Principal (General Interest)

The Principal is a visionary instructional leader who will create an engaging, joyful, academically rigorous learning environment built on our fundamentals of academic excellence, community, and diversity. S/he will have a sophisticated understanding of and experience with a constructivist approach, developing strong social and emotional skills in students, building strong school communities, working with elementary and middle school-aged students, multiple intelligence theory, backward design, the creation of project-based curriculum, and building and/or working in diverse communities. 

The Principal will create and maintain a school culture that challenges and motivates our students, teachers, and families to achieve academic excellence, develop as people, embrace the rich diversity of the school community, and positively impact the communities in which they live. S/he will have a commitment to the educational philosophy of our school and organization, as described above. 

The CWC Principal will embrace change and growth, collaborating closely with the other principals and assistant principals in the CWC LA network. 

Responsibilities 

Academics and Instruction 

Guides instructional staff to improve teaching and learning by providing teacher support and designing professional development. Ensures that all students are learning and that there are no gaps in student achievement among subgroups. 

• Provides instructional leadership, coaching, and support to teachers who are working with a diverse student body. 
• Ensures the use of a wide array of assessments that, together, reflect the educational philosophy of CWC LA that its schools prepare students to excel on multiple measures, including standardized measures. 
• Uses multiple sources of data to develop a plan for the ongoing improvement of student achievement. 

Culture 

Defines and builds a transformative school culture consistent with CWC LA’s core values, operating norms, and principles. Ensures that the school’s culture of achievement rests on a foundation of social emotional learning and leadership development of students and adults. 

Staff 

Recruits, hires, manages, and develops the school’s leadership and instructional teams, as well as operational and support staff. 

• Builds a culture of self-reflection, relentless self-improvement and adaptive leadership for all school staff. 
• Recruits and hires mission aligned, qualified instructional and operational staff. 
• Manages the staff performance review and compensation review processes. 
• Maintains a focus on mission-aligned, student-focused decision making. 
• Ensures on-going design and implementation of staff professional development. 

Community 

Establishes and maintains strong relationships with teachers, students, parents, and community members. 

• Ensures that all members of the school community are engaged and valued. 
• Communicates the school’s vision and goals in a way that ensures understanding and commitment from a racially, culturally, and socioeconomically diverse community of parents, students, faculty, staff, and board members. 
• Oversees the development and implementation of varied forms of communication with families. 
• Maintains positive relationships with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and other charter organizations, serving as an active leader in the Los Angeles charter community by learning from others and sharing CWC LA’s best practices. 

Operations, Finance, and Compliance 

Ensures compliant, effective, and efficient school-based operations that support an academically high-performing school environment. 

• Manages and supports school operations staff. 
• Reports on activities, organizational development progress, compliance requirements, and student achievement to the CWC LA board, LAUSD, and other applicable state and federal reporting agencies. 
• Works with the Executive Director to draft and monitor the school’s budget and ensure daily financial and business activities are compliant with the school’s fiscal policies. 
• Ensures school alignment with organizational goals for diversity. 

Staff and Reporting Relationships 

The Principal shall formally report to the Executive Director. S/he will work closely with other stakeholders, including CWC LA’s governing board, LAUSD, and the other principals in the CWC LA network. 

• Clear record of elevating student achievement in an academically high-achieving classroom for at least two years, with a strong understanding of pedagogy that drives results or of exceptional leadership working with young people in urban communities. 
• Bachelor’s degree (Master’s degree or PhD in education preferred but not required). 
• California teaching credential (or pathway to secure one prior to start date). 
• Administrative credential preferred but not required. 
• At least three (3) years of teaching experience, with demonstrated student results. 
• Experience working in a mixed socio-economic school (SES) preferred. 
• Fluency in Spanish desired but not required. 
• Entrepreneurial spirit and be capable of managing many complex tasks with competing priorities. 
• Possess strong leadership, team management and community building skills. 
• Possess strong interpersonal and communication skills. 
• Organized and self-managed, and be able to handle many responsibilities simultaneously. 
• Excellent problem-solving skills. 
• Committed to building a community of collaboration with a diverse group of stakeholders.
• Self-aware leader who knows how to treat all members of the school’s community with respect, appraises accurately his or her strengths and weaknesses, and is perceptive about how he or she is regarded. 
• Dependable and have excellent follow-through.
• Aligned with the philosophy and mission of the school and organization.
• Maintain strong personal commitment to ongoing learning and growth. 

Compensation and Benefits 

• Compensation will be commensurate with experience. CWC LA offers a competitive benefits package. 
• We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, and, as a school serving a diverse group of students, we work to reflect this diversity to our staff as well.