Middle Grades Principal

ORGANIZATION

Our starting point is community. Westside Atlanta Charter School (WACS) was established by neighbors, individuals, and families living on Atlanta’s Westside who sought to increase educational equity in a growing part of the city. Educators, parents, and community members developed a vision for an innovative public charter school serving a diverse community. Westside opened in August 2013 with students in grades K–2 and expanded grade by grade to become a K–8 school.

Westside fosters a diverse, tight-knit community of lifelong learners, giving each child an excellent academic experience that builds curiosity, critical thinking, and character. Our work is grounded in holistic growth, curious minds, community belonging, and academic excellence. To learn more about Westside Atlanta Charter School, please visit the school’s website.

OPPORTUNITY

Westside Atlanta Charter School seeks an innovative, student-centered Middle School Principal to lead grades 5–8. This leader will shape a rigorous and supportive middle school experience that prepares students for success in high school and beyond. The Principal will understand the academic, social, emotional, and developmental needs of adolescents and create a school environment where students are known, challenged, supported, and empowered to take increasing ownership of their learning.

The Middle School Principal will lead high-quality, standards-based instruction; strengthen literacy and mathematics across content areas; use assessment and student-support data to guide decisions; and develop teachers and staff through clear expectations, feedback, coaching, and professional learning. The Principal will foster a culture of belonging, curiosity, character, student voice, and academic excellence while building strong partnerships with families and the broader Westside community. This is an opportunity to lead a collaborative team, support students through a critical stage of development, and ensure that every student is prepared for the next stage of their educational journey.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Key responsibilities of the Middle School Principal include:

Student-Focused Culture, Belonging, and Academic Excellence

• Create a safe, inclusive, and affirming environment in which students in grades 5–8 feel known, respected, challenged, and supported.

• Establish consistent expectations for attendance, punctuality, behavior, academic effort, integrity, and student responsibility, using developmentally appropriate and restorative approaches.

• Promote student voice, agency, leadership, collaboration, and positive peer relationships while helping students navigate the social and emotional transitions of adolescence.

• Model the belief that every student can achieve at high levels and ensure that instructional and operational decisions prioritize student learning, well-being, and growth.

• Build a culture aligned with Westside’s values of holistic growth, curious minds, community belonging, and academic excellence.

Instructional Leadership and Academic Program

• Lead implementation of a coherent, rigorous, standards-based instructional program across grades 5–8, aligned with Westside’s mission, instructional priorities, and curriculum.

• Support strong content-area instruction and collaboration among teachers, including interdisciplinary planning and consistent expectations for high-quality student work.

• Strengthen literacy across the curriculum, including explicit attention to reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, and the continued development of disciplinary literacy; support effective mathematics instruction and conceptual understanding.

• Conduct classroom observations and learning walks; provide actionable feedback, coaching, and follow-up that improve teaching practice and student outcomes.

• Ensure instruction is engaging, culturally responsive, appropriately differentiated, and accessible to students with varied strengths, needs, language backgrounds, and learning profiles.

• Support a middle school program that balances academic rigor with enrichment, exploration, student interests, and preparation for high school.

Data-Driven Instruction and Student Support

• Analyze state, interim, curricular, and classroom assessment data to identify trends by grade, content area, student group, and individual learner.

• Work with teachers and support staff to translate data into clear instructional priorities, measurable goals, reteaching plans, enrichment opportunities, and timely interventions.

• Monitor academic progress, attendance, behavior, engagement, and other relevant indicators to identify students who may need additional support or challenge.

• Lead effective implementation of the school’s Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and Response to Intervention (RTI) processes, including progress monitoring and coordination of academic and behavioral supports.

• Partner with special education, English Learner, counseling, gifted and other support personnel to promote access, compliance, and meaningful participation in grade-level learning.

• Communicate student progress clearly and constructively with students and families, including next steps and shared responsibility for improvement.

Middle School Operations, Safety, and Student Life

• Oversee the day-to-day operation of the middle school, including schedules, transitions, supervision, attendance follow-up, student discipline, and the effective use of staff and learning spaces.

• Establish and monitor clear procedures that support a safe, orderly, welcoming, and well-organized environment throughout the school day and during school-sponsored activities.

• Coordinate with school leadership and relevant staff on student services, crisis response, family concerns, and compliance with school policies and applicable requirements.

• Support meaningful enrichment, clubs, student leadership opportunities, and other experiences that foster connection, exploration, and a positive middle school identity.

• Use sound judgment, consistency, and timely communication to address student and staff concerns and resolve problems in a manner aligned with school values.

Communication, Family Partnership, and Community Belonging

• Listen and respond appropriately to students, families, staff, and community stakeholders, communicating with professionalism, empathy, and follow-through.

• Build trusting partnerships with families and keep them informed about academic progress, student development, school expectations, and opportunities to participate in school life.

• Create meaningful ways for families to contribute to student success and school improvement while maintaining appropriate confidentiality and professional boundaries.

• Collaborate with the elementary principal and school leadership team to support continuity and smooth transitions into grade 5, and collaborate with high school partners or receiving schools to strengthen readiness for the next stage.

• Represent Westside’s mission and values consistently and contribute to a cohesive K–8 school community.

Professional Learning, Talent Development, and Team Leadership

• Recruit, select, develop, and retain a strong and diverse team of educators and staff committed to Westside’s mission and values.

• Set clear performance expectations, provide regular feedback, support professional growth, and address performance concerns in a timely, fair, and direct manner.

• Develop teacher leadership and collaborative team practices through professional learning communities, shared planning, peer learning, and evidence-informed reflection.

• Use student outcomes, classroom evidence, and staff feedback to identify professional learning needs and evaluate the impact of instructional initiatives.

• Partner with school leadership to support staffing, resource allocation, continuous improvement, and the effective implementation of schoolwide priorities.

QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal Middle School Principal candidate will:

• Demonstrate successful teaching and/or leadership experience in middle grades, preferably grades 5–8, with a strong understanding of adolescent development and the academic and social-emotional needs of middle school students.

• Bring at least four years of successful school leadership experience driving academic achievement, instructional improvement, and positive school culture in a high-performing or high-accelerating school, preferably in a charter school and serving a diverse urban population.

• Hold a valid Georgia educational leadership certificate appropriate for the position, or meet applicable Georgia certification and reciprocity requirements.

• Demonstrate expertise in standards-based instruction, curriculum implementation, assessment literacy, data analysis, and the use of evidence to improve student outcomes.

• Have experience implementing MTSS/RTI and coordinating differentiated academic, behavioral, and student-support interventions.

• Demonstrate the ability to lead and develop adults through observation, coaching, feedback, professional learning, and performance management.

• Communicate effectively and build strong, respectful relationships with students, families, teachers, staff, and community partners.

• Model high expectations, sound judgment, responsiveness, flexibility, and a commitment to collaborative decision-making.

• Demonstrate a strong commitment to equity, inclusion, student belonging, and the belief that all students can learn and achieve at high levels.

• Be organized and able to manage competing priorities, day-to-day school operations, and time-sensitive student and staff needs.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The source job description lists a competitive salary range of $90,000–$115,000 and comprehensive benefits, including 100% coverage of employee medical, dental, and vision expenses, access to a competitive retirement plan, and supplemental retirement options.