Middle School Principal

Middle School Principal Role

The Schenectady City School District is committed to the elimination of race, economics, and disability as predictors of student achievement. SCSD is seeking an innovative leader with an equity and culturally responsive mindset, vision, and skills to lead the school to excellence and recognition. The Middle school principal must be willing to be an advocate, organizational developer, and an agent of cultural change. He or she must provide evidence of and commitment to developing a culture of high expectations for students, staff, and families as well as implementing research-based instructional practices, using data to monitor, measure, and improve student achievement. A Middle School principal should provide leadership in creating a learning environment that encourages innovation, creativity, and student success. This position requires a high degree of skill in engaging visionary leadership, effective instructional practices, intensive academic interventions, explicit acknowledgment of race, and parental and community engagement driven by equity and culturally responsive practices.

Middle School Principal Expectations

• Demonstrated expertise in the use of data-driven instruction to support all students and to tailor interventions based on student lived experiences;
• Proven ability to motivate staff and students to achieve equity and excellence;
• Supervision and evaluation of staff and programs;
• Master Scheduling;
• Knowledge of content and behavioral standards, instructional and assessment practices that incorporate research-based strategies and methodologies, while ensuring alignment with equity and culturally responsive practices;
• Team development and leadership skills that engage staff on continuous learning;
• Ability to work collaboratively with staff members, and administrators of all backgrounds;
• Ability to build strong relationships with diverse students, staff, parents, and the community;
• Administers the overall school program using principles driven by equity;
• Capacity to identify, diagnose, and prioritize key issues;
• Maintains a safe and orderly learning environment using restorative and positive behavioral supports;
• Supervises and evaluates all teaching and support staff within the school by creating a positive and creative culture that is aligned with District APPR, MPPR, and other evaluation guidelines;
• Provides instructional leadership for the school by analyzing and interpreting student data to make sound instructional decisions;
• Creates a positive, high-expectations, and high support academic environment for students and staff;
• Assigns and schedules teachers and staff to best meet student needs;

• Develops and maintains a fiscally morally responsible budget that meets student, staff, and community needs;
• Attend parent conferences and team meetings as needed;
• Foster and maintain positive and respectful relationships between home, school, and the community that sustains continuous communication and collaboration;
• Defines problems, collects data, establishes facts, and draws valid conclusions using an Equity and Culturally Responsive lens;
• Performs other duties as assigned by the Superintendent
• Participates in district-wide activities, professional development, and committees.

Middle School Principal Key Qualities

• Establish leadership approach aligned with systems and a school culture that nurtures those whose first language is not English; those who live below the poverty line; those who are from unrepresented groups; those who have learning differences; and those who are marginalized and underserved due to their immigration status, sexual orientation, religious preferences, and geographic location;
• Embrace, celebrate, deeply understand, and build on the richness of diversity school-wide;
• Integrate and marry diversity and equity within every aspect of school building;
• Committed to developing environments, systems, and practices in ways that provide students with what they need based on careful attention to student circumstances;
• Prevent and dismantle punitive disciplinary policies that harm students academically and socially;
• Provide assistant principals, social workers, school counselors, and teachers opportunities to develop and improve their practices;
• Advanced skills for effective delegation and follow-through;
• Attract teachers who know their content and subject matter well and understand how to align student experiences with instructional practices;
• Develop systems to make sure families and communities are actively involved in the education of their children;
• Strive to increase the teacher of color pipeline in your school;
• Focus more on continuous learning organizationally, curriculum, and instruction and less discipline;
• Establish a culture that focuses on helping students develop a life-long love of learning;
• Acknowledges that without high-quality teaching, increased hours of instruction do not equal increased learning. The increase in learning is directly dependent on the quality of the teaching.