Company Description

About the Organization 

KIPP Public Schools is a national network of tuition-free public charter schools that prepares students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all. We are a network of 275 schools, nearly 16,500 educators, and 175,000 students and alumni.

Our mission: Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world. 

Our vision: Every child grows up free to create the future they want for themselves and their communities. 

The KIPP Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports KIPP schools across the country. The KIPP Foundation trains and develops outstanding educators to lead KIPP public schools; provides tools, resources, and training for excellent teaching and learning; promotes innovation; and facilitates the exchange of insights and ideas across KIPP and other public schools and organizations. 

About Our Values:

• Focus on Excellent Results: Winning for Children and Families – Denying people of color and people experiencing economic hardship excellent outcomes from public organizations is longstanding and only perpetuates inter-generational racism and poverty. We pursue excellence at a world-class level because our children and families deserve nothing less. We focus on excellent results, generated by excellent daily action because intentions alone will not enable our children to lead fulfilling lives. 

• Courageous Action: We do Hard Things All day, Every Day – Our work is centered on reversing the impact of generational racism and poverty on children of color from low-income families. This work is inherently challenging and will never be easy. Our mission requires that, through concerted action, we embrace, confront, and overcome adversity. 

• Resilient Solutions Focus: Find a Way or Make One – We doggedly pursue solutions to every problem we confront. For every problem, we find or invent a solution. We are smart, optimistic, and thoughtful in crafting solutions, but also timely, recognizing that our children only have one life to live. We embrace a growth mindset, believing that simply because we have not achieved our ultimate aims today does not mean that we cannot tomorrow. We chase the continuous improvement of ourselves, our interpersonal relationships, our teams, and our organization.

Job Description

About The Position 

The Vice President of School Culture Support must be committed to the belief that creating strong school environments is essential for our students’ long-term success and for our students’ social, emotional, and academic health. This person will manage a School Stabilization and Support team of four former school and/or network leaders in executing a hands-on turnaround strategy at approximately 10% of KIPP schools where school culture is impeding student learning and teacher and leader effectiveness in executing One KIPP Priorities. This leader should have a proven track record of school turnaround at multiple school levels (K-4, 5-8. 9-12) and experience in managing school leaders. This role will require ample travel to these pre-selected schools within regions across the country allowing for an intensive level of support in executing a school turnaround strategy and ensuring a strong transition to local leaders. We are looking for creative, resilient leaders with a track record of success in both stabilizing and regrowing strong culture to bring schools more fully into the KIPP vision. 

Responsibilities 

Managerial Leadership and Team Development 

• Manages four teammates to execute an intensive turnaround strategy in approximately 10% of KIPP Schools where culture is significantly impeding student learning and teacher effectiveness. Builds a strong, cohesive team culture that reflects core KIPP Foundation values. 

• Works in collaboration with the Senior Vice President, Schools of Regional and School Support to hire and onboard well-qualified teammates who embody the mission and beliefs of KIPP. 

• Serves as a thought partner to direct reports as they lead their respective school turnaround efforts. 

• Coaches and supports direct reports to on key skills and strategies necessary to deliver on school turnaround outcomes. 

• In relevant schools and regions, works alongside regional leaders who manage principals to meet school turn around milestones.

• Participates in systematic performance evaluation of regional leaders leveraging agreed upon school turn around milestones. 

Educational Leadership & School Culture Support 

• Leads effective, impactful, school culture support site visits that drive support and accountability across all aspects of strong school culture. 

• Tracks system-wide goals, and monitors and reports back to the Senior Vice President, Region and School Support, regularly, on the progress toward achieving the goals 

• Supervises regional leaders in continually aligning school culture programs with the mission, beliefs, priorities, and initiatives of KIPP 

• Institutes strong accountability systems and professional development opportunities for regional leaders 

• Works with the regional leaders to develop and implement long range plans for curriculum, instructional evaluation, and school improvement to implement within and beyond school stabilization efforts 

• Ensures that regional leaders have a clear plan for improvement of instruction and school culture 

• Engages regional leaders in quarterly academic program analysis 

• Supports long-term and annual school planning

• Keeps informed of current educational thoughts, trends, and practices, as well as proposed legislation impacting the schools; informs principals of significant developments in these areas 

School Culture Expertise & Knowledge Management 

• Plans and implements school culture professional development for the regional and school leaders 

• Supports regional leaders in the creation and implementation of effective professional development opportunities for their staff 

• Develop and track systems for best practices in the network on school culture 

• Create resources that highlight network strengths and opportunities in developing school cultures grounded at the intersection of anti-racism, equity, liberation, and student success 

• Co-create measures and track data that demonstrates we are making progress on school culture throughout the network 

• In partnership with the Equity Team, develop strategy in ensuring we are effectively designing and supporting the network in liberatory consciousness and effective school culture practices 

• Partner with other teams within the KIPP Foundation to ensure a shared approach to school culture is embedded in all programming and professional development opportunities 

KIPP Foundation Schools Team Leadership 

• Collaborates with other VPs of School Support to share bright spots, challenges, and informs KIPP School Team leadership about the programs, practices, and challenges within your school culture support portfolio. 

