Temporary Dean of Culture

Temporary Dean of Culture - SY27

The Temporary Dean Culture works to establish and build a unified vision for 7-12 school culture. This leader develops clear, age-appropriate expectations that create consistency across middle and high school grades. The candidate must maintain high visibility and build strong relationships with students and staff to foster belonging, trust, and accountability.

The work of the candidate includes implementing programs and initiatives on campus to build and positively impact a strong anti-bias anti-racist school culture through relationship building and effective restorative practices. The Dean should possess strong relationship skills, have the ability to develop efficient progress monitoring systems, and display strong organization and management skills.

Candidates must be able to quickly internalize the expectations of the Summit classroom and deeply value collaboration and be willing to both offer and receive honest, actionable, and timely feedback.

What if all students graduated high school with the knowledge, skills and habits they need to lead a fulfilled life? This is the question that guides our mission at Summit Public Schools.

To collectively prepare a diverse community of young people with the skills, knowledge, and habits to attain economic empowerment and success in a chosen concrete next step toward a fulfilled life. We operate 10 schools serving over 3,300 students in the Bay Area and Washington state. 100% of Summit graduates are college ready and Summit graduates complete college at double the national average.

We need exceptional, diverse, and mission-aligned teachers to join our team to help prepare our students for a fulfilled life. Join us!

A Summit Public Schools Temporary Dean of Culture will have the following responsibilities:

Building a vision for school culture:

• Fostering student belonging & academic excellence by proactively designing and implementing strategies that cultivate a deep sense of belonging for all students

• Designing consistent behavior systems and routines across grades 7-12 that minimize disruptions and translates into a rigorous academic culture where every student is empowered to achieve their highest potential.

• Progress monitoring all culture work at the school:

  • Defining clear metrics of success for student culture

  • Monitoring these metrics and adapting support, implementation, and program based on identified needs

• Leading the consistent execution of school-wide rituals and routines, including all school celebrations, assemblies, and mentor group recognitions that promote and celebrate a diverse school community

• Establishing and maintaining clear, transparent systems and structures for student accountability that promote self-reflection and growth

• Assuming various campus support and leadership roles as needed.

Developing high functioning faculty and teams:

• Designing, building and facilitating professional development experiences for the school faculty related to school culture

• Coaching teachers on restorative practices, schoolwide culture initiatives, and mentor practices that strengthen student-teacher relationships and reinforce the community values outlined in our Culture Deck

• Ensuring aligned expectations and responses schoolwide that allow for the focus to be on closing student learning gaps

• Communicating faculty progress with the school leadership

• Using attendance, behavior, and climate data to drive quick interventions

Leading anti-bias and anti-racist school culture projects and programs

• Partnering with families to improve student engagement and culture

• Supporting with student council and other student leadership opportunities

• Collaborating with a team to prioritize needs and develop action plans for students who need proactive behavior support.

Overseeing school restorative practices and discipline

• Facilitating and modeling restorative practices with students and staff to promote student growth, agency, and community well-being

• Initiating, tracking, and completing restorative processes.

• Responding to classroom referrals in a timely way.

• Holding restorative student intervention sessions.

• Holding restorative family intervention meetings.

• Communicating discipline cases and outcomes with stakeholders.

• Holding students accountable to disciplinary consequences and next steps.

• Collecting and tracking discipline data to identify students of concern.

• Collaborating with the school leaders and network strategic partners in cases of escalated disciplinary infractions.

• Commitment to uphold Summit’s values, belief that all children deserve a rigorous and equitable education that prepares them for college and for life

• Bachelor’s Degree (a Master’s Degree in Education and/or participation in the Leadership Fellows program is preferred but not required)

• Teaching experience within a Summit school or extensive teaching or school-based experience elsewhere required.

• Clear health and background check

About You

• You maintain high expectations for all students and believe all students can find success in school, college, and life.

• You thrive while collaborating and are excited to work with your colleagues. You find positivity in shared successes.

• You share our vision to reimagine what schools should be and are excited to make an impact on the public education landscape.

• You are empathetic and culturally competent. You’re proactively facilitate courageous conversations to advance anti-bias anti-racist practices and dismantle racism in our organization.

• You are data driven and have the ability to collect, evaluate, and utilize data in meaningful ways.

• You have expertise in planning learning experiences that model skills-based, personalized instruction.

• You are positive and resilient in the face of big challenges.

• You take initiative and ownership in driving your work to meet personal and team goals.

• You possess strong people management and relationship skills, with the ability to motivate, inspire, develop, and communicate with a diverse group of teachers, leaders, staff members, and community members.

• You have an ability to apply honest, actionable, and timely feedback that results in improved performance.

• You have a strategic mindset when it comes to executing professional development initiatives.

• You thrive in innovative environments, and are comfortable with the ambiguity that can come with a dynamic and progressive workplace.

• You’re committed to continuous improvement, see feedback as a positive, and have a growth mindset.

In addition to joining a highly motivated team and engaging in meaningful work, you’ll have access to a comprehensive suite of benefits including a retirement plan, unlimited “take what you need” PTO policy, 11 paid holidays, and 3 weeks of organization-wide closures during the year. You and your dependents will have access to multiple health, dental, and vision plans at 25% cost (we cover the other 75%) and employee life and disability insurance at no cost. Our compensation policy strives to be equitable and transparent. The salary for this position starts at $108,659 and goes up to $128,546 commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Summit is an equal opportunity employer. We believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are directly intertwined with education. We are ALL better when we are able to bring our whole selves to work and honor each other’s voices across identities, cultural backgrounds, and life experiences. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals who are members of historically marginalized communities. Spanish language proficiency is a plus.