25-26 Assistant Principal of Culture

KIPP New Jersey has joined forces with Paterson Prep, a charter school in its third year of operation, to become KIPP Paterson Prep.  This partnership will provide KIPP Paterson Prep students with access to high-quality, data-driven instruction and offer our leadership and teachers exceptional professional development and coaching opportunities.

KIPP Paterson Prep is committed to educating students to lead lives of excellence, integrity, and purpose through a content-rich curriculum, inquiry-driven instruction, and a strong focus on character development. Our holistic approach ensures high academic expectations while fostering a joyful and inclusive community that respects the dignity of every student, staff member, and family. We recognize that families are a child’s first and most important educators, and this belief is central to our educational philosophy. By actively partnering with families, we create a supportive learning environment that nurtures both academic success and personal growth.

Join us in shaping bright futures and making a meaningful impact in the lives of our students and the greater Paterson community.

Role Overview:

The Assistant Principal of Culture is the ultimate conduit between all stakeholders - and their utmost priority is to enhance a culture of safety, achievement, respect, and well-being of the campus community, while building a model that instills strong and mutually respectful relationships with students, staff, and the network at large. In addition to serving on the leadership team, the AP of Culture will work closely with the School Leader to set the school’s vision, design systems and structures, and assist in key hiring for school needs. This will include spearheading performance management of all culture team members, teachers, and related staff. The AP of School Culture must have the ability to collaborate with other leaders in the building, and provide effective professional development, in order to drive outcomes for all. Other responsibilities include ensuring all compliance deadlines are met, while also leading school-wide plans for rituals, traditions, celebrations, and other duties as assigned. Finally, we expect all of our Assistant Principals to perform their role through an equity lens, with an eye toward outcomes for traditionally underrepresented students and staff members.

Core Competencies & Responsibilities

Serve as a key member of the school’s leadership team

• Actively engages with the entire team to problem solve and operationalize whole school management decisions
• Promotes focused alignment between their teams and the priorities of both the school and the region
• Monitor, analyze, interpret and share school culture data and ensure that the entire leadership team problem solves for gaps in this data

School Culture Vision

• Actively develops healthy school culture, grounded in safety and kindness, where students are able to engage and find joy in learning 
• Develop school-wide proactive and reactive procedures and routines; incentives, rewards, and consequences for student behavior; and data tracking such that the team can collect and analyze key culture data
• Craft and lead professional development on the school's vision for student culture and the corresponding routines, procedures, and consequences
• Consistently reinforce high expectations for all students and all staff - all the time
• Creates a culture in which teachers build strong and lasting relationships with all students
• Celebrates and shows appreciation regularly for teammates
• Actively develops school culture where teachers find joy in teaching and student learning
• Builds an inclusive student environment, ensuring that all student voices are heard and incorporated
• Speaks to violations of culture and holds staff accountable to values / professional infractions with interactions with kids

Talent Management

• Build strong teams characterized by trust, investment in goals, and ownership
• Work with members of culture team to set individual goals based on school-wide goals and student data
• Manage the performance of culture teammates to get outcomes for kids through O3s, observation/feedback, and professional development
• Conduct weekly O3s with direct reports and hold them accountable to goals
• Conduct regular classroom observations with members of culture team
• Identify high potential talent and develop accordingly, manage performance with the support of the school leader, manage the growth and capacity building of next-ready leaders 
• Identifies top performing teachers at regular points throughout the school year and works strategically to retain them
• Manages struggling performers through goal setting and increased support. Manages out low performers when necessary
• Develops teacher leaders, where applicable

Reactive Discipline Management & State Compliance

• Lead and drive vision and systems for reactive discipline, including student consequences and restorative practices
• Act as final decision-maker, in collaboration with school leader, for all out-of-school suspensions
• Spot trends in removals and suspension and work with culture team, classroom teachers and support staff to reduce that student's referrals and increase his/her ability to meet the school-wide culture expectations
• Ensures that all records for state SSDS system and harassment, intimidation, and bullying investigations are thorough and completed in a timely manner
• Ensures that culture team members maintain thorough and up-to-date records in response to student disciplinary incidents and teacher referrals

Community Engagement

• Lead and drive vision for proactive and reactive family engagement
• Oversee proactive school-wide family engagement structures (family events, volunteer opportunities, etc.)
• Create and teach staff to use consistent family communication systems
• Facilitate family meetings with teachers and families of students to highlight strengths and strategically plan to support improvement in areas of challenge for students
• Handle culture-based concerns brought to school leadership by families, community, or community agencies
• Communicate with families to provide updates/feedback of behavior plans for our students who need additional or targeted supports
• Attend and support at-risk for retention conferences as needed

Instructional Leadership

• Develops the capacity of teachers and/or culture team members in achieving results through observations, walkthroughs, real time coaching, and data analysis through O3s focused on student data and coaching towards goals
• Audits, analyzes, and progress monitors data weekly
• Designs and leads high quality professional development such that it results in improved teacher/culture team member effectiveness
• Ensures there’s an effective testing environment, investment, and procedures for testing
• Ensures each direct report has a high quality performance management process including regular observations, assignment of micro-goals, and thoughtful, written evaluations

Qualifications & Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution (Master’s Degree preferred)
• At least one year of experience successfully leading, managing, and coaching a team of adults with demonstrated results, preferably in a charter school setting 
• NJ Principal Certificate of Eligibility or NJ Supervisor Certification 
• Experience with a demonstrated proficiency in leading students from diverse cultural, economic, and ability backgrounds preferred
• Excellent spoken and written communication skills

Compensation & Benefits

The base pay range for Assistant Principals is $95,000-$140,000. Pay may vary, depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

In addition, we provide access to the NJ pension system and a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, depending on the position offered.

Our organization is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, gender, age, religion, national origin, citizen status, marital status, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Our organization will make a reasonable accommodation to known physical or mental limitations of a qualified applicant or employee with a disability unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the organization. No questions on this application are asked for any unlawful purpose.

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