Founding Superintendent for Classical Education

Job titleSuperintendent for Classical EducationClassification Exempt Reports toChief Academic Officer Organization UnitAdministrationApproved byHuman ResourcesEffective date6/1/2026 

We are seeking a founding Superintendent to serve as director of our Classical Education program, with the goal of opening school(s) in Ohio in August 2027. The Superintendent is a wise, energetic, and well-grounded leader. The ideal candidate is knowledgeable about classical education principles, possesses strong executive and leader development skills, and has a track record of championing moral, intellectual, and civic virtue as a means to encourage human flourishing. 

The Superintendent oversees the Principals (Headmasters) of assigned schools in all operational and instructional aspects, ensuring thorough alignment of the Performance Academies' classical education mission with organizational performance for the benefit of our students.

In the Performance Academies organization, Superintendents and Central Support take much of the burden off the shoulders of the Principal, allowing him or her to prioritize the two primary objectives of full enrollment and excellent academics.

Job purpose

The Superintendent is a wise, energetic, and well-grounded leader. The ideal candidate is knowledgeable about classical education principles, possesses strong executive and leader development skills, and has a track record of championing moral, intellectual, and civic virtue as a means to encourage human flourishing. 
The Superintendent oversees the Principals (Headmasters) of assigned schools in all operational and instructional aspects, ensuring thorough alignment of the Performance Academies' classical education mission with organizational performance for the benefit of our students.
In the Performance Academies organization, Superintendents and Central Support take much of the burden off the shoulders of the Principal, allowing him or her to prioritize the two primary objectives of full enrollment and excellent academics.

Duties and responsibilities
Primary responsibilities include:1. Instructional Leadership & Student Achievement

• Provide executive leadership and coaching to Principals and administrators, fostering a shared vision for learning and staff development aligned with the mission.
• Continuously improve the program of student achievement by applying deep knowledge of all school-level data, establishing clear priorities and direction.
• Articulate, model, and enforce high expectations for administrators, teachers, and students.
• Conduct formal Principal evaluations, teacher evaluations as needed, regular building walk-throughs, and lead or monitor the improvement practices such as BLT, TBT, and DLT.
• Hold building leaders accountable for achieving annual targets, including securing "4 Star" or equivalent state measures and qualifying for Quality Charter School status.
• Participate fully in network level planning and improvement processes, such as selection of curriculum, materials, and resources aligned with the mission, and ensuring faithful implementation.

2. Talent Management & School Culture

• Lead the talent development process for assigned schools, including recruiting, interviewing, and hiring teachers and staff who embody our mission and the values of classical education. The Superintendent must possess the acumen to build deep-bench administrative teams, and ensure all schools maintain full staffing throughout the year.
• Provide leadership, opportunities, and structure for comprehensive staff professional development and in-services to continually improve instructional effectiveness.
• Counsel with Principals regarding their staff, evaluation results, and development needs.
• Develop and execute an annual professional development plan for continued personal growth and improved performance in the role.
• Constantly articulate and instill the Performance Academies culture, ensuring the instructional environment is meeting the aims of classical education and character development. This requires a deep commitment to the mission and to preparing students for a lifetime of learning, leadership, and service.

3. Organizational Operations & Compliance

• Serve as the liaison between Principal and Central Support, coordinating routine and ad hoc resources.
• Serve as the Superintendent of record, providing essential on-site supervision and regular, meaningful status reports to senior leadership on all areas of school performance.
• Participate fully in weekly management meetings, presenting school data reports, and counseling with the Central Support team on school and network development.
• Actively monitor enrollment throughout the year, develop relationships with community leaders, develop multiple channels for new students in each neighborhood, conduct recruitment and community information events. 
• With network leadership and Principals, develop and execute the annual student progress plan and the enrollment and retention plan.
• Consistently develop and update a multi-year vision for each school, considering talent strength and neighborhood changes.
• Speak with parents regarding student behavior or attendance issues, supporting and counseling with the Principal as the situation requires.
• Work closely with the Compliance Officer throughout the year on the various routine compliance requirements, leaving the Principal free to focus on enrollment and learning.
• Manage fiscal responsibility and resources, ensuring accurate record-keeping, proper reimbursement procedures, and communicating facilities needs to the facilities resource.
• Ensure system-wide legal and regulatory compliance, including all ODEW reporting (FTE, EMIS), and strict adherence to Board policies and all staff/student handbooks/Codes of Conduct.

4. External Relations

• Liaison regularly with Marketing to actively contribute to public communications, including monitoring online/social media content, providing content/photos of school news, events, and milestones.
• Counsel with the appropriate C-level leader on matters involving the school authorizer or board.
• Promptly refer all media inquiries to the Chief Operating Officer.
• Participate fully in development of each school’s Emergency Plan and with Central Support leadership prepare for crisis situations.

Qualifications

● Master’s Degree 
● Satisfactory completion of federal and state required criminal history checks 
● At least 5 years of successful teaching experience
● Experience with data analysis
● State Principal license preferred 
● Willing to pursue Ohio Superintendent licensure 
● Curriculum and Instruction knowledge and experience  
● At least three years in a supervisory or management role 
● Proficient in computer applications, including Google Docs, MS Office Suite, e-mail, and internet

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Personal Characteristics 

● Strong leadership and building management; ability to lead staff and students effectively, communicating the mission of the school.
● The ability to motivate, develop and direct people.
● Reliable, dependable, and trustworthy work ethic; a strong sense of integrity. 
● Strong ability to gather, analyze, and interpret student data to make sound educational decisions.
● Ability to work in a diverse educational community setting. 
● Understand the community and student demographics. The ideal candidate has strong, positive local connections and the ability to develop new ones. 
● Understand state testing as well as state teaching standards.
● Exhibit sound judgment while exhibiting flexibility regarding decision-making, daily challenges, and job duties.
● Ability to manage and communicate with difficult or emotional students, staff, parents, board members, and community members 
● Ability to work well under pressure, and effectively prioritize and execute tasks to meet deadlines consistently. 
● Excellent written and oral communication skills.
● Ability to be an active listener and critical thinker and make sound judgments.

Working Conditions
 

• Ability to travel 
  • All in-person professional development opportunities must be attended in person
• Dexterity to operate a computer keyboard, mouse, and to handle other computer and other technology related components 
• Management and interaction with students, staff, parents, school board, sponsors, and  community members 
• In-person and on-site at campus and community locations

Physical Requirements
 

• Physical ability to lift up to 25 pounds 
• Standing for extended periods of time
• Ability to move around the building

This is not necessarily an all-inclusive list of job-related responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements or working conditions. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned.

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