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 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 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.

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;
• 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;
• 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 and 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.

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;
• 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 focus 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.

Elementary School Counselor: Elementary School Counselors are certified/licensed educators with the minimum of a Master’s Degree in School Counseling and are distinctly qualified to address the developmental needs of all students through a K-12 Comprehensive School Counseling Program. They guide the work of an equitable education for all students, which requires them to be an advocate, facilitate and/or reinforce systems that ensure that every child has the support they need to achieve academic success. This requires understanding the unique challenges and barriers faced by individual students or by populations of students. This position will provide intensive, culturally responsive student support with a high degree of creativity and problem-solving capabilities.

Elementary School Counselor Expectations: The Elementary school counselor role is, at its core, both proactive & preventive, as well as responsive. It centers around the design and implementation of a guidance curriculum which includes three domains of school counseling. - Personal/Social - teaching students how to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.

Career Awareness Exploration - setting the stage for self- awareness by fostering curiosity and excitement for the world of work by engaging them in fun activities that invite discovery and exploration around different careers.

Academic - utilizing data to aid in the development of 21st century skills as well as collaborating and planning with school teams around identifying possible interventions for students, working to establish student opportunities for academic remediation as needed, closing the achievement and opportunity gaps.

Other Roles and Responsibilities include:

Data Analysis - Analyzing student data related to academics, behavior and attendance to make strategic decisions around increasing student success.

Access & Equity - Establishing methods to identify and target systemic barriers that deter from equitable educational access; working to provide students with the opportunity for academic challenge resulting in improved student achievement, attendance and behavior.

Collaboration - Maintaining a strong home, school and community connection by consistently communicating and partnering with families; teachers and administrators.

Community Referral - Assist students and families in accessing community support & services in order to reduce barriers to academic success.

Classroom Intervention - Utilizing school counseling curriculum to push into elementary classrooms to support personal/social growth; academic success and career awareness. This may include the development of an Intervention Plan through active participation in team meetings as well as in the School Based Support Team.

Individual counseling - Meet with students on an individual basis in order to address academic, attendance or behavioral needs. In addition, guide them in understanding and accepting themselves, cope with family changes and/or family crises, and develop decision making skills, conflict resolution skills, anger management techniques, as well as, problem solving strategies.

Small group counseling - Meeting with students in a small group setting in order to address

We are looking for a library media specialist who understands the needs of students at the elementary level (developmental and academic) and has a passionate and tireless commitment to ensuring that all students learn. 

We are looking for someone who understands that:

• Today’s school libraries serve as the hub of the school therefore ability to develop, maintain, and sustain relationships and partnerships with colleagues and the community are essential.
• This position will be an essential part of the school community and will develop a strong library program for all students and staff in the building.
• Librarians serve as tech support in our buildings and are seen as innovators in the implementation of technology in our schools.
• Librarians must maintain the library for effective distribution/circulation of materials, coordination of services, and effective instruction for building staff and students.
• Knowledge of how the library supports/maintains growth in student achievement and tireless commitment to that effort.
• Knowledge of differentiating for a variety of learning needs (both adult learners and child learners).
• In depth knowledge of the learning standards, especially in the area of complex texts and close reading.
• Librarians teach essential skills such as: Microsoft office programs, database research, internet research skills, source evaluation tools, library catalog search and resource retrieval, keyboarding, reading skills, literature/non-fiction appreciation.
• Facilitate student (and adult) access to information-rich resources for research
• Encourage students to explore the world around them through print and online resources
• Serve as teacher resource through collaboration on Next Generation aligned curriculum.
• Knowledge of enrichment education research using the learning standards (Technology & Innovation in Education)

The candidate should be:

• Intelligent
• Hard-working
• Lifelong learner
• Friendly and open-minded
• Enthusiastic and passionate
• Unwilling to give up on students