Posted on July 4, 2012

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Principal, Florence Griffith-Joyner Elementary School

The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools (the Partnership) was founded in 2007 as the cornerstone of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s strategy to improve education in Los Angeles. An independent, nonprofit organization, the Partnership contracts with LAUSD to transform teaching and learning in its schools so that all students have a foundation for academic excellence and personal success. The Partnership currently manages 22 of the historically lowest performing schools in LAUSD, serving approximately 17,000 students. Its schools benefit from flexibilities from LAUSD policies, the ability to work with existing staff under labor contracts, and a highly effective school transformation model while maintaining a commitment to serving all students within existing attendance boundaries.

The Partnership features several innovative programs to support school leaders, including a deep focus on teacher and leadership development, ongoing leadership coaching for all principals, direct and personalized support from the Senior Director on a regular basis, and network-wide leadership development sessions led by the Chief Academic Officer.

FLORENCE GRIFFITH-JOYNER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Florence Griffith-Joyner Elementary School, named in honor of the Olympic athlete who grew up in the nearby Jordan Downs housing project, is located in the Watts Community of South Los Angeles. Approximately 850 students in grades pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade attend Griffith-Joyner. The school serves a community that is 70% Latino, 30% African American, 39% English Language Learners and 100% economically disadvantaged. Student achievement is a paramount focus at Griffith-Joyner, and the new school leader must be prepared to dramatically accelerate student performance. Highest priorities for the campus are building relationships with teachers and families, developing systems and structures to support the instructional and operational needs of the school, and providing teachers with high quality professional development to ensure that the instructional program meets the needs of all students.

Teacher development has been and will continue to be a priority in the coming years. Providing opportunities for teachers to collaborate, facilitating peer observations, and cultivating teacher-leaders serve as the root of this work. Griffith-Joyner has recently focused on developing a Balanced Literacy approach to English Language Arts instruction. Facilitating high-quality professional development cycles for teachers will be instrumental in the shift to a Balanced Literacy model. Blended learning programs support math and literacy instruction, increasing students’ access to technology and teachers’ options for meeting students at their individual levels.

PRINCIPAL POSITION

The Partnership is seeking highly effective, transformational urban school leaders to drive change and ensure success in building and sustaining a positive academic culture and safe climate for children and adults, and reaching high levels of student achievement in all of its schools. The Principal will be responsible for ensuring that all students have the tools they need to be academically successful, that all members of the community (students, teachers, parents and guardians) have high expectations for student conduct and student achievement, and that academic performance improves significantly across the school.

The Principal will be an experienced, committed, and entrepreneurial school leader who is excited by the challenge of school transformation and who has demonstrated success at dramatically improving student achievement at a high poverty school.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Principal will be responsible for success in the following key areas:

1) Shared Vision

• Builds a shared vision for high student achievement and for college and career readiness
• Promotes a culture of shared accountability
• Effectively manages change and innovates to improve student achievement

2) Supervision of Instruction

• Supervises classroom instruction (Curriculum, Content and Pedagogy)
• Utilizes multiple data sources to inform teaching and learning and to evaluate instructional program outcomes
• Manages performance of all instructional staff through rigorous and effective evaluations

3) Investing in Teacher Quality

• Differentiates professional development opportunities to ensure growth for all staff
• Increases teacher effectiveness by hiring, placing, and retaining effective staff
• Promotes and supports leadership team and teacher leadership opportunities

4) Culture of Learning and Positive Behavior

• Creates and maintains a positive culture of learning aligned to the school’s vision and mission
• Models and sets high expectations for professional behavior

5) Family and Community Engagement

• Engages families and community members as partners and values cultures as a resource
• Maintains open lines of communication using multiple approaches to outreach

6) Systems and Operations

• Develops, implements, and monitors a clear plan for school improvement and adjusts systems and strategy based on progress
• Organizes school time effectively to support instructional and staff development priorities
• Allocates resources effectively to support shared vision and school goals
• Complies with legal and ethical requirements in relationships with all stakeholders and follows all applicable state, federal, and district policies, procedures and guidelines

  QUALIFICATIONS

  The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following qualities and qualifications:

  • Evidence of dramatic and sustained impact on student achievement; will need to provide multiple examples
  • Ability and interest in leading a diverse team of adults to high levels of performance
  • Inspiring leader, able to quickly build trust and strong working relationships with students, teachers, classified staff, parents and other community members
  • Successful classroom teaching and school leadership experience, preferably in urban schools
  • Passion for improving education and for increasing achievement and life outcomes for low-income students of color; a belief that all students can reach high levels of achievement with support from adults
  • Knowledge of research-based best practices in the field of education pedagogy including curriculum design; professional development and assessments required
  • Strong ability to understand and implement instructional practices that accelerate student achievement
  • Ability to model an open and honest dialogue with all stakeholders; someone who is able to have difficult conversations when needed in order to create the best working environment for students and adults
  • Strategic planning and project management experience preferred
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills
  • Reflective, someone who is self-aware and open to new ideas and opinions

  Application Instructions

  Please submit a resume, thoughtful cover letter and three current letters of recommendation (i.e. dated within one year) to Phyllis Bradford, Senior Director of Human Resources at employment@partnershipla.org.

  For more information, visit our website at http://www.partnershipla.org/Careers or contact Christina Legg Greenberg at (510) 250-7994 or info@redwoodcircle.org.

  Job Type: Education/Teaching
  Organization Type: Nonprofit Organizations