• Ensures that the schools are working toward eventual full alignment with and integration into all aspects of KIPP requirements 

• Recommends to the Senior Vice President, Regional and School Support system-wide goals, and monitors and reports back to the Chief of Schools, regularly, on the progress toward achieving the goals

• Works with KIPP Foundation network team to ensure that all the development, talent, operations, technology, HR, and finance needs of the schools are met 

Qualifications

Skills

• Mission & Student Focus: Demonstrated commitment to education equity; a passion for KIPP’s mission; desire and ability to uphold KIPP’s values (Focus on Excellent Results, Courageous Action, and Resilient Solutions Focus) 

• Team Leadership & Talent Development: Set a tone and culture that enables team leadership to maximize individual strengths and address areas for development; foster a talent culture that plans for succession and retention of key players and communicates an employee value proposition to promote performance, sustainability, and engagement. 

• Relentless Focus on Solutions and Results: Set culturally competent and ambitious goals with team to achieve measurable outcomes; create an environment in which all systems and processes support high levels of efficiency to ensure that chief priorities are accomplished successfully; champions the ongoing spirit of improvement and professional growth across the organization while holding teams accountable to results. 

• Critical Thinking and Strong Judgement: Strong racial justice analysis, critical thinking, strategic planning, and restorative practice experience; ability to problem solve and to navigate and lead through complexity; effectively leverages data effectively for strategic decision-making and driving improvement; can make courageous yet necessary decisions in the interest of students and families with experience working with and in the interests of communities of color; Systems-level thinker who can co-develop and execute on a vision for how KIPP should continue to approach school culture work 

• Process & Project Management: Can effectively manage complex projects with multiple stakeholders to deadlines while balancing multiple short- and long-term projects; demonstrates disciplined, independent, and innovative approach to translating strategy into priorities and project plans, even in unstructured spaces; continually applies strong attention to detail to the execution of all projects and constantly looks for ways to improve and to scale learning quickly.

• Stakeholder Management and Influence to Impact: Has the interpersonal, diplomatic, relationship building, and communications skills necessary to develop successful working relationships with diverse constituents, including region school leaders and senior leaders; ability to engage and drive senior leadership and key stakeholders toward target outcomes without direct authority; can effectively share complex information and translate for end users; responds promptly to concerns and ensures that stakeholders are aware of actions that are being taken and explains the rationale for decisions and/or outcomes to the stakeholder 

• Champion for Racial Justice and Commitment to Equity: Experience developing classrooms and schools that are committed to creating environments that are inclusive of various racial identities, gender identified and LGBTQIA students and adults; Understands the complexities of school culture and the holistic approach of creating inclusive schools

Experience and Qualifications 

• 5 years of exemplary teaching experience with strong student achievement results

• 5 years exemplary school leadership and meeting student outcome goals. 

• 5 years of direct in-school experience working with kids and teachers creating inclusive schools and educational experiences 

• 10 years effective team management and leadership experience

• Strong racial justice analysis, critical thinking, strategic planning, and restorative practice experience 

• Passion for KIPP’s mission and values 

• Bachelors’ degree required; Master’s degree in education or related education field, preferred 

Additional Information

Work Conditions 

• Travel requirements: Willingness to travel 40% of the time 

• Full-time exempt role 

Location 

It is preferred, but not mandatory for this role to be based out of a KIPP Foundation office. This role also offers the option of working from a remote office full-time. KIPP Foundation office is in NYC and Chicago.

Compensation and Benefits

In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, and relevant experience. The salary range for this position is $190,000-$235,500. In addition, KIPP Foundation provides a variety of benefits to employees, including: 

• 25 holidays for 18 days additional flexible PTO days (flexible PTO increases to 23 days for years 3 and 4 and to 28 days for years 5 ). 

• 100% paid parental leave 

• 100% coverage of the premium for employee and 75% for employee family’s medical/dental/vision plans. 

• Wellness benefits such as fitness reimbursements, discounted tickets to theme parks/attractions, backup care support for children and adults/elders, and our employee assistance program 

• Finance Security benefits include such as a 401K retirement plan with 4% match, employer-sponsored legal plans, life/disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts 

KIPP Foundation embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of the students and communities with whom we work and the world that around them. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.