excellence. You believe in the transformative power of education and are committed to fostering a culture of achievement, equity, and joy in our schools. You have a track record of driving scholar outcomes, coaching leaders, and implementing high-quality curriculum and instruction at scale. You are data-driven, self-aware, and deeply invested in developing instructional leaders to create lasting change for scholars.

What You’ll Do

Set and Execute the Academic Vision for RePublic Schools

• In partnership with the CEO, lead the development and implementation of a rigorous and culturally responsive academic program aligned to RePublic’s mission and our vision of excellent teaching as defined by our RePublic Teacher Rubric
• Define key academic priorities and strategies to improve scholar outcomes across all schools.
• Ensure coherence in instructional vision across all grades and subjects, integrating best practices in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

Develop and Coach Instructional Leaders

• Directly manage all MS principals and support other school-based instructional leaders, including Principals and Assistant Principals, to strengthen instructional leadership.
• Design and lead professional development with school based instructional leaders to ensure they know how to lead all aspects of the coaching cycle with their teachers.
• Create structures to ensure leaders effectively analyze data, develop action plans, and drive continuous improvement in scholar achievement.

Manage Academic Team

• Directly manage the Director of Data, Assessment, and Accountability and MS instructional Coach.
• Lead academic team meetings and support the ongoing development of the network academic team.
• Ensure the academic team has a clear division of responsibility aligned to the academic team vision and all teammates know and are driving results  in their metrics of success.

Drive High-Quality Instruction and Professional Development

• Oversee the development and execution of network-wide professional development summits for teachers and leaders.
• Ensure that instructional practices across schools reflect a high bar for rigor, engagement, and inclusivity.
• Support schools in implementing data-driven instruction, curriculum planning, and responsive teaching practices.

Monitor and Improve Scholar Performance

• Lead the network’s approach to academic data analysis and accountability, ensuring scholar progress is monitored effectively.
• Partner with school leaders to identify gaps in instruction and implement targeted interventions.
• Collaborate with external partners and internal teams to ensure scholars meet and exceed academic benchmarks.

Foster a Culture of Scholar Belonging and Joy

• Ensure learning environments reflect RePublic’s values of love, achievement, and antiracism.
• Support schools in designing engaging, affirming, and rigorous learning experiences that celebrate scholar identities and aspirations.
• Lead efforts to integrate social-emotional learning and culturally responsive practices into the academic experience.

Qualifications

Who You Are

• A conspicuous and passionate instructional visionary.  Because so much of your work is about inspiring other people around an instructional vision, you must be an outspoken advocate for instruction, pedagogy, and an approach to developing independent learners and be bold in setting a strong vision for instruction across our schools.
• Take radical responsibility. You take 100% ownership for your work including both inputs and outcomes and commit to consistently focusing on what is within your locus of control to create a great school experience and results for all scholars.
• Deeply committed to serving scholars. You believe that all scholars, regardless of background, are capable of excellence and that it’s on us as adults to get them there. You speak knowledgeably about our mission, and educational model. 
• Dedicated to building antiracist, achievement-oriented, loving schools for all learners.  You are committed to eliminating inequities in education for scholars in the South.  You are inspired by our Core Values and committed to living and working within them.  
• Deeply knowledgeable about literacy curriculum and instruction.  To lead our leaders, teachers, and scholars, you must have a deep understanding of literacy K-12 curriculum and instruction and at least three  years of instructional leadership experience in literacy at an assistant principal level or above with a demonstrated track record of exceptional student outcomes. 
• Self aware and emotionally intelligent. You consistently demonstrate high levels of self- reflection and awareness and understand, use, and manage  both your emotions as well as  understand the emotions of people around you.
• Exceptional collaboration, communication, analytical and influencing skills.  Your success depends on your ability to move other people to see your vision and to act to achieve it.  You build relationships across lines of difference, inspire and motivate others to buy into your vision, navigate challenging conversations with finesse, make tough calls, communicate effectively in all formats, give and receive feedback fluidly, and model/hold a high bar for adult excellence and exuberance.

Diversity Statement 

As a part of reimagining public education in the South, we are intentionally creating an environment that embraces, honors, and celebrates our scholars’ identities and experiences. We are working to make environments that affirm our differences across race, gender, age, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender orientation, physical abilities, socio-economic class, and other characteristics that make up our unique identities. Additionally, we’ve committed to hiring and developing individuals who share the life experiences of our students because we believe these individuals have an additional impact on our scholars. To hear more about our journey to make our network a diverse and equitable place, read this blog post.