Posted: 06-Feb-26
Location: Corte Madera, California
Type: Full Time
Title: Upper School Division Head (grades 5-8)
Reports To: Head of School
Classification: Exempt-Full Time
Status: Professional Full-Year Staff
Marin Country Day School is an independent, K-8, co-educational school of approximately 600 students. Our mission is to create an inclusive community of learning that inspires curiosity, empathy, and action. Rooted in our values of respect, responsibility, and compassion, we are an intentional community where varied perspectives and life experiences are vital to our collective growth and the strength of our program
Our Academic & Community Programming: We model teaching excellence through student-centered, differentiated instruction framed around experiential and place-based education. Our 35-acre campus on the hillside of Ring Mountain serves as a living laboratory where students engage directly with environmental sustainability. Our academic program is purposefully scaffolded around three key skill areas—literacy, mathematics, and writing—partnered closely with the developmental milestones and social-emotional needs of our learners.
A Culture of Professional Learning: MCDS is devoted to cultivating an inspiring professional learning environment where adults are engaged in growth throughout the trajectory of their time here. We provide robust funding and time for professional development, encouraging practitioners to seek constant improvement as educators, team members, and community leaders.
The Opportunity
The Upper School Division Head is the primary educational leader for grades 5–8, serving as the chief facilitator and articulator of the school’s mission and philosophy for the upper school community. Responsible for approximately 300 students and their families, the Upper School Division Head ensures a culture of academic excellence, social-emotional growth, and belonging. Supported by an Assistant Division Head and a shared administrative assistant, this leader balances high-level strategic vision with the granular operational needs of a thriving middle years division.
Key Responsibilities
Educational Leadership & Academic Excellence
- Mission Advocacy: Serve as the primary articulator of the Upper School’s pedagogical philosophy, ensuring all programs align with the school’s core mission.
- Curriculum Oversight: Coordinate the academic program in collaboration with other key academic leaders (including, but not limited to, Lower School Division Head) and curriculum across all Upper School departments. Direct the articulation of the Upper School curriculum, ensuring that pedagogical standards, scope and sequences, and instructional resources are robustly documented and shared with all stakeholders
- Instructional Delegation: Empower and delegate responsibilities to grade-level teams to ensure a cohesive student experience.
- Standardized Testing: Collaboratively analyze standardized testing data (ERBs) alongside academic leaders and the curriculum team, leveraging insights to inform instructional refinements and benchmark student progress against peer independent school demographics.
Faculty Leadership & Professional Growth
- Personnel Management: Assume full responsibility for the supervision and evaluation of all Upper School personnel.
- Recruitment & Orientation: Partner with the Head of School, curriculum leads, and divisional leadership to recruit, hire, and orient mission-aligned Upper School Faculty; collaborate across the academic leadership team to design and lead a cohesive, school-wide New Teacher Orientation program.
- Professional Development: Foster faculty development by implementing supervision and evaluation standards in partnership with academic leadership and curriculum directors. Collaborate with the Lower School Head and divisional leadership to design and execute school-wide professional days, faculty meetings, and seasonal preparation schedules
- Team Support: Organize, lead, and provide ongoing support for advisors and grade-level teams.
Student Life & Social-Emotional Growth
- Holistic Development: Share responsibility with teachers and advisors for promoting the social, emotional, and academic health of all Upper School students.
- Outdoor Education: Provide strategic support and oversight for outdoor education trip leaders for grades 5–8.
- Secondary School Placement: Collaborate with the High School Counselor to support 8th-grade families, assist in writing recommendations, and ensure successful student placement into secondary schools.
Communication & Community Partnership
- Parent Partnership: Create an atmosphere of welcome. Translate complex child development information for parents to support healthy home-school relations and provide feedback on individual student growth.
- Public Communication: Responsible for communicating all policies and programs via the yearly Upper School Handbook, assemblies, parent education roundtables, and school publications.
- Parent Association Liaison: Serve as the faculty liaison to the Parent Association and assist in Parent Leadership training.
- Admissions Support: Actively support the Upper School admissions process, representing the division to prospective families.
Operations & Scheduling
- Calendar Management: Share responsibility for yearly and master schedule planning. Manage the daily, weekly, and monthly Upper School calendar, including schedule changes and the timely communication of shifts to all stakeholders.
- Resource Management: Work in tandem with the Lower School Head to maximize the effectiveness of the shared administrative assistant.
Qualifications & Leadership Profile
- Experience: Significant experience in middle-years education (Grades 5–8) with a proven track record in administrative leadership.
- Relational Intelligence: A master communicator who can navigate the high-expectation environment of Bay Area independent schools with empathy and clarity.
- Systems Thinker: Ability to delegate effectively to the Assistant Head and department leads while maintaining a "big picture" view of the division.
- Collaborator: Collaborates with the Head of School, Lower Division Head, curriculum leads, and the broader administrative leadership team to ensure institutional alignment and a unified K–8 journey for the entire school community.
Compensation and Benefits
- The full-time equivalent salary range for this position is $150,000.00-$220,000.00.
- We offer a compensation and benefits package that includes fully paid employee medical, dental, vision, life insurance for employees, employer contributions toward dependent coverage, a generous retirement plan match with retirement planning support, short-term/long-term disability insurance, a flexible spending account, employee assistance program and free lunch.
- Additional benefits include professional development opportunities, tuition discounts for employees’ children attending MCDS, and up to four weeks of additional paid support (coordinated with state benefits) when welcoming a new child. Eligibility requirements apply.
- In deciding whether to apply for a position at Marin Country Day School, you are strongly encouraged to consider whether your values align with the School’s.
- The School does not provide employment visa sponsorship. All employees must be authorized to work in the United States as a condition of employment.
To Apply please send a cover letter, resume, and statement of education philosophy to employment@mcds.org.
Marin Country Day School is an Equal Opportunity Employer – we do not discriminate against any employee or job applicant on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, or sex. We welcome applications from people of color and those with experience outside the education field. Please note: MCDS does not sponsor employment visas. Being authorized to work in the U.S. is a precondition of employment.