2024-2025 High School Principal

Company Description

KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, is a national network of free, open enrollment, college preparatory public schools dedicated to preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and life. There are 285 KIPP schools across the nation and the District of Columbia, serving more than 175,000 students and alumni with more than 15,000 educators. 

Founded in 2008 with 50 students in 5th grade, KIPP Columbus currently educates  2,000 students in grades Kindergarten through twelfth.  With a mission to, together with families and the community, create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose -- college, career, and beyond --  KIPP has maintained excellence in its growth, and will improve upon that standard – proving what is possible in public education.

KIPP Columbus continues to rank as one of the top schools for academic growth of any school in the state of Ohio, and is a top performing urban school in the state for academic growth. In our first three graduating classes (in spring 2020, 2021, and 2022) 100% of students were accepted to college and/or military service  with nearly $40 million in merit scholarships from colleges and universities awarded.

In addition to academic excellence, KIPP Columbus also partners with nearly 100 community organizations to provide extracurricular activities, programming, health and wellness services, meals, and more to KIPP students, families, and the broader community. KIPP is also a member of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, offering more than 10 varsity sports. 

The KIPP Columbus learning campus will continue to advance student learning, expand partnerships, enable superior programming, and serve as a teaching and leadership lab for schools nationwide, reimagining education through a deeper lens of antiracism, excellence, and joy as we expand to educate nearly 4,000 students on our learning campus in the coming years. 

Interested in learning more about our school?  Please check out our website: https://www.kippcolumbus.org/

The Opportunity

At KIPP Columbus, our greatest goal is to ensure that we provide an equitable and excellent education for all students.  We are seeking a High School Leader (Principal) for the 2024-2025 school year to build upon the foundation of our high school.  The School Leader’s primary job is to cultivate an academically excellent school for our students. We expect our School Leaders to focus 75% of their time on instructional leadership, specifically all of the activities involved in leading and developing teachers to improve their instruction and drive student achievement. 

School Leaders at KIPP Columbus receive:

• Access to a network of high-performing educators and support teams on our campus and across the KIPP network.
• Detailed career plan mapping and consistent analysis of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to ensure professional and personal growth. 

Job Description

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Vision and Goal Setting:

• Set ambitious school-wide vision and goals, aligned with the KIPP region, that lead students on a path to and through college or career
• Plan and prioritize time and resources to achieve annual goals with an emphasis on academic goals
• Model expectations for leaders, teachers, and students on school-wide practices for a positive learning culture
• Develop systems and structures to cultivate, develop, and retain diverse, highly-effective staff

Coaching/Support: 

• Build own and school staff’s knowledge and expertise in effective instructional design and academic standards
• Develop teachers’ conceptual understanding of what students must know and be able to do and what instructional methods drive student mastery
• Develop knowledge of how standards map to curriculum and assessment
• Lead analysis of and develop teachers’ ability to analyze student data to identify strategies that will move students
• toward mastery
• Regularly observe and coach instructional coaches to ensure they are providing high-impact, actionable and bite-
• sized feedback to teachers on a weekly basis
• Ensure teachers can collaborate, analyze their practice and their student data, and adjust instruction in content
• teams
• Lead whole-school professional development workshops and content/department meetings that drive highest-impact improvements in teacher
• practice
• Lead, coach, develop and manage a team of leaders (assistant school leaders and deans) in support of school-wide goals and initiatives. 
• Analyze assessment data for action planning.

Positive School Culture

• Plan and lead school-wide events, celebrations, and gatherings.
• Lead the development of student behavior systems.
• Embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion work.
• Lead teachers and students so that in all ways, we leave places, people and ideas better than we found them.

Strategic Project Initiatives

• Ensure alignment of school practices to school-wide priorities.
• Support day-to-day operations of the school, including regular data monitoring and progress towards goals.
• Model, promote, and coach others toward effective communication with families, cultivating engagement in their child’s success and the KIPP Columbus mission.
• Lead projects related to a specific content area or aspect of their school.
• Lead school-wide working groups to solve problems.
• Represent KIPP Columbus at external events and/or meetings.

Qualifications

• Four year Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree preferred
• Minimum of three years of successful, full-time, lead teaching experience
• Minimum of three years of successful experience leading and/or coaching teachers, including but not limited to, roles such as Assistant School Leader, Dean, Instructional Coach, Assistant Principal, etc
• Strong track record of academic results and leadership in a school setting
• Experience in analyzing student data and using data to inform instruction
• Belief that outstanding school leaders, staff, and teachers can achieve excellent outcomes for all students
• Ability to persevere with a sense of optimism, strong problem solving skills, and desire to learn and grow in a collaborative professional learning community
• Willingness, and commitment, to go above and beyond to prove the possible with students
• Ability to multi-task and work within an ambiguous, fast-moving, start-up environment, while driving toward clarity and solutions
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Extreme flexibility, with a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit to accommodate high levels of responsibility and multiple priorities
• Model the values of KIPP Columbus (Imagine, Navigate, Seek, Persevere, Integrity, Responsibility, and Empathy).
• Administrative/Principal Licensure is strongly preferred

Additional Information

Compensation and Benefits

KIPP Columbus School Leaders begin at a salary of $110,000. We also offer a comprehensive benefit plan including medical and dental insurance, as well as group term life insurance, participation in the state retirement plan and paid time off. 

Statement of Non-Disclosure

KIPP Columbus is committed to a policy of equal treatment for all individuals applying to the school for consideration of any position (admission, employment, etc.). KIPP Columbus does not discriminate on the basis of disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 4112.02 of the Ohio Revised Code.