Details
Posted: 03-Jan-22
Location: Swannanoa, North Carolina
Type: Full Time
Preferred Education: Masters
Salary: $80,000 - $100,000
The Learning Community School (TLC) is looking for a talented, passionate, and energetic Head of School who will be responsible for leading, developing and managing all aspects of both the day-to-day operations and long-term goals for the school effective June or July 2022. The individual should be a strategic, big picture thinker who will strive to celebrate the legacy and greatness the school has achieved over the past 25 years and help the school grow in the coming years to better serve the demands of the community.
The Head of School is responsible to the Board of Directors for the overall operation and administration of the school. An extremely talented and dedicated long standing staff of teachers and support personnel is currently in place to support the daily functions of the school.
Opportunities for the Head of School:
- Work in partnership with the board to manifest the current strategic plan through 2024 and refine the school’s mission and strategic future thereafter; articulate that mission to all constituencies, including students, faculty and staff, parents, alumni/ae, and the broader community; and embody and represent the mission of the school with all constituencies.
- Carry out and review established school policies with the board; serve as a liaison to the board, keeping them informed on all aspects of the school’s operation; represent the board to the faculty, staff, students, parents, and other constituencies.
- Supervise the financial management, strategic planning, and fund-raising efforts of the school.
- Maintain the current culture that makes the school so unique.
- Formalize systems in areas such as program development, student evaluation, faculty/staff hiring, evaluation, and professional development, marketing and outreach efforts and summer programming.
- Be responsible for attracting, selecting, hiring, retaining, developing, and evaluating properly qualified faculty and staff, as well as terminating personnel when needed.
- Develop a mid-and long-term marketing plan potentially changing the branding, website etc.
- Ensure the continuation of a strong admission program that has resulted in nearly full enrollment; study and improve student retention to enable more students to have the full primary-to-middle-school grade experience.
- Improve communication among the faculty and between the faculty/administration and the parents in all facets of school life.
- Have direct supervision over and responsibly provide direction to administration and faculty to ensure that school policies are followed.
- Understand educational trends and the local and regional educational landscape.
- Represent with integrity his or her role within the broader network of schools and the community.
- Abide by principles of good practice in all school operations – particularly admission, marketing, faculty recruitment, and fundraising.
Compensation and Benefit Information:
A competitive salary will be offered along with a $300/month health stipend, $25/month cell stipend, tuition benefits, and generous paid time off.
About The Learning Community School:
The Learning Community School (TLC) was founded in 1996 by a small group of parents and a teacher from Warren Wilson College, who sought to create a cooperative school to satisfy the unique needs of each child through experiential learning, visual and performing arts, outdoor education, service, and challenging academics paired with an emphasis on social and emotional intelligence. In 1998, TLC received its non-profit status and stopped operating as a cooperative but maintained its cooperative spirit in that parents are an integral part of the community. The school was started on the very same campus that was home to the historic Black Mountain College in the 1930s – 1950s, which boasted the likes of Buckminster Fuller and Albert Einstein. To this day, TLC continues the tradition of experiential, innovative education on their campus on Bee Tree Road, just 20 minutes from Asheville. This campus is made up of 40 acres of beautiful Western NC forest, streams, and trails which allows kindergarten through eighth grade students to participate in active outdoor education. Community is created with multi-age classrooms, a team-building curriculum that is integrated throughout each school day, all-school activities, and parent involvement.
The Learning Community School is a non-profit school registered with the North Carolina Department of Non-Public Education. TLC is not a charter school, does not receive any public money, and is not subject to public school regulations. Bi-annual inspections are made to assure that all regulations regarding the operation of a private school are being carried out properly. To learn more: https://thelearningcommunity.org/
Curriculum Goals:
TLC’s goal is to integrate learning programs that interest, challenge, and encourage students. To put this simply, TLC strives to make learning personal, enriching, and just plain fun. The curriculum is an eclectic blend of units of study from the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, the North Carolina Reference Guide for Integrating Curriculum, and the CORE Knowledge Series (through grade 6). Teachers use these resources to create three-year rotational units of study for science and social studies. The teachers continuously work to create an individualized, child-centered curriculum for the students. At their own pace, students will acquire the standard skills recommended by the NC Board of Education. TLC currently has 99 students enrolled and a staff of nine teachers, three administrative staff and some support staff. TLC’s goal is to increase enrollment to a total of 121 students which would include a bigger middle school experience, as well as potentially offering a preschool option on campus.
