Start Date: July 1, 2018
The International School of Charlottesville (ISC) is an independent school located in Charlottesville, Virginia. It offers a holistic French and Spanish language immersion educational experience for young learners ages 2-6. Children in both the French and Spanish tracks acquire language in all academic subjects from teachers who are native speakers, allowing them to develop both linguistic and cultural fluency while experiencing a rigorous, broad, and inquiry-based curriculum. Founded in 1998 as the one-room La Petite Ecole, ISC added Spanish as a second language in 2003, and earned its first NAEYC accreditation in 2008. Having just earned its latest re-accreditation in 2016, ISC currently enrolls 130 students aged 2 through 6, and comprises 20 faculty and staff members. The vitality, creativity, and expertise of the teaching faculty have been instrumental to the school’s identity and success, and the community is enriched by the diverse perspectives and customs they bring from French and Spanish speaking countries around the world, including: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Honduras, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. ISC has a strong administrative team and with distributed leadership responsibilities. Responding to especially high demand during the last three years, the ISC will add a second campus and 40 additional students for the 2017-2018 school year. At both campuses, ISC leases space from churches in the Belmont neighborhood of Charlottesville; however, with a solid foundation of finances and enrollment, the school is collaborating with the nationally-recognized architectural firm VMDO to prepare for the purchase of land and the construction of new purpose-built facilities. The new Head of School is expected to bring this expansion to realization. ISC’s Board of Trustees will be a helpful partner to the new Head in these initiatives. In addition, the HOS is expected to recruit, hire, and retain a top quality early childhood faculty. He or she will also be responsible for cultivating strong relationships with the community, taking a leadership role in the development of curriculum and program, and ensuring the fiscal health of ISC going forward, while leading the creation of a new campus.
Required Qualifications: • Experience as a teacher in a Toddler - Grade 8 setting • Experience with accreditation processes, school facility management, and organizational advancement (including fundraising) • Demonstrable experience with child-centered education pedagogy and practice, ideally through teaching and/or leadership • Leadership roles in shaping vision and strategic goals as lead teacher, department head, division head, or early childhood director • Commitment to maintaining knowledge of research and policy developments that impact school efficacy Desired Attributes and Skills of the Next Head of School • An insightful, effective recruiter and supportive developer of strong teaching faculty • A personable, authentic individual whose networking skills will help spur a successful capital campaign • A multi-tasker who is willing to roll up her/his sleeves whenever necessary, but who has the strategic and organizational skills to facilitate the school’s evolution from two small campuses to a consolidated larger more permanent school campus • One who prioritizes and supports the nurturing, development, and protection of each child • An experienced problem-solver with strong interpersonal skills • One who is open-minded, with ability to sustain and promote cultural diversity • A flexible, visible, resilient, collaborative and approachable leader • A capable and clear communicator, in relationships and public communications • Someone with experience or background in languages other than English • A person who models and inspires integrity in all facets of school operations
Salary will be competitive for the role, responsibilities, and the local area. Experience and qualifications will be determining factors in setting the initial salary.
The International School of Charlottesville has appointed Search Associates as consultant in the Head of Lower Primary School search with Gunther Brandt and Julie Ryan being the lead consultants. The deadline for applications is October 1, 2017. Candidates are asked to submit a letter of interest and the requested materials as early as possible as the Search Committee reserves the right to close the selection process at any time if the right candidate is found. The review of files will begin as soon as applications are received. Candidates should send the information listed below as a single pdf file attached to an email: · A letter of application describing your interest in the Head of School position at International School of Charlottesville, listing your strengths as a candidate and how your qualifications and experience align with the profile of the desired candidate • A philosophy statement describing your vision for the education of young children in a language immersion setting · A current resumé not to exceed two pages · A one-page list of at least 4 referees with current phone numbers and email addresses · A maximum of three letters of reference (scanned at low resolution) that may already be in your possession. Total document size should be kept to less than four (4) MB if possible. Applications should be sent to: Gbrandt@searchassociates.com and to Jryan@searchassociates.com
Children at ISC become global citizens through hands-on exploration of their environment; open-ended experimentation with materials and ideas; and full immersion in a multilingual, multicultural community. Through participation and play in a safe and nurturing environment, children develop strong self-esteem and interpersonal skills, in addition to academic, artistic, and cultural competencies and curiosity. The ISC’s deep experience in bilingual pedagogy supports children to develop flexibility, creativity, higher-order thinking, goodwill, and literacy across languages and cultures. As a result of their time at ISC, children develop well-rounded social, emotional, interpersonal, and intellectual skills. With the research-based best practices articulated by NAEYC, ISC faculty facilitates a constructivist, responsive approach to learning, infused with interactive, student-centered bilingual experiences. ISC also embraces and incorporates elements from Reggio Emilia, Montessori, and Waldorf schools, along with project-based learning experiences. Art, music, nature, mindfulness, and imaginative play are among the ingredients with which ISC students co-construct their multicultural understanding of the world. ISC’s administration and Board of Trustees have taken measures to attract students from a wide variety of backgrounds, offering tuition assistance to the families who need it, both in the form of scholarships and mutually enriching work-for-tuition cooperative agreements.
Julie S. Ryan Senior Associate Search Associates jryan@searchassociates.com 415 747 7929 Skype: juliesryan11
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