Principal

Position Title: Principal

Term of Employment: Full Time; 12 months

Reports To: Superintendent

Pay Information: State Salary Scale and Local Supplement

General Statement of Job

To serve as the chief administrator of a school in developing and implementing policies, programs, curriculum activities, and budgets in a manner that promotes the educational development of each student and the professional development of each staff member.

Essential Job Functions

• Develops and maintains an effective educational program consistent with state and federal guidelines and the philosophy, policies and goals of the School Board.

• Assumes responsibility for the implementation and observance of all Board policies and regulations by the school's staff and students; interprets and enforces the school system's policies and regulations.

• Conceptualizes the broad goals of the school and plans accordingly, to ensure that procedures and schedules are implemented to carry out the total school program.

• Ensures that the school program is compatible with the legal, financial, and organizational structure of the school system.

• Defines the responsibilities and accountability of staff members and develops plans for interpreting the school program to the community.

• Evaluates and counsels all staff members regarding their individual and group performance.

• Provides activities that facilitate the professional growth of the school staff and enhance the quality of the instructional program.

• Identifies the annual objectives for the instructional, extra-curricular, and athletic programs of the school.

• Ensures that instructional objectives for a given subject and/or classrooms are developed, and involve the faculty and others in the development of specific curricular objectives to meet the needs of the school program.

• Maintains high standards of student conduct and enforces discipline as necessary, according to School Board policy and the due process rights of children.

• Initiates, designs and implements programs to meet specific needs of the school; directs and monitors the development of the school's instructional program.

• Coordinates and works with the central administrative staff on school problems.

• Evaluates student progress in the instructional program by means that include the maintaining of up-to-date student data.

• Assumes responsibility for the implementation and observance of all Board policies and regulations by the school's staff and students; interprets and enforces the school system's policies and regulations.

• Maintains inter-school system communications and seeks assistance from central office staff to improve performance.

• Maintains good relationships with students, staff, and parents.

• Complies with established lines of authority.

• Orientates and assists new staff members and new students and provides opportunities for their input into the school program.

• Supervises the daily use of the school facilities for both academic and nonacademic purposes.

• Manages, directs, and maintains records on the materials, supplies and equipment, which are necessary to carry out the daily school routine.

• The principal organizes, oversees, and provides support to the various services, supplies, materials, and equipment provided to carry out the school program. The principal makes use of community resources.

• Other duties as needed and/or assigned.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Thorough knowledge of the practices, methods and techniques used in the administration and supervision of all facets of a school.

• Thorough knowledge of prescribed School Board and district policies, rules and procedures.

• Demonstrated skills in the following standards of executive leadership: strategic leadership, instructional leadership, cultural leadership, human resource leadership, managerial leadership, external development leadership and micro political leadership.

• Ability to communicate complex ideas effectively in both oral and written formats.

• Ability to motivate others to reach their fullest potential.

• Ability to operate standard office equipment and related hardware and software.

• Ability to operate standard school records software.

• Ability to learn specialized equipment and software based on district needs.

• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with associates, parents, students and the general public.

Minimum Training and Experience

• Completion of an approved program in school administration at the master's level or above with 3 to 5 years of experience as a classroom teacher or any equivalent combination of training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities.

• Must possess a license in school administration as a Principal from the State of North Carolina.

• Must possess a valid North Carolina driver's license.

Minimum Qualifications or Standards Required to Perform Essential Job Functions

• Physical Requirements: The work regularly requires standing and walking around the classroom and school. It requires the ability to communicate effectively using speech, vision and hearing. The work requires the use of hands for simple grasping and fine manipulations. The work often requires bending, squatting, reaching, with the ability to lift, carry, push or pull light weights and rarely, the lifting of weights above 30 pounds. The work occasionally handles/works with biohazards and/or risks for potential job-related injury, such as those found in a laboratory or shop environment. The work requires activities occasionally involving driving automotive equipment.

• Data Conception: Requires the ability to compare and/or judge the readily observable, functional, structural or composite characteristics (whether similar or divergent from obvious standards) of data, people or things.

• Interpersonal Communication: Requires the ability to speak and/or signal people to convey or exchange information. Includes receiving instructions, assignments or directions to subordinates or assistants.

• Language Ability: Requires the ability to read a variety of correspondence, reports, forms, articles, proposals, contracts, etc. Requires the ability to prepare correspondence, reports, forms, evaluations, contracts, policies, handbooks, budgets, etc., using prescribed formats and conforming to all rules of punctuation, grammar, diction, and style. Requires the ability to speak before groups of people with poise, voice control and confidence.

• Intelligence: Requires the ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions; to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagrammatic form; and to deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

• Verbal Aptitude: Requires the ability to record and deliver information, to explain procedures, to give oral and written instructions. Must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in a variety of technical or professional languages including educational and legal terminology.

• Numerical Aptitude: Requires the ability to utilize mathematical formulas; to add and subtract; multiply and divide; utilize decimals and percentages; and to apply the principles of descriptive statistics, statistical inference and statistical theory.

• Form/Spatial Aptitude: Requires the ability to inspect items for proper length, width and shape.

• Motor Coordination: Requires the ability to coordinate hands and eyes rapidly and accurately in using office equipment.

• Manual Dexterity: Requires the ability to handle a variety of items such as office equipment and hand tools. Must have minimal levels of eye/hand/foot coordination.

• Interpersonal Temperament: Requires the ability to deal with people beyond giving and receiving instructions. Must be adaptable to performing under stress and when confronted with emergency situations.

• Physical Communication: Requires the ability to talk and hear: (Talking: expressing or exchanging ideas by means of spoken words. Hearing: perceiving nature of sounds by ear.) Must be able to communicate via telephone.

Disclaimer

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees to this job.