Dean of Students

The Dean of Students at Entrepreneurship Prep II and Village Prep II will work with the school’s Head of School, Co-Directors and Operations Manager to ensure that all students demonstrate dramatic student achievement gains and internalize the school’s values. This individual will also help lead the school’s efforts to create a positive, structured, consistent, caring, and disciplined school culture.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES
Build and maintain systems to ensure a joyous and achievement-oriented school culture

• Possess incredibly clear vision of what great school culture looks like and regularly articulate this vision to students and staff.
• Write, update and maintain systems and policies for attendance, entry, breakfast, class transitions, cafeteria usage, lunch, bathroom usage, dismissal and homework.
• Plan and implement a behavior management system with meaningful incentives to reward good behavior and with effective consequences to correct misbehaviors.
• Analyze school-wide trends around attendance, behavior, homework and class transitions and develop and lead initiatives to address challenges.

Lead school culture and character development

• Persistently, insistently, and consistently reinforce school’s high expectations for student behavior with all students all the time; always sweat the small stuff and never give up on a student or on fixing a “broken window.”
• Invest students and parents in Entrepreneurship Prep’s and Village Prep’s goals and core values; ensure that all students care deeply about their Entrepreneurship Prep or Village Prep community, about their own academic performance, about graduating from college, and about becoming the next generation of leaders in their communities; ensure students find joy in learning and have fun; convey Entrepreneurship Prep’s and Village Prep’s messages in one-on-one, class/advisory, grade level and school-wide venues.
• Conduct regular school culture walkthroughs to maintain a high bar of excellence.
• Help to train staff in classroom management, student engagement and parent involvement.
• Lead recognition and celebration events (e.g., for perfect attendance or academic achievement) and other school-wide culture-building activities.
• Create individual plans for students with behavior challenges; partner with teachers to provide extra interventions.

Coach teachers toward instructional excellence

• Communicate a high bar for performance in a manner that supports, challenges and inspires each team member; set clear, measureable, outcome-oriented performance goals for the year; engage team members in self-evaluation and provide formal and informal feedback on performance.
• Coach a portfolio of teachers in instruction and the establishment of expectations/routines.
• Help teachers build effective relationships with students and parents.

Lead parent engagement activities

• Engage families in support of the school’s goals; create a culture and an expectation so that teachers reach out to parents and enlist their proactive support in the dream – and the hard work – of getting all our scholars to college; build strong relationships with parents.
• Create and lead the “parent onboarding” process, meeting one-on-one and communicating regularly with new parents to introduce them to the school’s culture and priorities.
• Coordinate the activities of the parent involvement committees
• Establish protocols and best practices to ensure that teachers communicate regularly with parents.

Serve as an active member of the school leadership team

• Reinforce the mission with staff and inspire them to act on the mission every single day; exude urgency, excellence, and optimism; use the mission as a litmus test for school-based decisions and to provide focus when prioritizing what will have the greatest impact on students; instill staff with a feeling that they are contributing to something greater than themselves.
• Maintain robust personal organization system that ensures all tasks or “To Do” items are captured, prioritized, and ultimately accomplished; plans each day and week to ensure that top priorities are addressed and accomplished on time.
• Partner with the school leaders in championing effective instructional data practices for assessment and effective planning.
• Partner with Operations Manager to ensure smooth entry, dismissal and transit to and from school. 
• Support teacher leaders (coaches and grade level chairs) in developing their leadership skills.