Director of the Early Childhood Program

Title: Director of the Early Childhood Program (ECP)
Reports to: Head of the Lower School

Job Summary:
The Early Childhood Program director oversees the day-to-day operations of St. Anne's-Belfield School's Early
Childhood Program (Two-Year-Olds, Pre-School, and Junior Kindergarten), fostering a nurturing
and enriching environment for students, families, and faculty. This position is responsible for
leading a world class outdoor early education program that supports student growth and aligns
with the School's mission of preparing students to be "strong in body, broad of mind, tender of
heart, responsive in soul." The director collaborates closely with the head of the Lower School to
hire and supervise, mentor, and support faculty in implementing a developmentally appropriate
curriculum. Additionally, in collaboration with the assistant director of the ECP, this position is
responsible for ensuring compliance with all state licensing and regulatory requirements.
Key responsibilities:

1. Program enrollment - The director works with the enrollment management team to
   facilitate all aspects of the admission and enrollment process for new ECP applicants
   and returning students and their families. This includes serving on the admission
   committee, overseeing admission testing events, determining class placement for
   students, promoting the program at admission and retention events, and helping to
   create, review, and update program publications as needed.
   
   
2. Student support - The director promotes a whole-child approach and supports teachers
   in addressing each student's physical, emotional, cognitive, and social development.
   Additionally, the director works closely with individual families to build strong
   partnerships and serve as a resource during their child's early education.
   
   
3. Faculty oversight and support - The director provides guidance and oversight for
   teachers in designing curriculum and learning experiences that meet the needs of all
   learners, creating a positive, inclusive classroom culture. The director also offers support
   to faculty, serves as a professional coach in addressing student behavioral and
   academic challenges, and facilitates communication with families to support student
   growth throughout the year.
   
   
4. Community building - The director leads parent/guardian education initiatives, holds
   individual parent/guardian meetings, and, in collaboration with teachers and the
   assistant director, plans and hosts divisional special events and traditions, including
   Friday Fellowship, an annual pumpkin patch, shindigs, Trike-a-Thon, and The Birthday
   Fairy. The director also liaises with School leadership to promote connections between
   the ECP and other divisions of the school and to advocate for the ECP in school-wide
   initiatives.
   
   
5. Administrative duties - The director manages state licensing compliance, oversees the
   ECP budget, and supervises building operations, working with the facilities team as
   needed.
   
   
6. Leadership - The director serves as ECP department chair and is a member of the
   curriculum committee to ensure alignment with whole-school vision and mission.
   
   
7. Professional development - The director maintains an understanding of recent research to ensure the ECP program and pedagogy reflect best practices in early childhood and outdoor education and facilitates ongoing and required professional development opportunities for faculty.
   
   
8. Communication - The director oversees and/or generates community communications, including weekly content for the Belfield Bulletin parent/guardian digest, teacher newsletters, seasonal updates, and special notices, ensuring timely and clear information is shared with families.
   
   
9. Summer programming - The director coordinates with the assistant director to develop and oversee several weeks of ECP summer programming.

Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree required, advanced degree in a related field preferred
5 years of leadership and supervisory experience
Prior experience in early childhood education
Demonstrated success with program design and implementation

What we offer:

At St. Anne's Belfield, our benefits demonstrate the commitment we place on the health and wellness of our team. Benefits include health insurance options for the employee and family. An employee assistance program, basic life, AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance is provided at no cost by St. Anne's Belfield. Additional supplemental insurance policies are available for purchase. We offer either Flex Spending Accounts or Health Savings Accounts based on the medical plan selected. The school offers a 403(b) retirement plan offered through TIAA, with a 1:1 match, up to 5% of earnings and additional contributions based on tenure benchmarks greater than five years.

The school may cover approved moving expenses and 75% tuition remission for all of the Director's children who are admitted to St. Anne's Belfield School. We also offer free After-Care for children enrolled in the school who are children of our employees. We have a wellness initiative that includes a discounted ACAC gym memberships that can be paid through payroll deductions. This is a twelve month position, with generous paid leave time and 13 paid school holidays.

St. Anne's-Belfield has retained Resource Group 175 (RG175) to support the search for its next Early Childhood Program Director. Interested candidates should prepare a cover letter, resume, and writing sample(s) to apply. The
application deadline is November 29, 2024, for a start date of July 1, 2025. Candidates are requested to submit
these materials online at: https://rg175.com/candidate/signup in a timely manner.

For any questions about this exciting leadership position and to register your interest in the position, please contact one of the following RG175 consultants directly:
Jeremy Moore at jeremy.moore@rg175.com

OR

Joe Coleman at joe.coleman@rg175.com

As an accredited school for children of all ages, we require all faculty and staff members to pass a full criminal background check, including FBI fingerprinting, and a drug screen.