Elementary School Principal

Elementary Principals' Job Description

St. Leo the Great Catholic Elementary School (PreK-8) is looking for a new principal to start in the 2026-2027 school year. St. Leo the Great School is renowned in the Lancaster area for its academic excellence. For the past 60+ years, our teaching philosophy has been guided by the belief that each student is a unique gift of God, created with special gifts and talents. It is our goal to nurture and develop those gifts to the benefit of the Church and the community. We maintain this goal through a Classical Education Model that draws on the Catholic Church's historical tradition of education and keeps Jesus Christ at the center.

As the principal of a Catholic school, you will have the support of the school staff, the parishes that are connected to the school, the school board, the diocesan office, and the faithful community. You will collaborate with and get to know fellow school principals who share your calling from the other 31 schools in our diocese. You will be instrumental in the formation and growth of over 300 young lives (based on current enrollment).

The Elementary School Principal in the Diocese of Harrisburg has the primary responsibility for both the spiritual and educational leadership and the administration of the school, which seeks to offer high-quality academic programs that are integrated with religious truths and values. The Elementary School Principal is directly accountable to the Pastor.

General responsibilities include administering the school according to Diocesan and local policies, giving leadership for achieving the goals of Catholic education, showing evidence of knowledge of the Catholic Philosophy of Education, working towards the creation of a Catholic community within the school, being a leader in the school faith community, integrating the goals and objectives of the school with those of local parish(es), especially in the faith formation and ongoing development of students and faculty, providing opportunities for prayer and the sacraments for staff and students, maintaining open channels for two-way communications with all segments of the school clientele, showing respect for individuals and fairness in dealing with others.

The relationship with the Board includes serving as the Executive Officer of a Board of Education, executing and implementing its policies and directives in coordination with those of the Diocesan Office of Catholic Education, reporting regularly to the Board regarding the implementation of diocesan/local policies, curriculum development, evaluation, and school concerns, preparing the necessary background material for local policy formation and for long-range planning, updating the Board on current educational trends, issues, new laws, and other in-service matters that will be useful to them, assisting the Board and the Pastor in the preparation of the annual budget and to administer and monitor the approved budget within the designated parameters, conferring regularly and frequently with the Chairperson of the Board of Education.

Leadership of faculty and curriculum development includes hiring and assigning teachers in accordance with Diocesan policies, providing orientation and ongoing in-service for the faculty according to their needs, directing and involving the faculty in an ongoing program of philosophy and Mission Statement evaluation, curriculum assessment, and planning for instructional improvement, assisting the entire faculty in the integration of the Catholic Philosophy of Education and the Classical Education Model into the curriculum, ensuring the implementation of the Diocesan Religion curriculum and a spiritual and religious formation program for the faculty and students, promoting the growth of the faculty through ongoing supervision and evaluation, diversifying the curriculum to serve the scope of abilities, talents, interests, and needs of students, being familiar with all textbooks and instructional materials used throughout the school, devising a plan for the regular replacement of textbooks and materials, assisting teachers in the guidance, assessment, and analysis of student achievement, providing the faculty with materials and resources necessary for their assigned tasks, conducting monthly faculty meetings and to provide opportunities for faculty involvement in the agenda preparation, overseeing the scheduling of classes and daily lesson planning by teachers.

Management and record-keeping includes developing and communicating routine procedures for the operation of the school, publishing rules, regulations, schedules, and procedures, and being consistent in expectations regarding them, maintaining discipline throughout the school so that a learning environment prevails, unifying expectations for high academic standards throughout the school, implementing fire, tornado, health, and safety codes in the school and on the school grounds, providing appropriate maintenance and cleanliness of the school for the safety and well-being of the students, meeting deadlines with official school reports and statistics as required by Diocesan and State personnel, keeping school files organized professionally, maintaining an up-to-date professional file for each teacher, being responsible for overseeing that accurate and up-to-date cumulative, attendance, and health records are kept on every student.

Parental involvement and public relations include providing opportunities for regular conferences and meetings of parents and teachers, providing channels for parent involvement and input in curriculum and school policies, alerting parents to the special needs and/or problems of their children, keeping parents informed through regular school bulletins, cooperating with, and helping to promote, the various programs existing in and for the school, representing the school to the general community, developing and maintaining public relations with and among appropriate publics.

Performance review includes engaging in the Elementary Principal's Personal Performance Review, engaging in an annual Elementary Principal's Performance Review with the Pastor/Executive Pastor, completing the Elementary Principal's SUMMARY sheet, updating the Elementary Principal's Information sheet annually.

Qualifications include being a practicing Catholic, whose value system and lifestyle are consistent with Catholic Church teaching, committed to ongoing personal spiritual development, and willing and able to foster a faith community among faculty members and students. An educator who holds a Master's degree in Educational Administration with a Pennsylvania Administrative certificate or a Master's degree in Education with a commitment to pursue the required courses for a Pennsylvania Administrative certificate. An educator who has had at least five (5) current years of satisfactory Catholic school teaching/administrative experience. An educator who can present evidence of certification of religious studies comparable to the current requirements established by the Office of Catechetical Training or one who is committed to attaining such certification within the first three years of principalship. An educator with an openness to and interest in developing a Classical Education Model. The Catholic Schools' Department reserves the right to waive whichever of the qualifications it deems individual circumstances warrant.