What are the responsibilities and job description for the Upper School Principal position at Prestonwood Christian Academy?
Mission: To assist Christian parents by helping equip students to embrace biblical truth, strive for academic excellence, and model Christ-like leadership to influence their homes, churches and communities for Christ.
Employee Profile:
Spiritually, the employee shall possess characteristics that reflect:
- Acceptance without reservation of the PCA doctrinal beliefs
- A strong clear Christian testimony
- A mature, godly spirit
- A person of faith and prayer
Personally, the employee’s life shall reflect:
- A lifestyle of biblical integrity
- A spirit of dedication, commitment, flexibility, and responsiveness
- The ability to listen and respond to counsel
- High level of respect for, and courtesy of fellow employees and volunteers
Position Summary
The Upper School Principal provides visionary, spiritual, and operational leadership for grades 9–12. This role ensures academic excellence, spiritual formation, student culture, and faculty development are aligned with the school’s mission and values.
The Principal serves as the primary leader of the Upper School division, fostering a Christ-centered environment where students flourish academically, socially, and spiritually, and where faculty and staff are supported, developed, and held to high standards of excellence.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Spiritual Leadership
- Model Christ-centered leadership in character, decision-making, and relationships
- Champion biblical integration across all academic disciplines
- Lead and support spiritual life initiatives including chapel, discipleship, and service opportunities
- Partner with families to reinforce spiritual growth and character development
- Ensure student culture reflects biblical values and school standards
Academic Leadership
- Oversee instructional quality, and academic innovation
- Ensure strong alignment of academic programs with college readiness standards
- Monitor student performance data and implement strategic improvement plans
- Collaborate with counselors on college readiness, testing, and academic planning
- Promote a culture of high expectations, intellectual curiosity, and continuous improvement
Faculty & Staff Leadership
- Recruit, develop, supervise, and evaluate Upper School faculty and staff
- Provide coaching, feedback, and professional development opportunities
- Foster a collaborative and growth-oriented faculty culture
- Hold faculty accountable to instructional, relational, and professional standards
- Lead division meetings and facilitate strategic planning initiatives
Student Life & Culture
- Oversee student discipline with a redemptive, growth-oriented approach
- Promote student leadership development and engagement
- Partner with athletics, fine arts, and extracurricular programs to support whole-student development
- Ensure a safe, orderly, and positive campus environment
Operational & Strategic Leadership
- Manage divisional budget in collaboration with central administration
- Partner with operations, admissions, advancement, and student services teams
- Ensure compliance with accreditation and regulatory standards
- Lead implementation of strategic initiatives within the Upper School
- Analyze organizational systems to ensure effective communication and reporting structures
Family & Community Engagement
- Serve as the primary Upper School ambassador to parents and the community
- Communicate clearly and consistently regarding academic and cultural expectations
- Build strong relationships with families through visibility and accessibility
- Address parent concerns with professionalism, wisdom, and alignment to school policy
Qualifications:
Education & Experience
- Master’s degree required; Doctorate preferred
- 5 years of educational leadership experience
- Experience in a college-preparatory environment preferred
- Demonstrated success in faculty supervision and culture building
- Prestonwood Baptist Church membership required
Personal Characteristics
- Mature and growing Christian faith
- Strategic thinker with strong organizational leadership skills
- Humble, coachable, and receptive to feedback
- Excellent communicator and relationship builder
- Decisive yet collaborative leadership style
Physical, Mental Requirements and Work Environment:
- Regularly sitting at the computer requiring repetitive finger motion and manual dexterity
- Up to several hours of walking and standing during events
- Subject to working more than required hours during certain event
- Ability to manage multiple coinciding projects
- Close visual acuity required for viewing a computer monitor, preparing and analyzing data and figures, transcribing and reading
- Hearing – ability to perceive sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction
- Talking – expressing ideas by means of the spoken word to convey instructions to students, parents and other workers
- Ability to communicate effectively, even in stressful situations
- Professional appearance and dress required, as this person is often the “host” of PCA-wide meetings and events
- Primarily inside, office environment with the exception of hosting or attending a few outside events throughout the year
- Occasional lifting of 5 to 25 pounds