Head of School

Jonathan Edwards Classical Academy — Head of School

Position Success Profile

Start Date: Summer 2027

Reports To: Board of Directors

Direct Reports: Assistant Head of School, Faculty leads

Key Partners: Faculty leads, Admissions, Board Development Committee

Enrollment: ~150 students, K–12 | Est. 2008 | Nashville, Tennessee

I. Why This Role Exists

Twenty minutes outside of Nashville, tucked inside of 26 acres of poplar and maple sits one of the most compelling leadership opportunities in classical Christian education today. North Nashville is home to thousands of families hungry for something beyond the failed progressive model and mere credentialing but have yet to discover the profound opportunity Christian classical education offers for the formation of their children. This is a mission field rife with potential, and it needs an electric leader fueled by a passion to see Christian families anchored in a metaphysic deep and robust enough not merely to withstand a meaning-starved culture with their faith intact, but to become the very catalyst for revival.

JECA has already built a refined K–12 scope and sequence and has a culture of low faculty turnover. It recently attained accreditation through SCL and developed a parent community engaged in the mission. The board is ambitious, committed, and ready to be a true partner in growth. They are not looking for a leader content to manage what exists but eager to galvanize the city around a life of virtue and meaning and build one of the premier flagship schools in classical Christian education in the country.

II. Core Outcomes

The Head of School exists to produce these six results. They are the fruit by which this role will be evaluated.

• Unified Mission & Leadership Culture — The board, leadership team, and faculty operate from a shared, clearly articulated understanding of JECA's mission. The Head of School fosters a culture of trust, candor, and shared purpose across every constituency, and models the character the school expects of its students.
• Faculty & Academic Excellence — Teachers are recruited, developed, and retained at a high standard. A functioning observation and feedback system is in place. Faculty feel genuinely equipped and supported and the classical program is delivered with consistency and rigor from K through 12.
• Student Formation & Outcomes — Students graduate having been genuinely formed in wisdom, virtue, and faith. The academic program produces measurable growth in literacy, reasoning, and subject mastery. Senior thesis defenses reflect the depth of formation that the school promises.
• Enrollment Growth & Family Retention — JECA grows from 150 toward 250 students over the coming years. Re-enrollment rates are strong. New families, including those from the broader north Nashville community who have not yet discovered classical education, are finding and choosing JECA.
• Advancement & Donor Development — The Head of School personally cultivates major donor relationships and builds a giving base that extends meaningfully beyond the current parent community. Annual fundraising grows toward a target established with the board. The foundation is laid for a future capital campaign.
• Financial Stewardship & Operational Integrity — The school operates within its budget, with accurate reporting and sound HR and compliance practices. The Head of School partners transparently with the board on financial health, and the organization runs with the clarity and discipline that honors donors, families, and staff.

III. Role Context

Key Partnerships

• Board of Directors — governance partner, primary accountability relationship; the Head of School brings fiscal, academic, and personnel clarity to board meetings
• Assistant Head of School — day-to-day academic and operational executor; the Head of School-AHOS relationship is the school's most important leadership partnership and should be explicitly structured
• Faculty — the Head of School shapes culture through presence, observation, genuine commendation, and hard conversations; this relationship is the engine of academic quality
• Parents & Families — especially re-enrollment and mission-alignment; the Head of School is the face of the school Donors & Community Partners — prospective major donors, foundations, church relationships, and Nashville area networks are a primary Head of School portfolio

Decision Rights (Own / Recommend / Inform)

• Own: Faculty hiring and termination; curriculum and program decisions; day-to-day operations; donor engagement strategy; community representation
• Recommend: Budget and major capital expenditures; significant policy changes; strategic direction and growth targets
• Inform: Board on all material personnel, financial, legal, and reputational matters during board check ins

IV. Character Traits (School-Wide Expectations)

These virtues are expected of every colleague at JECA — they reflect who we are called to be as a school community formed by the Gospel.

• Christ-centered humility
• Perseverance — steadiness under pressure
• Courage — willingness to lead through difficulty
• Charity — genuine love for students, families, and colleagues
• Honesty and transparency
• Prudence in judgment and decision-making
• Self-government — models the virtue the school teaches

V. Role-Specific Competencies

The ideal toolbox for a JECA Head of School. These become the basis for honest professional development — no one arrives with all of them fully stocked.

• Strategic & Visionary Leadership (casts a compelling mission narrative; articulates where the school is going and why; galvanizes board, faculty, and families around a shared direction; distinguishes urgency from importance; plans in sequences, not just goals)
• Advancement & Donor Development (builds authentic relationships with major donors outside the current parent base; makes the direct ask with confidence; tells the mission story in ways that move non-classical audiences; understands the arc from friend-raising to fundraising to capital campaigns)
• Enrollment Growth & External Presence (serves as the school's primary external face; builds awareness among North Nashville families who have not yet encountered classical education; partners with admissions on inquiry to-enrollment strategy; understands that mission clarity is the school's strongest enrollment tool)
• Instructional & Faculty Leadership (sets and communicates a clear standard for excellent teaching; conducts or oversees meaningful classroom observations; gives specific, growth-oriented feedback; coaches the AHOS to build a functioning PD and accountability system; attracts teachers who love learning)
• Talent Assessment & Team Building (quickly and accurately reads the capabilities and gaps of the leadership team and faculty; clarifies roles and decision rights; builds trust through transparency; delegates with confidence; distributes responsibility without abdicating it)
• Financial Stewardship & Operational Competence (reads and interprets financial statements; manages to a budget; understands HR, compliance, and accreditation requirements; ensures the board receives accurate, timely information; does not let administrative failures erode institutional trust)
• Board Relationship & Governance Acumen (maintains a healthy, appropriately bounded relationship with the board; keeps the board well-informed without over-involving them in operations; understands the board's proper governance role and models it in every interaction)
• Theological Articulation & Classical Formation (speaks with conviction and depth about the Christian worldview; can defend and celebrate the classical curriculum with parents, donors, and skeptics alike; connects the Great Books to the Gospel persuasively and naturally)

VI. Content Knowledge

• Classical Christian Education Tradition (the liberal arts; Great Books and the Western canon; classical pedagogy — Grammar/Logic/Rhetoric stages; the rationale for classical Christian schooling; familiarity with SCL, ACCS, or comparable frameworks)
• Christian Theology & Doctrinal Foundations (orthodox Christian faith; the school's confessional alignment; ability to lead theologically diverse classical Christian faculty with wisdom and charity; liturgical and formational practices appropriate to school culture)
• School Finance & Sustainability (budgeting, P&L interpretation, tuition-dependency risks, financial-aid strategy, earned vs. contributed revenue; what a capital campaign requires and how to sequence toward one)
• Fundraising & Advancement Principles (major gifts, annual funds, case for support development, donor stewardship cycles, CRM basics, grant landscape for Christian education)
• K–12 School Operations & Governance (accreditation processes — SCL or equivalent; state regulatory requirements for private schools in Tennessee; board governance norms; HR and employment basics for a school environment)

Competitive Salary and Benefits Package

To Apply: Send resume and cover letter to Penny Jenson, View email address on click.appcast.io