Elementary School Principal

Duties

Elementary School Principal

Revised 12/30/23

Perm/contract:

12 month

Department:

Elementary School Administration

Primary Reporting Location:

TBD

Level:

School-Based Leadership Team

Salary:

Commensurate with experience

Date Available:

July 1, 2024

About the District

Oak Park Elementary School District 97 is a PK-8 elementary school district serving the students of Oak Park in Cook County, Illinois. Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census. The district consists of 8 elementary schools and 2 middle schools which serve 5,532 students.

Oak Park School District is a highly diverse and welcoming school community for all. Our community has a history of being forward-thinking and inclusive. We are racially and economically diverse with about 46% of our students identifying as African-American, Hispanic, multiracial, or Asian.

About the Role

The Principal plays a pivotal role as an instructional leader in our district elementary schools. The principals orchestrate a complex, dynamic, and collaborative learning community each and every day where students and student learning are always the central focus. They prioritize the school improvement process with an emphasis on curriculum and instruction, social/emotional support integration, and teacher development for an inclusive school culture. Building strong relationships with parents, teachers, staff, and the wider community is paramount. The principal should serve as a bridge between the school and its stakeholders, ensuring open communication, collaborative decision-making, and a shared commitment to student success.

We seek a principal who actively incorporates diverse perspectives into the curriculum, celebrates cultural events, and fosters an inclusive environment that appreciates and respects the diversity within our student body. Their role also involves attracting, developing, and retaining effective talent in line with the district's equity commitments as expressed in Board Policy 7:12: Ensuring Racial and Educational Equity.

Essential Skills and Responsibilities:

• Living A Mission, Vision, and Beliefs Focused on Results:

• Leads with an unrelenting commitment to serve ALL students.

• Champions the vision of the school district

• Ensures vision and mission drive school decisions

• Confronts low expectations

• Conducts crucial conversations based on student performance data for purpose of enhancing student learning

• Leading and Managing Systems Change:

• Demonstrates the ability to organize teams to achieve common goals.

• Develops, implements, and monitors outcomes of the school improvement plan and student achievement data to improve student learning

• Creates safe, clean, orderly learning environment

• Collaborates with staff to achieve school improvement plan targets

• Utilizes current technologies to support leadership and management functions

• Align resources to improve teaching and learning

• Improving Teaching and Learning:

• Works with and engages staff in a shared vision for effective teaching and learning by implementing a standards-based curriculum, relevant to student needs and interests, research-based effective practice, academic rigor, and high expectations for student learning in every classroom

• Implements curricular scope and sequence

• Reviews instructional practices

• Creates continuous improvement cycle

• Implements data-guided decisions and instruction

• Selects and retains teachers that maximize student learning

• Evaluates the effectiveness of teaching and holds teachers accountable

• Ensures professional learning for teachers that enhance student learning

• Promotes the use of technology to enhance student learning

• Building and Maintaining Collaborative Relationships:

• Creates, develops and sustains relationships that result in active student engagement in the learning process

• Utilizes meaningful feedback of students, staff, families, and community in the evaluation of school programs and policies

• Proactively engages families and communities in support of both their child's and the school goals

• Demonstrates an understanding of the change process

• Develops and strengthens collaboration and professional learning with other schools, as well as local, regional, national and international communities

• Serves on committees and participates in projects at the request of the Superintendent.

• Leading with Integrity and Professionalism:

• Treats all people fairly and with dignity and respect. Protects the rights and confidentiality of students and staff

• Demonstrates personal and professional standards and conduct that enhance the image of the school and the education profession

• Creates and supports a climate that values, accepts, and understands diversity in culture and point of view.

• Recognizes strengths of diverse population

• Creates a culturally responsive climate

• Engages in courageous conversations about diversity

• Expands opportunities for all students to learn from and work with highly qualified and diverse staff

• Actively seeks feedback, including critical feedback intended for professional growth.

• Creating and Sustaining a Culture of High Expectations:

• Embraces the connection between public school leadership, student learning, and equity.

• Builds a culture of high aspirations and achievement for every student

• Requires staff and students to demonstrate consistent values and positive behaviors aligned to the school's vision and mission

• Leads a school culture and environment that successfully develops the full range of students' learning capacities - academic, creative, social-emotional, behavioral, and physical

• Builds an environment that considers all aspects of wellness: physical, nutrition, health, safety, decisions and choices, mental as well as physical well-being.

Content Knowledge Required:

• Knowledge of Illinois School Code with regard to Principal evaluation.

• Knowledge of PERA

• Knowledge of federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations governing

administration of personnel in the public school setting.

• Knowledge of laws and legal standards pertaining to employee relations and human resource management.

• Knowledge of teacher evaluation practices.

• Knowledge of the D97 Effective Student Behavior Handbook and Practices

• Knowledge of Restorative Practices

Candidate Qualifications:

• Appropriate Illinois Administrative Licensure Professional Educator License (PEL) with a General Administrative endorsement.

• Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Master's degree in Education or a related field.

• 5 + years of classroom teaching experience at the elementary school level.

• Successfully completed all PERA module designations required to evaluate assistant principals and teachers.

• Readiness and eagerness to be available to support the district beyond the regular work day as needed.

• Previous experience in the management of, or administration of, organized athletic leagues and competitions is preferable.

Physical Requirements:

This position requires the performance of light work-which requires exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently to move objects. The position includes close visual acuity, frequent talking, hearing, walking, climbing stairs and standing, occasional lifting, carrying, pushing, and/or pulling, some stooping, kneeling, crouching, and/or crawling, and significant fine finger dexterity. The job is performed in non-hazardous environments and a clean atmosphere. The position requires indoor and outdoor supervision during varying temperatures and climatic conditions.

How to Apply

Apply through Frontline:

Applications are currently being accepted for this exciting leadership position via the district website.

Link to District/Third Party Online Application Web Page

https://www.applitrack.com/d97/onlineapp/default.aspx?all=1

School District

https://www.op97.org/

Position Website

https://www.applitrack.com/d97/onlineapp/default.aspx?all=1

ILearn Link

ILearn

Report Card Link

District Report Card

Job Posting Date

4/18/2024

Application Deadline

7/1/2024

Start Date

4/18/2024