Dean of Students (Grades 7-12)

Dean of Students (Grades 7-12)

Overview

Schlarman Academy is a Christian institution within the Roman Catholic tradition, serving students from preschool through twelfth grade across two campuses in Danville, Illinois. The South Campus serves grades PK-6, and the North Campus, located just over a mile away, serves grades 7-12. The school operates under the Diocese of Peoria and exists, in the words of the diocese, to assist the bishop and pastors in the transmission of the Catholic faith to the young of the diocese, while welcoming families of all faith backgrounds who wish to take advantage of the opportunities a Catholic education provides.

The school's mission and philosophy affirm the unique worth of each person as created by God and called to a particular end or destiny, recognize parents as the primary educators of their children, and commit the school to excellence in education, formation, and personal development consistent with its Catholic identity. The school strives to maintain an environment characterized by the Roman Catholic expression of Christian faith, human dignity, and responsible freedom, and pursues three goals: helping the development of Christian faith and its Roman Catholic expression, promoting the development of each student's abilities and interests, and promoting lifelong learning and decision-making rooted in Gospel values.

In keeping with the Diocese of Peoria's standards for Catholic school personnel, every member of the Schlarman leadership team is expected to have at heart the promotion of the educational mission of the Church, to live as a visible role model of faith within the parish and school community, to actively practice the Catholic faith in daily life, and to be loyal to the Church's Magisterium. This standard is not a preference; it is the diocesan expectation of those who lead Catholic schools, and the role description that follows reflects it.

The Dean of Students is the student-facing leader of the North Campus (7-12), built around three intertwined responsibilities named explicitly in the design of the position: guidance counseling, student conduct, and the integration of Catholic mission into student life. The Dean is the most visible day-to-day presence among the school's adolescents and the principal pastoral and counseling resource for families navigating the upper grades.

Reports To
Head of School.

Position Summary
The Dean of Students is the student-facing leader of the North Campus (grades 7-12), accountable for the day-to-day life of students at the age when faith, identity, and vocation are being most actively shaped. The role is built around three intertwined responsibilities named explicitly in the school's design of the position: guidance counseling (academic, college, vocational, and personal), student conduct, and the integration of Catholic mission into student life. The Dean partners closely with the Head of School, who maintains a primary office on the North Campus and serves as the building's chief administrator and academic leader; with the chaplain, who provides sacramental and pastoral leadership; and with the South Campus Principal, who leads PK-12 academic outcomes and data. The Dean is the most visible day-to-day presence among the students of the upper grades.

Primary Accountabilities

• Guidance counseling. Owns the school's guidance counseling function for grades 7-12: academic advising and course selection, college counseling and post-graduate planning, vocational discernment (including discernment of religious and consecrated vocations where the Spirit is at work), and the personal counseling that supports student wellbeing.
• Student conduct and discipline. Owns student behavioral standards, the student handbook, and the discipline of students at the North Campus, with discipline practiced as formation rather than mere correction, in the Gospel spirit of love and responsible freedom that the school's philosophy commends.
• Catholic mission in student life. Ensures that Catholic identity is woven through the daily life of students: retreats, service projects, prayer in the school day, sacramental moments, and the formation of a Catholic culture among the student body. Partners with the chaplain on sacramental and liturgical life and with the Head and faculty on the integration of Catholic teaching across the program.
• Student experience and retention. Cultivates a North Campus culture students want to be part of and families want to stay invested in; partners with Enrollment Management on retention strategy and with the Head on the experience of being a Schlarman student.
• Co-curricular and athletic student life. Oversees the student-facing dimensions of athletics and activities in partnership with coaches, club moderators, and the athletic director, with attention to the leadership-through-service the school aspires to cultivate.
• Partnership with parents on adolescent matters. Sustains a candid, respectful, and frequent partnership with parents as the primary educators of their children on the matters most often arising in the adolescent years: friendships, conduct, faith, mental health, and academic struggle.
• Partnership with the chaplain and clergy. Works closely with the chaplain on faith formation, sacramental life, and pastoral care, ensuring that the Catholic mission of the school is lived in the student-facing dimensions of daily life.
   

Qualifications and Dispositions

• Practicing Catholic in good standing, loyal to the Magisterium, and a visible role model of faith. The diocesan standard for Catholic school personnel applies in full, and applies with particular weight because of the age at which students are forming the faith they will carry into adulthood.
• Bachelor's degree required; master's degree in counseling, education, school administration, theology, pastoral ministry, or a related field strongly preferred.
• Appropriate counseling or administrative licensure where applicable.
• Experience in secondary student life, school counseling, deanship, campus ministry, or comparable adolescent-facing roles, ideally in a Catholic school context.
• Warmth, accessibility, and the pastoral instincts that draw adolescents and their families into trust.
• Capacity to enforce discipline with firmness, dignity, and the Gospel spirit of love.
• Strong relational presence; the Dean is highly visible to students, families, and the broader school community.