26-27 Dean of Culture - High School

High School Dean of Culture

Organizational Overview

By 2025, KIPP DC will build upon two decades of proven results to develop into a more impactful, innovative, and inclusive school system that provides joyful, identity-affirming learning experiences so that all students and alumni achieve extraordinary outcomes.

Our work is grounded in a commitment to excellence, equity, and justice. We believe all students have the right to rigorous, relevant, and joyful learning experiences led by exceptionally talented and diverse educators who promote student achievement and a sense of belonging. We believe students and teachers best succeed when surrounded by an ecosystem of supports, including our central headquarters team that supports KIPP DC’s 20 schools and 2 programs, 7,300 students, and 1,300 teachers, leaders, and staff members dedicated to this mission.

Position Overview

The Dean of Culture’s job is to support Legacy College Preparatory High School in driving strong student culture and by extension, strong experiences academic outcomes as a member of the school’s leadership team. Deans of Culture build strong relationships with staff, students and families and have a deep understanding of both the purpose and structures of behavioral systems. Deans of culture rely on both these relationships and systems to plan for and respond to student behavioral needs. While Deans of Culture may or may not directly manage teachers and/or staff, all Deans of Culture are responsible for setting the standards with student interactions, and upholding systems surrounding student behavior and building staff capacity .

This specific role will be supporting our Legacy team (teachers, students, and families) at Legacy College Prepatory. This is an exempt role, reporting to the principal and serving on the school leadership team. This is a full-time, in-person role.

Key Responsibilities

• Vision and Goals
• Support development of school leader’s school-wide vision and takes an active role in investing and mobilizing teachers to achieve the collective goals of the school; owns the implementation of school wide systems regarding student culture.
• Alongside school leader, support the planning and goal setting for their teams and teachers and ensure alignment with school-wide goals
• Support identification and action towards equity challenges within the school
• Articulate how their actions and body of work connect to KIPP DC's goal of becoming an anti-racist organization
  
  

• Plan and Prioritize
• Collaborate with principal and leadership team in determining implementing systems and initiatives around school and team priorities
• Prioritize and manage own time to deliver on short and long-term goals or priorities
• Support teachers in planning and prioritizing their time
  
  

• School Culture
• Lead an affirming and joyful culture for students; monitor, follow in and refine PBIS systems
• Supports teachers in leading classrooms with high-quality Tier 1 student learning and engagement and develops and supports Tier 2 and 3 plans for specific students
• Plans for and predictably responds to student behavior that doesn't meet school culture expectations. Coaches, supports and follows up with teachers in service of empowering them to do the same
• Work with staff and families to build an inclusive school environment for special populations (i.e. students with IEPs, students with 504s, ELL students, new students, students with HCYP status, etc.)
• Reliably lead and support daily school operations (e.g. arrival/dismissal, lunch, passing period, recess)
• Builds intentional and meaningful relationships with students, their families, and school communities
• Maintain calm and poise in unpredictable, potentially stressful, situations
• Instructional Leadership
• Invest teachers and staff in a clear, inclusive instructional vision for all students; follow through on all commitments
• Be a frequent, regular presence in all classrooms and spaces you support
• Support a culture where teachers are invested in and prepared for whole staff adult learning; work with Leadership Team to facilitate engaging, effective, relevant meetings
  
  

Talent

• Build trusting, strong relationships with teachers and school staff
• Identifies high-leverage coaching focuses ground in student impact and transferability
• Identify a gap across a grade level or department and develop and execute a plan that results in improved student experiences and outcomes
• Actively and regularly communicate with principal about progress, strengths, areas of growth, and potential trajectories of individual team members
• Understand and practice fair and legal employment practices
• Effectively manages and develops teachers of a wide range of skill and experience levels by defining responsibilities, setting goals, and providing ongoing feedback and support.
• Operations Management
• Support the leadership team in executing school operational systems such as arrival and dismissal, mealtimes and attendance
• Demonstrate strong fiscal stewardship and judgment
  
  

