Elementary School Director/Principal SY25-26

School Directors at Great Oaks Legacy Charter School serve as the instructional and cultural leaders of their campuses. They set the vision for teaching and learning, develop and manage high-performing teams, and ensure every student receives an excellent, equitable education. School Directors embody and model our core values of Respect, Optimism, Excellence, and Understanding in all interactions with students, staff, and families.

School Directors spend the majority of their time on instructional leadership, building teacher capacity, driving academic outcomes, and ensuring that high-quality instruction is the norm in every classroom. They steward the student experience, cultivate a joyful and inclusive culture, partner with families as true collaborators, and lead the systems that enable their schools to thrive. School Directors are accountable for the overall performance, growth, and well-being of their school communities.

Instructional Leadership

• Serves as the primary instructional leader of the school, ensuring rigorous, standards-aligned instruction across all grade levels and subject areas.
• Demonstrates deep expertise in high-quality instruction and leverages this knowledge to set and maintain an uncompromising bar for teaching and learning school-wide.
• Leads a coherent, data-driven instructional vision, ensuring that all teachers receive weekly coaching, actionable feedback, and measurable goals aligned to student outcomes.
• Facilitates instructional walkthroughs, formal observations, and real-time coaching to build teacher capacity and accelerate student achievement.
• Partners closely with Network Leadership to analyze achievement trends, inform strategic academic priorities, and ensure teachers are consistently prepared through high-quality unit and lesson preparation.
• Utilizes school-wide data systems to monitor progress, identify gaps, and drive instructional decisions; ensures staff are fluent in analyzing data and responding to it.
• Designs and leads high-quality professional development that results in improved teacher practice and measurable student growth.
• Ensures a strong testing environment, compliance, and implementation for all state and network assessments in partnership with Operations and Academic teams.

Student Culture

• Establishes and maintains a joyful, structured, safe, and inclusive school culture where all students feel known, valued, and supported.
• Sets a school-wide vision for high expectations and ensures consistent implementation across classrooms, transitions, and common spaces.
• Builds systems and routines that foster strong student–staff relationships, especially for our most vulnerable students.
• Ensures proactive and inclusive practices that amplify student voice, belonging, and engagement.
• Holds all staff accountable to upholding cultural expectations, values, and professional conduct in interactions with students.
• Partners with families and student support teams to address behavioral concerns, ensuring interventions are restorative, aligned, and lead to improved outcomes.

Staff Culture & Leadership

• Cultivates a positive, mission-driven adult culture where staff feel valued, supported, and deeply connected to the work.
• Models the highest standards of professionalism, equity, and integrity; sets clear expectations and consistently reinforces them.
• Leads effective staff meetings, department meetings, and grade team meetings that drive clarity, alignment, and instructional excellence.
Recognizes and celebrates staff achievements; builds a culture where feedback is normalized and growth is expected.

Family & Community Engagement

• Builds a strong, welcoming culture of partnership with families and community stakeholders that reflects the school's values and academic goals.
• Ensures consistent and proactive communication with families, especially regarding student progress, celebrations, and concerns.
• Creates systems where teachers regularly connect with families to support student growth and long-term success.
• Represents the school at community events, family meetings, and public forums to strengthen trust and partnership.

School Operations & Strategic Leadership

• Works closely with the Operations Manager to ensure smooth, compliant daily operations and alignment between instruction, culture, and logistics.
• Owns school-level strategic planning, ensuring alignment with network goals, compliance requirements, and student achievement targets.
• Manages school-wide schedules, staffing models, emergency plans, and operational systems to ensure a safe and effective learning environment.
• Serves as a key contributor to network-wide initiatives, pilots, and strategic planning efforts.

Qualifications

Must-Haves:

• College degree: has a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university
• Certification: has a Principal, Supervisor, or School Administrator certification, or meets the requirements for certification.
• Leadership Experience: has at least five years of successful experience teaching and leading in an urban school environment; Grade level leader, department chair, or instructional leadership experience preferred.
• Strong data analysis skills: can look at a multiple departments' data set, diagnose challenges, and immediately recommend clear next steps for their teams.
• Visionary and dreamer: can develop and drive an inspirational and audacious vision for their team that will yield results for students.
• Detail-oriented and logistical: prioritizes the micro details as much as the vision and can take an idea from theory to practice.
• Excellent communication skills: can speak and write clearly, specifically, and cohesively about the discipline and all the nitty gritty details stakeholders will need to know in order to achieve results for students.
• Just do it: does not always need to be told what to do; has insight to determine what needs to be done based on assessing gaps and asking the appropriate questions; can manage multiple projects at once

Nice-to-Haves:

• An advanced degree (Masters or Doctorate) in Curriculum and Instruction or Educational leadership
• A state issued license as a teacher, supervisor, or principal

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Great Oaks Legacy Charter School offers competitive salaries commensurate with experience and a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans w/ comprehensive network coverage.
• Tax exempt student loan and tuition reimbursement per year.*
• Reimbursement for external professional development aligned to your role.
• Wellness reimbursement benefits including gym memberships, spa services, and more.*
• Online counseling services - for staff and their dependents - via top-rated therapy app.*
• Pre-tax state pension plan benefit w/ addl. options available via voluntary retirement plans.
• Pre-tax dependent care, health, and transit flexible spending plans available.
• Convenient health screening and telemedicine support via VitalCheck Wellness platform.

We offer a competitive and fair compensation package that increases based on years of relevant experience.

• The minimum base salary for this role is $115,000 .

ABOUT GREAT OAKS LEGACY CHARTER SCHOOL

Great Oaks Legacy Charter School (GOLCS) is a free, open-enrollment public charter school system in Newark, New Jersey, educating students from Pre-K to 12th grade. Our mission is to prepare every student for college success. GOLCS currently educates more than 2,100 students across seven campuses in the greater Newark area.

We provide all children with the support they need - inclusive of resources that acknowledge and address systemic inequities - to be empowered to thrive. We bridge the educational opportunity gap by supporting rigorous academics with daily individualized tutoring within a community committed to supporting equity and diversity.

These three principles guide our work, every day, in support of our students and mission:

• Creating a community that is built upon genuine and meaningful relationships;

• Being surgical in our approach to differentiation of instruction and support of all students and team members;

Setting and exceeding high expectations for academic growth and character development for all students, in preparation for success in college and beyond.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, & ACCESSIBILITY

GOLCS is committed to building a talented team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. Furthermore, we believe that racial justice and equity is critical to our mission of preparing students for success in college and beyond. We strive to be an organization that is diverse, equitable, inclusive, and elevates our student voices in preparing them for life and college.

GREAT OAKS LEGACY CHARTER SCHOOL VACCINATION POLICY

Great Oaks Legacy Charter School is committed to ensuring healthy and safe working and learning environments, and maintaining our educational commitment to GOLCS students and families - with minimal disruption to instruction. With this in mind, as of October 2021, Great Oaks Legacy requires vaccination against COVID-19 for all employees. Candidates who would like to apply for a reasonable accommodation from this policy based on a qualifying disability or sincerely held religious belief should reach out to [email protected] for more information.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT

Great Oaks Legacy provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.