Assistant Principal - Media, PA

Pay Range:

$95,000

Schedule;

Monday-Friday School Days 7:45am to 3:30pm

POSITION SUMMARY: The Assistant Principal oversees school day operations for their assigned program(s) and provides management, guidance, direction, and support for academic activities for students enrolled in the Davidson Approved Private School (APS) Program. The Assistant Principal is a key member of the Education leadership team and works collaboratively with other school leaders to set and enforce school norms, rules, routines, programming, and lesson planning. Additionally, the Assistant Principal ensures that the educational and developmental needs of every child in their program is met by ensuring teacher compliance with attendance and reporting requirements, high quality curriculum-based instruction, lesson planning, and progress monitoring analysis, as required for students. The Assistant Principal is a champion for children in their respective program; they lead by example, foster a positive school climate, and work to advance school activities through the development of daily school schedules, staff assignments for bus duty, school committees and chairs, involvement in training and technical assistance, modeling positive behaviors, fostering a culture of high parent engagement, and guiding staff in accordance with Elwyn's CORE Values.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provides supervision of assigned staff in the areas including, but not limited to, recruitment, selection, leadership, coaching, training, performance management, promotion, discipline, and termination
• Under the direction of the principal, leads assigned committees and workgroups by facilitating committee meetings, creating agendas, ensuring follow up tasks are assigned and completed to ensure effective planning and creation of school policies, procedures, and events.
• Provides guidance to staff regarding special education best practices and legal requirements, including but not limited to assessments, classroom management, organization, lesson planning, writing appropriate individualized education plans (IEPs), and other assigned areas to ensure student growth and development
• Manages IEP caseloads when there is a teacher vacancy or leave by collaborating with the Special Education Compliance and Assessment Coordinators to complete student IEPs and ensure that all required compliance timelines are met
• Oversees the health and well-being of all staff and students by ensuring the integrity of routine emergency and safety planning, leading safety drills in assigned areas, reporting hazardous or dangerous conditions, and training designated staff on safety/drill procedures to support a maximally safe process for emergency response
• Conducts staff needs assessments, identifies staff developmental and professional needs by working with the professional development staff, and ensures time is allocated for development activities to provide overall staff development in alignment with Elwyn policy and core values
• Supports crisis response and behavioral teams upon request by reviewing data on verbal de-escalation, physical assist strategies, and parties involved and by responding to critical crisis/behavioral incidents in the event of elopement, injury to staff or student, or involvement of external emergency/crisis services to facilitate leadership in crisis situations
• Assigns student teachers to experienced and highly rated teachers for supervision to enable an effective and robust student teacher training program
• Provides support for student interventions and school culture in accordance with Elwyn policy, Davidson Staff Handbook, and PA School Code to maintain a positive school climate, a safe and respectful school culture, and a supportive work environment that fosters student achievement
• Works collaboratively to instill a positive school climate by creating, implementing, and maintaining a plan for School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) that encourages all staff and students to set goals and monitor behavior
• Works with crisis response teams to ensure strict adherence to reporting procedures according to Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) regulations including, but not limited to, data on verbal de-escalation, physical assist strategies, parties involved, debriefing, and notifications
• Ensures all required data is entered into district systems and reported to PDE, Elwyn administration, school districts, etc. in a timely manner by monitoring staff compliance with data entry requirements using weekly reports and system monitoring (PowerSchool)
• Monitors the operation of the physical plant by communicating with necessary staff regarding maintenance and repairs necessary to maintain safety and security for our staff and students
• Facilitates communication with stakeholders by delegating responsibilities to staff to ensure meetings regularly occur, are agenda-driven, involve robust educational programming and compliance, have open communication, and appropriate follow-up to ensure a comprehensive and effective collaborative environment to maintain positive and collaborative relationships with program stakeholders
• Assists the Transportation Coordinator in oversight of the safe, timely, and appropriate transportation of all students to and from school by assigning staff to participate in student drop off and pick up times which includes safely directing and escorting children to and from the building, greeting bus drivers and students, checking in with students to gauge mood, illness, and or attend to their physical needs, direct observation and participation as required
• Facilitates regular education staff meetings by establishing a schedule of meetings with a clear agenda to establish and maintain open communication, sharing of ideas, collaborative problem-solving, and understanding/training of required processes to ensure an efficient and effective educational environment
• Works with, understands, and complies with terms and conditions of collective bargaining agreements (CBA) within a unionized environment with tasks including but not limited to adherence to scheduling procedures, processing transfers and promotions, administering disciplinary actions, adjudicating grievances where appropriate, etc.
• Demonstrates organization by developing and maintaining master schedules, enrichment schedules, and student/teacher assignments to ensure appropriate allocation of resources and staffing, coordination of supports, and appropriate programming for students
• Collaborates with stakeholders and staff to increase attendance for all students by supporting school attendance improvement plans to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the attendance policy and expectations Collaborates with stakeholders and staff to increase attendance for all students by ensuring that a school attendance improvement plan is developed, implemented, maintained, monitored, and communicated to all staff and families so everyone is aware of the attendance policy and expectations
• Assists in preparation and tracking of the school budget by reporting known and estimated program expenses to the Business office to ensure fiscal responsibility and financial availability of funds Serves as principal in the absence of the principal by engaging in the day-to-day duties of the school principal during the absence to ensure continuity of supervision for the school Supervises progress monitoring of students by reviewing progress reports, collaborating with staff as needed in the creation of reports, and coaching staff on best practices in progress monitoring to provide clear and consistent evidence of student progress
• Supports substitute teachers and classroom monitors by assisting with lesson plan development and progress reporting to ensure consistency with educational best practices
• Collaborates with Elwyn departments external to the school including, but not limited to, Human Resources, Maintenance, Security, Information Technology, and Payroll by following all Elwyn policies and procedures, completing appropriate paperwork and adhering to all reporting timelines/guidelines to allow for consistent communication and provision of services
• Participates on the school admissions team by collaborating with the Admissions Coordinator in conducting potential student interviews, touring potential students and families, and providing input into admissions decisions to ensure that students being enrolled have needs that can be met by the program
• Supports effective and compliant record keeping by reviewing and completing (as needed) all student records including transcripts, Individual Education Plans, and health/safety plans to ensure that all student records are accurate and current.
• Maintains awareness and compliance with all Elwyn corporate policies by reviewing policies, sharing policy information with staff, and adhering to policies to maintain an effective working environment
• Maintains a safe campus environment by following all requested policies and procedures including, but not limited to, signing in and out in available program systems, informing campus security of any activities where students are outside of the school building perimeter, and securing all entry/exit doors as appropriate after use to provide the safest possible environment for students and staff
• Performs cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), crisis intervention and medication administration using agency-trained protocols
• Performs other duties, as assigned

IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR: Director/Principal, Davidson School

DIRECT REPORTS: Teachers, Classroom Support Staff, Community Integration Specialists, Basic Skills Specialists

CONTACTS: Elwyn employees, Local Educational Agency (LEA) representatives, PDE representatives, parents/families, community agencies, external service providers, administrators

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE/SKILLS REQUIREMENTS:

• Master's degree in Education or other related field of study
• Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Certification in Special Education; PDE Principal Certification or Supervisor of Special Education preferred
• Five (5) years' teaching experience in special education
• Three (3) years supervisory experience
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively as part of a team
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage and prioritize multiple, often competing, priorities
• Demonstrated strong attention to detail
• Demonstrated strong time management and organizational skills
• Advanced knowledge of the fundamental principles and best practices in the field of special education, as well as PA special education law and regulations
• Knowledge of curricular resources appropriate for diverse student skills and needs
• Experience with collective bargaining units
• Knowledge of effective administrative and managerial practices
• Ability to utilize resources and staff effectively
• Knowledge of effective budgetary processes and school finance
• Ability to present important training and information for large groups, including, staff, students, parents, district LEAs, and community stakeholders
• Demonstrated excellent judgment with the ability to independently solve problems and make decisions with little or no need for direct supervision
• Demonstrated ability to anticipate future needed changes or identify problem areas and take effective actions
• Must possess excellent customer interaction, collaboration, presentation, and written and verbal communication skills
• Must be able to perform CPR and crisis intervention using agency-trained protocols
• Experience using/knowledge of electronic student record systems preferred
• Demonstrated intermediate experience with Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint

PHYSICAL DEMANDS/ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE: See Physical Demands Checklist below which represents the general physical demands and environment conditions to which the employee holding this position must meet, in addition to the duties and responsibilities listed above, to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Elwyn will engage otherwise qualified candidates for this position whose disabilities may require reasonable accommodations to enable an individual to perform the essential functions.

Elwyn reserves the right to revise or change job duties and responsibilities as needed. This job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive statement of duties and responsibilities of the job nor does it constitute a written or implied contract.