Role Description: The Early Childhood Division Director plays an essential role in developing, refining and implementing a cohesive vision and pedagogical framework within the Corlears Early Childhood Division, supporting the professional growth of the Early Childhood faculty through formal evaluations, coaching cycles and ongoing feedback. 

Key Responsibilities

Administrative Leadership

• Inspire Early Childhood faculty, specialists, and administrators to realize a cohesive vision and pedagogical framework
• Collaborate with the Assistant Head of School to prioritize school-wide strategic goals and design a year-long professional development plan in alignment with the school’s philosophy, mission and core values, and the professional goals and/or interests of the faculty
• Lead weekly Team and Divisional Meetings to support community building, pedagogical risk-taking and ongoing refinement of valued instructional practices approximated in the classroom
• Collaborate with the Student Success Team to design a yearlong assessment calendar, monitor assessment and data collection systems, identify responses to interventions, monitor communications with families, and participate in team meetings as needed
• Collaborate with the Director of Program Operations to review Early Childhood schedules, workloads, and duties
• Collaborate with the Facilities Director around a shared pedagogical vision for indoor and outdoor spaces
• Collaborate with the Assistant Head of School to recruit, onboard, and retain faculty in the Early Childhood Division 
• Collaborate with Admissions Team to convey our mission, vision, and values to prospective families 
• Collaborate with Human Resources and School Leadership to hold faculty accountable to employee/role expectations 
• Oversee budgets for Early Childhood classroom materials and professional development opportunities 
• Hire and maintain a retainer substitute pool for Early Childhood Division; and in the event of teacher absences, analyze schedules to assess classroom coverage needs 
• Serve as the Educational Director for the NYC Department of Health certification, ensuring compliance on educational program aspects of the early childhood program. 

Faculty Supervision

• Establish meaningful, trusting supervisory relationships with faculty and teaching teams, in the spirit of creating a positive culture of feedback and professional growth 
• Ensure the Early Childhood faculty utilize assessment tools inclusive of ASQs and the HELP - Hawaii Early Learning Profile - for evaluative interpretations and understandings of child development 
• Establish an O&R (observation & recording) data driven system for each teaching team where documentation is entered each day and made visible to director
• Promote the Reggio-inspired documentation process where learning is made visible via documentation boards in each classroom
• Support professional development in areas of interest as well as areas that benefit from refinement
• Maintain consistency and continuity of reflective and cultural responsiveness across classrooms
• Encourage cross-classroom teacher observation and visitation
• Engage Early Childhood faculty in reflective dialogue, helping to define individual and personalized instructional goals
• Implement a collaborative, meaningful, formal evaluation process for all faculty in the Early Childhood Division

Classroom-Based Coaching 

• Utilize a variety of coaching strategies to offer varying levels of embedded classroom-based supports to ensure the EC Program builds developmental skills in all domains (language, adaptive, psychological, physical, cognitive)
• Lead weekly team and divisional meetings to develop units, assessment practices, and discuss student growth and development
• Guide and support teachers to intentionally curate materials and set up the classroom environment, prioritizing a sense of peace and fostering student independence
• Guide teachers to utilize culturally responsive practices aligned with age-appropriate social-emotional and anti-bias teaching goals 

• Develop systems and structures to support faculty in recording observations, conducting assessments/screeners, collecting and analyzing work samples and communicating areas of progress and growth to families
• Facilitate ongoing communication between subject and classroom teachers to support students and curriculum
• Research and curate various resources and introduce to teachers/families

Family Engagement

• Provide faculty with ongoing guidance and expectations for family engagement, centered on bridging home and school life (ie: Seesaw posts, weekly communications, family visits, parent education events, conferences, reports, walking trips, etc.)
• Create opportunities to connect with prospective and current families via family/caregiver meetups and workshops that align to the school’s instructional vision (ie: curriculum nights, roundtable discussions on topics of interest, etc.)
• Respond to concerns/inquiries about topics related to our approach to teaching and learning 

Essential Qualities: 

• Value the school's mission to enroll students who are economically, racially and ethnically diverse, as well as those coming from diverse family structures
• Demonstrate a personal and professional commitment to equity, inclusion, and social justice
• Have the ability to connect to and collaborate with a diverse community of faculty, families and children
• Demonstrate emotional intelligence to understand, use, and manage emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict
• Demonstrate a keen self-awareness and strong interpersonal communication skills that support positive relationships with various constituents in the school community
• Have the motivation, skill and a positive outlook to provide feedback, mentorship and collaborate with colleagues

• Be experienced in Reggio-inspired, play-based, inquiry-driven, constructivist early childhood education
• Depth of knowledge of developmental domains (language, adaptive, psychological, physical, cognitive), and skill in curriculum development, as evidenced by previous classroom experience in an early childhood school setting
• Have a profound understanding of the complexities of early childhood development, specially from 12 months--4 yrs
• Have previous experience in leading and coaching teachers
• Have previous experience supporting the needs of diverse and/or developmentally delayed learners
• Maintain institutional priorities, while advocating for individual needs within the educational program
• Be committed to self reflection and professional growth with the intention to embrace transformative change

Employment Requirements: 

• 7+ years experience in an independent school setting 
• Master’s Degree specializing in Early Childhood Education (preferably Special Education) 
• Special Education training, certification and/or evidence of professional development in SpEd coursework
• Knowledge of EI, CPSE and CSE processes
• DEI Training, certification and/or evidence of professional development in anti-bias / anti-racist courses
• For compliance with all DOHMH regulations: The following documentation is required for Educational Directors:
• Copy of college degree
• Resume
• State Certification(if applicable)
• Three references
• Confirmation of required trainings
• Clearances by the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment, and Fingerprinting

Salary Range: $110K-$118K

To Apply: Please send a cover letter and resume to jobs@corlearsschool.org 

About Corlears School

Corlears, a small, independent, progressive school located in the lively Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, is dedicated to the education of young children through the elementary grades. We seek to cultivate joy in learning through active investigation of integrated curricular themes. Daily practice at Corlears is based on the belief that educating students to be well informed, socially engaged, critical thinkers is essential in order to sustain a healthy democracy. We have intentionally created an intimate environment, well suited to the needs of children through the elementary years, where students can easily navigate both the physical space and social networks of the community. We seek to create an economically and culturally diverse community that reflects our immediate neighborhood and reaches into the city beyond.

Connections working at Corlears School