Academy Principal

The Academy Principal is accountable to the Directing Principal of the school to which assigned.

Education and Experience:

• Leadership experience in successful Secondary Transformation.
• Minimum of five years teaching and/or administrative experience.
• Urban education experience

Licenses and Certifications:

Must have or be eligible for Wisconsin certification as a principal. Teachscape Certified.

Core Competencies

Essential Functions:

Overall purpose of the position of Academy Principal

• Understand the status of the Academy as it relates to the rest of the comprehensive environment.
• Lead and manage the Academy to enable all students and staff to recognize and achieve their potential.
• Provide the vision and leadership needed to realize the business and civic partners ambition to transform standards.
• Be accountable for continuous improvement in the quality of education for children and young people of all abilities.
• Ensure quality of instruction available to students by conducting observations and teacher evaluations at the direction of the directing principal.
• Provide an avenue for students to enrich and experience leadership experiences by supervising the student government program.
• Create the environment and manage resources to promote and secure the equal opportunities and achievement of students and staff.
• Assumes any additional responsibilities as assigned by the Directing Principal.

Leadership

• Implement the Academy strategy in partnership with the Site and District Leadership Teams and Advisory Councils.
• Develop and sustain high-quality teaching and learning throughout the Academy.
• Harness and nurture the talents and support of members of the school community and external partners to create an exciting and vibrant learning environment.
• Advise and work with the Site and District Leadership Teams and Advisory Councils on the formulation of policies and their implementation
• Provides staff development related to the initiatives of the RUSD's North Star and the Academies of Racine.
• Attends regularly scheduled Data Team Meetings.
• Provides leadership as LEA Representative to ensure appropriate implementation of student IEP's.

Academy Culture

• Develop a very strong academic, emotional, social, and physically safe environment based on the Academy Team system.
• Ensure that staff leading the Academy Team understand the importance of their roles in challenging and supporting pupils.

Curriculum

• Ensure that the curriculum is appropriate for all students and is supported by high-quality teaching.
• Develop a curriculum that values the talents and aspirations of all students.
• Ensure that suitable strategies are implemented to raise standards continually.
• Set challenging targets to develop all students academically and socially.
• Maintain effective assessment and recording systems that track students' progress and identify for them and their families what progress is being made each term.
• Monitor the curriculum and learning and teaching groups to safeguard the best value with resource management.

Knowledge, Skills & Ability of:

• Leading significant transformation initiatives in diverse and complex educational settings.
• Understands how to use multiple sources of data to inform daily decisions.
• Pursues and implements innovative ideas and methods.
• Is knowledgeable of operations, management and organizational design.
• Demonstrates an unyielding commitment to continuous improvement and an unwavering belief that all students can achieve at high levels.
• Commitment to the Racine Unified School District's mission and values.
• Strong management skills with the ability to motivate and develop a diverse group of teachers.
• Capability to effectively build, develop, and maintain strong collaborative relationships with administrators, staff, teachers, parents, students, board members, community stakeholders and business partners to ensure the academy operates in the most effective manner possible to support student and staff needs.
• Ability to self-direct and prioritize among competing goals, exhibit flexibility, and drive results in a fast-paced environment.
• Adept at thinking strategically, translating plans into action, and exhibiting excellent judgment.
• Excellent written, verbal communication, listening, and presentation skills with keen attention to detail.
• Understanding of the National Standards of Practice (NSOP).
• Understanding of Ford Next Generation Learning (NGL) and its essential practices.
• Demonstrates a high level of moral imperative to work in the best interest of children.
• Demonstration of high levels of integrity, honesty, credibility, and courage to make difficult yet necessary decisions is a must.