About NYFACS Founded in 2010, the New York French American Charter School (NYFACS) was the first bilingual Franco-American public charter school in the United States. NYFACS holds le LabelFrancEducation for promoting French language and culture. NYFACS serves 290 students in grades K-8 with 40 staff. The school was formed to address the needs of the New York City francophone community, as in the Little Senegal section of Harlem where NYFACS is located. Our mission is to develop bilingual, biliterate global citizens who will be the leaders of tomorrow. We maintain high standards of spoken and written language in both French and English. Our French teachers are all native French speakers from the francophone global community and 50-80% of instruction is in French. NYFACS incorporates both the American and French approaches to learning by taking the best from each and creating an educational system that is greater than each system by itself. Position The NYFACS Board of Directors seeks a dynamic, passionate and mission-driven Principal to lead, inspire and grow the school while maintaining and improving the bilingual and academic program, tight-knit community and student diversity. Working closely with the Board of Directors, the Principal will have ultimate responsibility for implementing the vision and mission of the school. The Principal will oversee all aspects of the school, including management and evaluation of the academic program, supervision of school leaders, responsibility for finances, operations, fundraising and student retention and enrollment. The Principal will develop the long-term strategy for the school, ensure compliance, oversee the move to a larger facility and the refinement of the middle school model. The Principal serves as the key external representative on behalf of the school, maintaining high visibility and accessibility to the school, Harlem and French communities. The Principal will work with the NYFACS Board of Directors, Assistant Principal administrative and teaching staff, parent organization and community leaders to fulfill the spirit, vision and excellence outlined in the charter. This position requires a proven leader with bilingual program leadership experience, exceptional management skills, and demonstrated success in school leadership. Responsibilities The Principal’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Educational and Organizational Leadership -
Embody, advocate for, and execute on the mission, vision and strategic direction of NYFACS. -
Build, develop and supervise the school’s leadership team to monitor and support the implementation of the academic vision and build on the collaborative culture which currently exists by maintaining an open, positive, trusting, and highly communicative atmosphere among staff and families, and respectful professional relationships between individual staff. -
Partner with school staff to deliver an educational experience that embodies the global. bilingual, French and American approach to education inherent in the NYFACS mission and charter. -
Collaborate with the Board to refine and implement the strategic plan while ensuring that the policies, programs, budget, staff, events and communications are aligned with NYFACS’ core mission. -
Provide inspirational leadership and direction to staff and ensure the continued development and management of a professional and efficient organization; establish effective decision-making processes, clarity in roles and responsibilities and a distributive leadership approach that will enable NYFACS to achieve its long- and short-term goals and objectives. -
Cultivate a strong and transparent working relationship with the Board and ensure open communication about the measurement of financial, programmatic, and impact performance against stated milestones and goals. Resource Management and Relationship Management -
Articulate the school’s academic vision and the experience for the individual child to key constituents. -
Maintain high visibility and accessibility and foster relationships at every level of the NYFACS community. -
Serve as the chief storyteller and advocate of NYFACS to all communities including the authorizer and act as the primary driver of donor and partner cultivation, solicitation and stewardship. -
Nurture positive relationships with all community leaders, attend school and community events, and provide regular communication to families and other stakeholders. -
Formulate and execute comprehensive marketing, branding and development strategies that will ensure consistency throughout the organization and establish a development program to enhance revenue from major donors, foundations, government agencies, and corporations. -
Ensure the flow of funds permits NYFACS to make continuous progress toward the achievement of its mission and that those funds are allocated properly to reflect present needs and future potential. -
Oversee the financial status of the school including developing long and short-range financial plans, monitoring the budget and ensuring sound financial controls are in place; set financial priorities accurately to ensure the school is operating in a manner that supports the needs of the program and staff. Infrastructure and Operations -
Ensure the delivery of a high-quality academic bilingual program while managing for current and future growth. -
Establish and maintain a high bar of excellence and ensure that all school functions meet or exceeds this standard to ensure students are bilingual, biliterate global citizens who will be the leaders of the future. -
Ensure NYFACS delivers on its facility development and management goals while managing school growth and strengthening the academic program. -
Implement a recruitment and retention strategy that ensures NYFACS can recruit, retain and develop high-performing staff at every level. -
Implement effective accountability systems and role clarity to drive progress toward meeting and exceeding goals, priorities and implementation plans and ensure all operations are legally compliant and supportive of students. Preferred Qualifications -
Bilingual French speaker with demonstrated familiarity and comfort with French and Francophone communities -
Track record of success leading a multi-site K-8 school to achieve and exceed academic performance goals -
Experience teaching or leading a bilingual program -
Prior charter school, teacher’s union and NYC Department of Education experience preferred -
Prior management of a multisite school preferred -
Experience partnering effectively with a Board of Directors, parents and other constituents -
Outstanding presentation and communication skills and the experience and proclivity to be an outgoing spokesperson, relationship builder, and fundraiser -
Strong commitment to the professional development of staff; successful track record of recruiting and retaining a diverse team -
An excellent manager with the ability to set clear priorities, delegate, and guide investment in people and systems; keen analytic, organization and problem-solving skills, which support and enable sound decision making -
A charismatic, intellectually curious, technically savvy, strategic thinker with high emotional intelligence and integrity and deep experience building and fostering a tight-knit community -
Highly communicative people-first leader with enthusiasm and passion for the NYFACS mission
This position description is based upon material provided by NYFACS an equal opportunity employer.
Lori Clement, Senior Talent Consultant |
