The Role of Leaders
The School Leader is committed to implementing our mission to empower children with the essential skills to thrive in kindergarten and beyond. They are focused on providing instructional leadership to promote growth in student learning, and ensuring a safe, supportive and productive learning environment for the children we serve, their families, and our team members.
Cultivate a learning culture for the school
- Remain sensitive, aware and responsive to the needs of the school community
- Be present daily in classrooms and shared spaces
- Routinely solicit feedback from families, staff and community; incorporate feedback when reasonable and possible
- Seek and select quality teaching candidates
- Model self-reflective practices and engage in continual professional learning
Recognize and support teacher knowledge and decision making as vital to educational effectiveness
- Foster trust and autonomy by recognizing strengths and encouraging continued professional growth
- Conduct regular classroom walk-throughs and formal observations to understand how educators are supporting children
- Actively support partnerships between teachers and families
Establish instructional leadership
- Make instructional quality the top priority of the school
- Model and set high expectations for performance and provide the support needed to achieve
- Construct systems for peer mentoring and coaching
- Confer and collaborate regularly with teams, staff members and partners to ensure developmentally appropriate teaching practices are in place, evaluate effectiveness and set goals around child outcomes
Intentionally design the school and processes to enrich learning
- Optimize and leverage resources and materials so that teachers may address the learning needs of the children
- Build regular, predictable communication routines into the school schedule
- Establish school structures that support for cross-planning and communities of practice
- Ensure the flow of the physical structure and daily schedule support children and their families as well as maximize learning opportunities
Provide tools and resources so that teachers can reduce the impact of stress and adversity
- Design staffing structures and policies that promote continuity of care
- Establish partnerships with field experts to facilitate rapid interventions
- Model and raise awareness of self-care habits and wellness
Empower teachers to experiment and explore a range of solutions and approaches to meet the developmental and learning needs of children
- Foster conversation and brainstorm solutions concerning individual children and classrooms
- Create an environment that allows for risk-taking; recognize failures as learning opportunities
- Recognize when a true need for external resources exists; facilitate access
Prioritize the educational needs of children and teachers in the sustainability of the program
- Identify and regularly review the needs of teachers, children and families
- Evaluate the effectiveness of financial and human resources on student outcomes