Who We Are
Serving more than 3,300 scholars in six schools across two cities; Jackson, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee, RePublic Schools is the only school network solely dedicated to reimagining public education in the South.
Part of reimagining education in the South means that we confront the historic inequities that work against our scholars and actively work to dismantle those inequities. We are doing this by intentionally creating environments that embrace, honor, and celebrate our scholars’ identities and experiences, as well as the identities and experiences of every member of our community.
RePublic Schools is seeking an innovative, dynamic Network Director of Student Supports to lead our K-12 student supports, and ELL/ESL program across the network. The Director will set our program vision that aligns to the RePublic vision, execute the program across all of our campuses, develop school leaders in the student support program’s vision and execution, and champion our Core Values and Instructional Principles, specifically Lead for Racial Equity and All means All. The Network Director of Student Supports is responsible for bringing both this principle and this core value to life for all of our scholars.
This position can be based out of our Nashville or Jackson home office. Up to 25% annual travel will be required during the school year to be in person in the other region to support Student Supports leaders and teachers development and curriculum support.
What You’ll Do
- Set the Vision for the Student Support Program. What does it mean to all, actually all, black and brown students? What are the mindsets, instructional practices, and systems that must be in place? As the director, you will set an antiracist vision that speaks to the needs of all learners.
- Lead on the Vision. Each school has its own Director of Student Support (DSS) and Student Support program. You are going to lead the execution of your vision across the schools and networks, and work with the DSSs to live out that vision at their campuses.
- Coordinate Core Student Support Program Systems. Coordinate school leaders and teachers in maintaining quality control of core systems integral to teaching, learning, and compliance, such as assessment, IEP management, strong instruction, and reporting.
- Lead Professional Development. With the school-based Student Support teams, develop professional development sessions that support building the right mindsets about ELL/ESL students, the program, the skill and capacity of our school-based talent. This development will directly address biases that exist within schools and implement the systems needed to ensure all learners can.
- Lead Horizontally. You’ll sit on a network team of departmental leaders, such as the directors of math and literacy. You’ll work with the Directors team to set a vision for how all teachers, SS or core content, live out the vision that all scholars can.
- Coaching and Observations. Conduct focused observations 2-4 times a month to push content-specific instructional practices, improve implementation of the program, gather information on best practices and pilot new projects. Develop the instructional eye of school leaders through focused co-observations and feedback, in partnership with other Academic Directors.
- Analyze Data. Deeply analyze student achievement data (student work samples, weekly quizzes, interim assessments and state tests) to determine how to better develop our program and provide targeted, high quality teacher training.
- Manage Diagnostics and Progress Monitoring. Develop systems to track and monitor progress of students with special needs and communicate the progress with key stakeholders (students, staff, and families), and to manage the implementation of all RTI (Response To Intervention) testing at the school level for all students.
- Select and Manage Best-in-Class Service Providers. Set a vision for the ways in which we partner with external providers. Lead and build relationships with service providers (consultants and agencies) to ensure high quality, holistic services are in place for scholars on school caseload.
- Oversee our Network Compliance and Reporting. Set a vision for how we manage and prioritize compliance. Ensure that our scholars are 100% compliant and up to date with all IEPs and reporting for school caseloads. Maintain communication and relationships with district and state partners who support school’s work in student support.
- Build and Maintain Strong Relationships. Success in this role depends on your ability to develop strong working relationships with Directors of Student Support, their principals and assistant principals, and the Student Support Teachers and ELL/ESL Teachers. The strength of those relationships will determine the pace of development of the program.
Who You Are
Deeply invested in serving kids. You believe that all scholars, regardless of background, are capable of excellence, that structural and individual bias keeps students from succeeding, and that it’s on us as adults to change that. You speak knowledgeably about our mission, and educational model.
- Radically committed to building antiracist, achievement-oriented, loving schools for all learners. You are committed to eliminating inequities in education for scholars in the South. You are inspired by our Core Values and committed to living and working within them.
- An instructional and education visionary. To lead our leaders, teachers, and scholars, you must have a deep understanding of excellent instruction and at least three years of teaching experience and school leadership with a demonstrated track record of exceptional student outcomes.
- Deeply knowledgeable about student support. You have led a student support program at a school for at least two years, and you are proud of the impact that your leadership has had on scholars. You are well versed in both compliance and instruction, and you are ready to set a programmatic vision to drive the success of our students and special education teachers and leaders. You are preferably certified in SPED and/or ESL.
- Exceptional collaboration, communication, analytical and influencing skills. Your success depends on your ability to move other people to see your vision and to act to achieve it. You build relationships across lines of difference, inspire and motivate others to buy into your vision, navigate challenging conversations with finesse, make tough calls, communicate effectively in all formats, give and receive feedback fluidly, and model/hold a high bar for adult excellence and exuberance.
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