Principal - Salem Prep Therapeutic Day School, Salem Public Schools SY2023-2024

About Salem Public Schools, where belonging leads to opportunity.

Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history.  Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district enrolling nearly 4,000 students across our 11 schools. Our vision is to ensure that all students will be locally engaged, globally connected, and fully prepared to thrive in a diverse and changing world. We hold dear our core values of belonging, equity, and opportunity in everything we do. Over the next three years (2023-2026), we are committed to the work outlined by the four core priorities in our strategic plan: 1) Elevate Learning; 2) Empower Educators; 3) Center Belonging; and 4) Strengthen Our Foundation. We seek individuals who are passionate about urban education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement for all students, regardless of ability, economic status, gender/gender identity, language, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or other backgrounds. Applicants who have experience working in urban schools and settings and are bilingual are strongly encouraged to apply.

Description:  

The Salem Public School District seeks a skilled administrator to work with students with significant emotional challenges and mental health issues in our public day school setting. The selected candidate will be responsible for the effective management of the milieu and all program functions, including therapeutic, curricular, and inclusive experiences for students.

The Director must be team-oriented and possess strong oral and written communication skills and effective management skills. The Director must be able to supervise the delivery of high quality social-emotional curriculum and the development and implementation of Behavior Support Plans and crisis intervention strategies. The candidate must be able to lead a multidisciplinary team and have the ability to understand and access community and school-based support systems.    

Bilingual Candidates Strongly Encouraged to Apply

Required Skills:

• Possess an attuned appreciation for cultural awareness and competency and a staunch commitment to continuously developing insight and proficiencies related to such matters
• Use effective communication skills to present information accurately and clearly
• Exhibit the ability to thrive amidst change and challenging conditions while maintaining a positive outlook and consistent vision
• Demonstrate a strong sense of professionalism and present themselves as a strong role model for staff and students
• Possess the management and supervisory skills needed to direct all aspects of the Prep program in accordance with District policies, and state and federal regulatory expectations.

Job Duties:

• Champion the school’s effort to effectively and successfully serve the students with disabilities by promoting widely-shared institutional belief that every child deserves and can have expert instruction
• Manage all aspects of student services, both educational and mental health-related needs
• Ensure staff, student, and family comprehension of behavior and treatment goals and foster positive approaches to problem-solving
• Supervise and evaluate building-based personnel, including teachers, paraprofessionals, and related services staff
• Foster inclusion and acceptance of students with disabilities within the broader school community
• Lead the school’s efforts to maintain compliance with all legal responsibilities for serving students with disabilities
• Participate in Special Education Department and Salem Public School’s District-wide leadership team, including meetings, trainings, and professional development
• Prepare the school for local, state, or federal audits, as necessary
• Maintain a highly-organized, coherent, and legally-compliant operation at all times
• Create and maintain a data-driven culture in the school where team members actively use relevant data in an integrated and systematic manner to perform their duties, inform their practice and improve services to students
• Work closely with the team to analyze current classroom summative data and devise effective instructional re-teaching plans that address student learning gaps to ensure students’ academic achievement
• Support teachers by continually observing the teachers in their classrooms and engaging in observation cycles and formal evaluation cycles
• Facilitate focused, data-centered, and effective common planning meetings with a focus on embedding social-emotional learning
• Support teachers in the development of Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals, Functional Behavior Assessment and Behavior Support Plans (FBA-BIP), transition plans, and in making recommendations and determinations for the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) for students
• Work with the Guidance Department to ensure that all students with disabilities are scheduled into their appropriate courses based on graduation requirements and social, emotional, and behavioral needs.

What You’ll Bring:

We are looking for candidates who have diverse backgrounds and experiences, are inspired by our mission and are highly motivated to change children’s lives through education. You’ll be right at home here if you are a reflective practitioner who values collaboration with colleagues and pushes yourself, your work and the people around you to the next level.  We expect our SPS employees to:

• Hold a deep commitment to students and families and value diversity - The SPS community is vibrant, diverse in background, ethnicity, language, and perspective. You embrace and affirm the backgrounds of all members of the SPS community and view our diversity as a powerful resource that supports us each in learning and doing our best work.
• Hold high expectations for yourself, students, and colleagues – You see potential in all, especially our SPS students, and maintain high expectations for achievement, while providing the support necessary to meet that bar. You hold yourself to high expectations, modeling SPS values and seeking opportunities to continuously improve.
• Build authentic, caring relationships with colleagues, students, and families – You build strong relationships across students, families, and colleagues that are collaborative in nature and contribute to the individual and collective success of SPS. You partner with families and colleagues to make decisions in the best interest of students and learning.
• Embrace feedback – You are a reflective practitioner who learns from mistakes and challenges and uses them as opportunities for professional development. You model persistence and growth mindset and thrive in a culture of feedback.

Job Requirements:

• Special Education Administrator/Director or Principal/Assistant Principal License or License Eligible
• Master’s Degree or above in Special Education, Educational Administration, School Social Work, or related field
• Minimum of five years professional school-based experience working with students with social-emotional disabilities
• Administrative/supervisory experience preferred
• Crisis Intervention Certification and working knowledge of ALICE required (provided by the District)
• Second language (Spanish and/or Portuguese) proficiency a plus
• Bilingual candidates and candidates of color strongly encouraged to apply
• Current authorization to work in the United States

This position falls within the administrative bargaining unit.

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Application Questions

Short answer questions (must be answered for application to be considered):

1. Why do you want to lead Salem Prep Therapeutic Day School? (Maximum 200 words __ longer responses will not be reviewed or scored)
   
   
2. What opportunities do you anticipate if you are offered and accept a principal position with SPS? What strategies will you employ to maximize these opportunities to improve student outcomes? (Maximum 300 words __ longer responses will not be reviewed or scored)
   
   
3. Our school serves a diverse student body, many of whom have faced multiple academic and social-emotional challenges. When you consider your interest and past experiences, how do you believe your leadership will be best leveraged to serve this particular population? (Maximum 200 words __ longer responses will not be reviewed or scored) 

Equal Opportunity Employer

Salem Public School District is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information, or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws. Additionally, we prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose such discrimination and harassment or who participate in an equal opportunity investigation.