What TLC Stands For:
TLC prides itself on its ability to set rigorous academic standards without overloading students with an abundance of homework or rote learning exercises. Graduates regularly go on to take Honors and AP courses in high school.
TLC classes are filled with hands-on, inquiry-based lessons that encourage students to make discoveries.
- INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION
While students engage in units of study as a class, teachers work one-on-one with students to accomplish individual learning goals. Classrooms enjoy a 10:1 ratio.
Multi-age classrooms build confidence, mentorship, and leadership in older students.
Younger students are motivated by the older students to challenge themselves.
Music, art, and theater are an integral part of the education at TLC. All-school musicals, visual arts instruction along with STEAM, Artful Thinking, and MakerSpace projects all offer opportunities for students to think creatively.
- SOCIAL EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Curriculum for TEAM for grades K-5 and TRIBE for 6-8 involve weekly lessons, exercises, games, and conflict mediation skills. This provides a successful mechanism for handling conflicts that might arise at school.
Students can camp, hike, and enjoy playing and learning in the woods. Lessons in primitive skills, canoeing, homesteading, and LNT camping skills are taught to all ages. Students spend a large part of each school day outside. The new 40-acre campus has a creek, ponds, and a trail system, providing many opportunities for outdoor learning.
Through service learning, students gain an understanding and appreciation for how their actions impact the greater community outside school.
It is important for students in grades K/3 to move, play, and learn in an environment free of screen-time. Starting in grade 4, we mindfully introduce students to technology, with an emphasis on digital citizenship.
To Apply:
Confidential review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled; parties who apply before or by January 14, 2022, will be given first consideration. Interested candidates should submit a resume and letter of interest. To apply, go to: https://theapplicantmanager.com/jobs?pos=su279
For more information or to offer recommendations or nominations:
Arasi Adkins, MA
Senior Consultant
Summit Search Solutions, Inc.
Direct: (336) 693-7612
aadkins@summitsearchsolutions.com
The Learning Community School does not discriminate on the basis of race, sexual orientation, color, gender, religious belief, or national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, hiring policies, scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.
Qualifications and Competencies:
In considering the work ahead at TLC, the search committee has identified six key competencies that they seek. They hope for a leader with drive, vision, and purpose who will:
- Work with a strategic mindset and plan for the long-term future of the school.
- Instill trust throughout the community.
- Build networks with key strategic partners.
- Drive engagement.
- Maintain the magic of the current TLC culture.
Education, leadership and personal qualities desired in the next Head of School:
- An advanced degree.
- Minimum of three years of demonstrated leadership and management skills in a school setting.
- An educator who understands and appreciates child development—Pre-K/K through middle school.
- A thinker and strategist who can implement the new strategic plan and address any short-or long-term problems at the school.
- The ability to hire and retain highly competent faculty and administrative staff who are committed to excellence and to developing pathways for their continued professional growth.
- A leader who is committed to a highly effective and transparent relationship with the Board.
- A "people person" who enjoys being highly visible in the school and the community.
- An understanding of the value of parents as partners in the education of their children.
- Demonstrated experience in distributive leadership in a school environment.
- Experience in finance, human resources, risk management, and general operations of a school.
- A collaborative leadership style with experience in team building.
- A leader who is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice and beliefs align with the TLC open and inclusive culture.
- A leader who is committed to transparency and can earn the trust of all constituent groups.
- A person of great energy and work ethic.
