Head of Lower School

POSITION: Head of Lower School

DEPARTMENT: Great Hearts Louisiana 

                   
LOCATION: Great Hearts Harveston   

     
REPORTS TO: Executive Director - Louisiana

        
FLSA STATUS: Salaried; Exempt

START DATE: Summer 2027

Primary Purpose

A Great Hearts head of school heroically shapes his or her community for a greater good.  He or she takes on one of the most important leadership positions in our culture, turning a generation of young hearts and minds towards truth, goodness, and beauty.  He or she cultivates a setting from which great-hearted people emerge, a setting that no single individual can create alone, but to which his or her noble calling is essential.  Furthermore, a Great Hearts head of school joins a family of headmasters across our academies, with all the support, friendship, and strength this fellowship provides.

Candidates will have leadership experience, demonstrable excellence in classroom teaching, and a well-grounded vision for the moral and intellectual formation of the human person.  A Great Hearts head of school delights to enkindle the love of truth, goodness, and beauty in others.  Candidates should possess a passion for classical education, and a love for their fellow man that is both humble and relentless.  A Great Hearts head of school is called to establish and nurture a joyful and ennobling academic community.  Candidates should have a proven ability to foster strong, healthy relationships throughout their community. 

At Great Hearts, we believe that rigorous liberal arts education, grounded in the best of the Western tradition and delivered in a tuition-free, public charter setting, is the key to renewing American communities and culture. 

Duties & Responsibilities

• Setting both quantitative and qualitative goals in collaboration with the Executive Director.
• Planning, delegating, and executing to meet goals.
• Building a varied and capable leadership team that promotes the goals and culture of the school.
• Managing and evaluating the lower school leadership team.
• Working through the Executive Director with service departments of the home office to ensure the school is fully supported.
• Managing the school budget with foresight and discipline.
• Monitoring and managing the enrollment process.
• Establishing an environment of trust with students, parents, and colleagues.
• Ensuring that the school has a comprehensive discipline policy that is clearly communicated and which is administered with prudence and equity.
• Observing and coaching teachers in accordance with network expectations.
• Interviewing and hiring faculty and staff in accordance with campus needs, hiring protocols, and budget realities.
• Overseeing the proper planning and execution of projects and events that fall under the purview of campus leadership.
• Creating a culture of instructional planning among teachers.
• Promoting a culture of achievement among students.
• Overseeing the required systems, practices, and cycles of assessment.
• Using specific, identified data sources to inform and evaluate instruction.
• Implementing professional development that is specific to the needs of teachers.
• Building a unified faculty and staff culture that embraces the liberal arts, aspires to excellence in instruction.
• Meeting regularly with parents.
• Ensuring that special needs students are properly identified and accommodated by all necessary staff and faculty.
• Implementing school-wide procedures and policies to ensure student safety.
• Building a student culture that is civil, respectful, hard-working, and community minded.
• Creating a culture of open communication with parents through both formal and informal means.
• Uniting the parent community into a supportive and informed group who understand the educational and cultural distinctions of the school and who support the personal efforts necessary for student success.

Qualifications, Competencies & Strengths

• A degree from an accredited university.
• A personal alignment with the educational philosophy, core values, and ethical standards of Great Hearts Academies.
• A dedication to life-long learning and an example of humility, hard work, and civil discourse.
• Demonstrated achievement of exceptional results with students and successful management of adults.
• Three to five years of instructional leadership experience, including two years in school administration, preferred.
• Good personal communication skills and the ability to build strong relationships with all stakeholders.
• A desire to work in a team-oriented environment and collaborate with colleagues.
• An ability to interpret student data.
• An ability to reflect on personal areas of strength and growth.
• An ability to receive frequent feedback with humility and a desire to grow and develop.
• A willingness to work in an ever-changing field and face challenges with a positive attitude
• Professional integrity.
• Clarity and prudence in the management of people.
• A desire to develop team members and an ability to leverage a school’s existing leadership team.
• Exceptional skills in strategic planning, prioritization, and execution.
• A compelling builder of relationships and community who will actively engage families, staff, and students in the life of the school.
• Dedication to cultivating diverse school communities around common understandings of dignity and respect.
• Experience with students with a variety of special needs and from a variety of circumstantial challenges.
• Experience working in urban or under-served communities.

Compensation:  

Great Hearts offers a very competitive benefits package and overall compensation will be commensurate with talent, experience and education.  

US Work Authorization is required.

Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a criminal history background check and fingerprint clearance in accordance with state requirements.

Travel required: May need to travel locally for training and professional development opportunities.

This description reflects management’s assignment of essential functions. It does not exclude or restrict the tasks that may be assigned. 

Great Hearts Academies is an Equal Opportunity Employer.