Lower School Principal

LOWER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL - ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Atlanta Classical Academy (“ACA”) is seeking a Lower School Principal in advance of its 2022-2023 academic year.

JOB OVERVIEW

Reporting to the Head of School, the Principal is responsible for the academic performance, culture, and discipline in grades Kindergarten through 6th grade.  Responsibilities include the following:

• Lead students and teachers in pursuit of the school’s Mission, Core Virtues, and Values;
  • Serve as the principal teacher: select, develop, teach, and inspire the faculty;
  • Build consistency and quality in the teaching of reading, writing, and spelling vis a vis an explicit phonics program;
  • Build consistency and quality in the teaching of math, and find the optimal balance between conceptual learning, practice, and drill;
  • Establish cohesive, age-appropriate executive function system to help students and teachers learn organization and study skills;
  • Articulate and enforce age-appropriate standards and consistency in the following areas: homework type and amounts, grading standards, relative difficulty, expectations for communications with parents, timeliness of grade inputs, culture, discipline, decorum and emphasis on virtue, particularly self-government;
  • Accelerate the learning and performance of less experienced teachers;
• Oversee and direct an academic plan that embraces and upholds the following key characteristics:
  • The centrality of the Western tradition in the study of history, literature, philosophy, and fine arts;
  • A rich and recurring examination of the American literary, moral, philosophical, political, and historical traditions;
  • The use of explicit phonics instruction leading to reading fluency, and the use of explicit grammar instruction leading to English language mastery;
  • The teaching of Latin;
  • The acknowledgement of objective standards of correctness, logic, beauty, weightiness, and truth intrinsic to the liberal arts;
  • A school culture demanding moral virtue, decorum, respect, discipline, and studiousness among the students and faculty;
  • A curriculum that is content-rich, balanced and strong across the four core disciplines of math, science, literature, and history;
  • A faculty where well-educated and articulate teachers explicitly convey real knowledge to students using traditional teaching methods rather than "student-centered learning" methods;
  • A school that uses technology effectively but without diminishing the faculty leadership that is crucial to academic achievement;
• Ensure the school meets academic requirements required by law and the Charter Agreement;
• Oversee the special education teachers and maintain compliance with federal IDEA requirements for students with disabilities;
• Cooperate with other members of the leadership and support teams;
• Manage professionally a broad base of constituents including employees, charter authorizers, philanthropic donors, the public, and students and their families.

PERSONAL QUALITIES OF LOWER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

• Have enthusiasm for ACA’s mission and the ability to promote classical education as a speaker, writer, and teacher;
• Have an authentic interest in becoming part of the fabric of the geographic region and the school community;
• Possess the highest standards of integrity and a strong moral and ethical character;
• Possess a strong sense of organizational ownership;
• Foster an intellectual atmosphere that calls students towards a serious depth of inquiry and sense of wonder;
• Generate trust and confidence by others in his or her leadership by exhibiting the following behaviors and characteristics: integrity, transparency, clear communication, truthfulness, decisiveness, listening, equanimity, collaboration, approachable, winsomeness, kindness, and humility;
• Have a “deep keel” – a secure sense of self that results in steady, unflappable leadership;
• Be intellectually curious, have a cooperative spirit, constantly eager to improve;
• Communicate effectively in both oral and written forms; and
• Maintain a high degree of energy and personal productivity, and to effectively manage the productivity of others.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrable success in producing sustained academic outcomes in elementary school (K-6) and the desired school culture in a similarly sized classical school;
• Deep and genuine expertise in elementary, classical education;
• Experience with an explicit, Orton Gillingham-based phonics program,  Singapore math, and a content-rich curriculum like the Core Knowledge sequence
• The ability to teach well and to coach teachers to greater degrees of effectiveness;
• Demonstrable skill in fostering positive, productive relationships and outcomes in a small school environment;
• Experience in personnel management, including recruiting and hiring, supervising, and evaluating, and individual and organizational development;
• No less than a graduate degree in one or more of the liberal arts or a related field of study;
• Experience reporting directly to an executive supervisor;
• Experience dealing with people of diverse backgrounds and constituents with competing agenda.

ABOUT ATLANTA CLASSICAL ACADEMY

Atlanta Classical Academy (“ACA”) is a public charter school open to students in the Atlanta Public Schools district. Now in its eighth year, it currently employs 86 faculty members and 23 staff members. The school serves approximately 690 students in grades K-12 and has over 1,200 on its wait list. In 2019, Hillsdale College awarded ACA the Henry Salvatori Prize, a national award for excellence in teaching.

Atlanta Classical Academy is a mission-driven organization that aims to develop students in mind and character through a classical, content-rich curriculum that emphasizes the principles of virtuous living, traditional learning, and civic responsibility.  The purpose of a classical education is to provide a context for academic growth and for growth in wisdom, virtue, and eloquence.  It follows that the curriculum is designed not only to hone skills and develop content knowledge, but also to develop students’ habits of personal and civic virtue.

In Kindergarten through eighth grade, the curriculum is modelled on the Core Knowledge sequence and the framework set forth by Hillsdale College’s Barney Charter School Initiative (“BCSI”).  Other foundational elements of ACA’s approach include: Explicit phonics instruction with an intentional focus on language and literacy, including spelling, grammar, vocabulary, sentence diagramming, and writing; Mathematics taught using the Singapore Method which requires students to work with physical manipulatives and pictorial representations before moving to abstract symbols and algorithms; Spanish taught K-5 with Latin and Greek roots introduced in 4th and 5th grade, and Latin required in 6th - 8th grade; Text-centered, teacher-led instruction fostering Socratic inquiry and discussion starting in 5th grade; Visual and performing arts classes that emphasize theory, history, and performance; and Memory work, recitation, and public speaking are cultivated through practice.

MISSION, VISION & VALUES

Atlanta ClassicalAcademy delivers an American-classical liberal arts curriculum.

Its mission is to develop students in mind and character 

through a classical, content-rich curriculum that emphasizes

the principles of virtuous living, traditional learning, and civic responsibility.

Its organizational values include:

• Commitment to the tenets of classical, liberal arts education;
• Community and partnership in the common pursuit of forming intelligent, virtuous citizens;
• Excellence in teaching and learning;
• Personal responsibility and the school’s core virtues: courage, courtesy, honesty, perseverance, self-government, service.

Atlanta Classical Academy is an equal opportunity employer; diverse candidates are encouraged to apply. In addition to other professional and personal credentials, the strongest candidates will be those deeply motivated by the mission, vision, and values described above.Interested candidate may apply here.

Atlanta Classical Academy | 3260 Northside Drive NW, Atlanta, GA | atlantaclassical.org