| CURRENTLY RECRUITING for the 2019-20 Academic Year Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is one of Minnesota's largest school districts with more than 37,000 students. Highly trained and deeply dedicated staff, cutting-edge academic programs, and strong community support are among the district’s hallmarks. Our student population is diverse, with students who speak more than 125 languages and dialects. Our Mission: Inspire students to think critically, pursue their dreams and change the world. Our Guiding Values: ACHIEVEMENT: Fostering academic success by taking action to increase student achievement through challenging and collaborative learning. COMMUNICATION: Engaging with sincerity and honesty by using language that can be understood by all. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: Pursuing excellence by identifying and strengthening what is working well and being flexible to change what is not. COLLABORATION: Working together in a respectful manner that values and honors families, staff, students and the community. ACCOUNTABILITY: Holding ourselves to high standards for the outcomes of student achievement and operational, instructional and fiscal performance. INCLUSIVE CULTURE: Embracing each individual’s culture, race, ethnicity, ability and identity. SPPS is accepting applications for its Principal Eligibility Pool for the 2019-2020 academic year. The Human Resource Department will review your qualifications and may contact you for an interview. Applicants interviewed and recommended as an eligibility pool candidate may be considered for vacancies throughout the district for the 2019-20 school year. This pool is in effect through August 31, 2019. Position Summary: The principal serves as the instructional leader of the school and leads school staff, students, and school communities in creating an environment that supports an outstanding education for all students. Reporting Relationship: Report to Assistant Superintendent (for designated building level). This posting will close at the end of the day on Friday, February 8, 2019. The essential functions include, but are not limited to, the following fundamental duties: Strategic Leadership - Create a culturally competent environment at the school where diversity is valued and all students and adults thrive and achieve at the highest levels by developing staff through related training; providing support for diverse groups in the school; initiating direct conversations about culture and diversity; and integrating learning opportunities that come from a diverse community into the school's educational opportunities.
- Develop a shared vision for the school by effectively engaging the school community in identifying factors critical to student achievement; ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the school's goals for instruction and achievement.
- Facilitate shared leadership and strategic empowerment; cultivate leaders from within and create opportunities for staff to lead; build a leadership team and teacher leaders to participate in the analysis of school operations and strategic planning.
- Plan and manage a fiscally responsible budget that supports student achievement; ensure the strategic allocation and equitable use of financial and human capital resources to meet instructional goals and support staff needs; evaluate the success of funding and programming
- Utilize systems thinking in problem-solving and to align school vision and goals to district strategic plan.
Instructional & Learning Leadership - Serve as the instructional leader for the building by establishing a school culture that allows for high student academic and social and emotional learning outcomes; setting clear goals; managing the delivery of curriculum; allocating resources to instruction; ensuring that teachers get the training, direction and support they need to deliver quality instruction to every student; evaluating teachers and related activities.
- Build and maintain a focus on ambitious school achievement for students; create structures that enable students to generate activities and ideas that link school to future aspirations and to college and career experiences.
- Lead the utilization of the multiple forms of student-level data and student work available to increase student achievement and identify student interventions including utilizing data to identify areas for instructional improvement, to refine and adapt instructional practices, and to determine appropriate strategies across all grades and content areas.
Communications Leadership - Design a system of open, clear and effective communication for the school; ensure that teaching staff communicate to families about student progress and specific ways to support their children's learning; utilize feedback from school staff, parents, students and community groups to improve school-wide processes; adapt modes and styles of communication that make materials meaningful and engaging to staff, parents, students and community groups;
- Lead efforts to develop, or design, opportunities for family and community involvement at the school; create a school-wide culture that makes school feel accessible to families and the community.
Management Leadership - Establish processes and systems to ensure a high-quality, high-performing staff including those for recruiting and hiring new staff, staff training and mentoring of staff, staff recognition and performance management; ensure that leadership and professional development growth opportunities are available for staff; analyze staff evaluations and utilize the results to direct professional development activities.
Perform other related duties as assigned. Minimum Qualifications: Master's degree and must hold a proper and valid administrative licensure from the Minnesota Department of Education. Preferred Qualifications: Building or district administrative leadership experience. At least 3 years of teaching experience in a K-12 setting. Experience working effectively with urban schools, students and families, and outside partners with demonstrated exemplary results. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: - Thorough knowledge, and practical understanding of, instructional methods, learning theories and their implementation, the principles of educational administration and school-based shared decision-making.
- A well-developed personal philosophy of education and educational administration consistent with the objectives of the Board of Education and the Superintendent.
- Thorough knowledge of the theories and practices of cultural competency as it relates to an inclusive educational environment and student learning.
- Thorough knowledge of multicultural, gender, and disability fair curriculum and instruction.
- Considerable knowledge of strategic planning and organizational goal setting.
- Considerable skill in team development, leadership, and as a systems thinker.
- Considerable ability to interact effectively with students, parents, community members, school staff, district administration and other district staff.
- Highly proficient communication skills.
How to Apply To be considered further, please apply to the eligibility pool by submitting the following in one document: Resume/Letter of Intent - Resume: Please summarize work history to include dates, titles, organizations and key responsibilities.
- Letter of Intent: Please provide an overview explaining why you aspire to be a leader in Saint Paul Public School. In your letter, please discuss how your education and experience has prepared you for this role.
Leadership Experience Essays - Two (2) Leadership Experience essays (500 word max./each) that demonstrates your leadership experience within the last 3 years.
- Leadership Experience Essay #1: Describe a time when you developed and implemented an initiative that resulted in student achievement gains. (The example could range in scope from an initiative that you implemented in your classroom to a school-wide program.) In your response, address the following:
- Student performance when you started the initiative.
- Specific, measurable student performance/outcomes related to this initiative.
- Specific instructional strategies you used (or helped teachers use), including:
- Your rationale for selecting those strategies.
- How you met the needs of your students.
- Any adjustments you made along the way to help your students achieve the goals.
- Lessons you learned throughout the initiative.
- Leadership Experience Essay #2: Describe your experience in the last 3 years demonstrating how your actions positively impacted school culture and climate. In your response, please use the STAR format (Situation/Task, Actions and Results).
The Human Resource Department will review your application materials and contact you regarding the next steps. To attach additional documents to your online application, click on the "Additional Attachments" link from the applicant homepage and upload your documents as attachments. Valid file extensions for attaching a document include .doc, .txt, .rtf, and .pdf. Please note: All required materials must be submitted as one document in order to be considered further. **If you are experiencing difficulties with your application materials, please submit your information to the following email address: leadershipeligibilitypool@spps.org SPPS is committed to eliminating racial disparities and predictability in achievement and to a workforce which embodies this commitment. Saint Paul Public Schools is an equal opportunity employer and supports an inclusive workplace environment. |