COMPETENCIES

• Student Focus: Builds strong relationships and holds high expectations for students, holds students’ best interests in mind, keeps owns commitments to students and makes sure others do the same and builds a culture of respect for all students
• Results Driven: Communicates that delivering excellent outcomes, in student experience and academics, is a guiding priority, sets challenging goals for self and others, takes initiative to go above and beyond to to achieve results, follows through on commitments, demonstrates resilience and flexibility
• Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: Demonstrates strong judgment and data-based, timely decision-making, gathers information from multiple sources, sorts out complexity, anticipates problems, values and encourages creative and innovative ideas, thinks expansively and avoids either/or thinking
• Self-Awareness: Demonstrates understanding of own identity, privilege and power, understands strengths and weaknesses and the impact on others’ perceptions, seeks feedback and self-development, proactively asks for and willingly accepts assistance from others in a variety of roles
• Equitable Practices: Believes that equity is something that can constantly drive one’s approach, rather than a lens that can be used sometimes, defines and communicates beliefs around racial and educational equity and leans into conversations about this, creates an inclusive environment that promotes a genuine sense of belonging for school community members across lines of difference
• Impact and Influence: Is as clear on the purpose of actions as action themselves; effectively and reliably communicates "the why" to many stakeholders, adapts leadership style to influence others, takes the lead when there's a need; demonstrates growth mindset and learns from mistakes when they inevitably happen
• Empowering Others: Actively listen to other school community members; seeks to understand others’ views and needs, intentionally builds trust within and across teams of people to promote collaboration and opportunities for shared ownership, consistently demonstrates respect and appreciation for others by empathizing, valuing their time and contributions, and being available and responsive to their needs
  
  

Qualifications

KIPP DC is looking for candidates who are committed to KIPP DC’s mission that all students can learn and achieve at high levels when given the opportunity, have a strong teaching background, a commitment to creating identity-affirming learning experiences, and are looking to develop the leadership skills necessary to lead great schools. Specifically, candidates should have:

• Bachelor’s degree (required)
• Minimum of four years of teaching (required)
• Experience leading adults (e.g. grade level chair, department chair, committee chair, events lead, etc.) (required)
• Demonstrated academic results (required)
• Demonstrated judgment around student safety (required)
• Strong attendance record (required)
• Record of strong interpersonal interactions with families and staff (required)
• Experience coaching and developing teachers (preferred)
• Experience leading professional development (preferred)
• Proficiency with Google Workspace apps (preferred)
  
  

Compensation And Benefits

• When it comes to compensation, at KIPP DC we strive for clarity, equity, and to be highly competitive. We look at compensation benchmarks in schools across DC. Dean salaries are exempt and start at $86,238 and increase with years of experience. Please see the salary scale here. Instructional coaches can earn up to $5,000 in renewal add-ons to their base salary each year they return to KIPP DC.
• KIPP DC offers a robust benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurances; various voluntary benefits; and employer paid benefits such as short term disability, long term disability, life insurance, and a membership to One Medical.
• KIPP DC also offers a 403(b) retirement account with a 3% employer contribution and a 3% match with vesting after three years.
• Currently, individuals in this role have up to 10 paid sick days, 12 paid holidays, paid Thanksgiving week break, winter break, spring break, and part of summer summer break. This is subject to change and your exact schedule will be shared in your offer letter.
  
  

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

KIPP DC Public Schools does not discriminate against, or tolerate discrimination against, employees or applicants for employment on any legally-recognized basis or protected class including, but not limited to, actual or perceived race; color; national origin; immigration status (except as necessary to comply with federal, DC, state, or local law); religion; sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and related medical conditions); age; physical or mental disability; medical condition; sexual orientation; gender (including gender identity or expression); marital status (including domestic partnership status); genetic information; political affiliation; pregnancy; family responsibilities; personal appearance; veteran status; uniform service member status; status of being unemployed; status as a victim or family member of a victim of domestic violence, sexual offense, or stalking; matriculation; or any other protected class under federal, state, DC, or local law.

Click here or here to review KIPP DC’s non-discrimination policy and KIPP DC’s Title IX Coordinator’s contact information.

Equal Employment Opportunity Employer

KIPP DC Public Schools does not discriminate against, or tolerate discrimination against, employees or applicants for employment on any legally-recognized basis or protected class including, but not limited to, actual or perceived race, color, national origin, immigration status (except as necessary to comply with federal, DC, state, or local law), religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, gender (including gender identity or expression), marital status (including domestic partnership status), genetic information, political affiliation, pregnancy, family responsibilities, personal appearance, veteran status, uniform service member status, status of being unemployed, status of victim a survivor of domestic violence, sexual offense or stalking, matriculation or any other protected class under federal, state, DC, or local law.

Click here or here to review KIPP DC’s non-discrimination policy and KIPP DC’s Title IX Coordinator’s contact information.

Please Note: If you encounter difficulties submitting your application or fail to receive a confirmation email after applying, kindly reach out to Danica Cunningham at danica.cunningham@kippdc.org. Please include your name, resume, and specify the role you are applying for in your email. We appreciate your understanding and apologize for any inconvenience caused.