Managing Director of Student Supports

Overview

Excel Academy is a network of 5 schools in Massachusetts and Rhode Island that prepares students in grades 5-12 to succeed in high school and college and engage productively in their communities. The majority of our 1,700 students identify as Latinx or Hispanic and will be the first in their families to graduate from college. Families choose Excel because our students consistently outperform their peers in growth and achievement and are 5x more likely to graduate from college.

At Excel, we believe that every student—regardless of race, zip code, or economic status—deserves access to a free, high quality holistic education. During their middle school journey with us, students grow at a pace faster than most peers in their state. This is possible through a combination of high expectations, rigorous instruction, and individualized support. At our nationally ranked high school, students achieve at the highest level and are poised for success in their chosen college or career path.

Everyday, our team members choose to be positive, drive their own growth, uplift one another, and hold the highest possible beliefs for what students can achieve.

The Managing Director of Student Supports (MDSS) is a senior, network-level leader responsible for setting vision, building coherence, and strengthening how Excel Academy Charter Schools designs, delivers, and sustains student support systems across its schools. This role exists to ensure Excel's programmatic model—across states, grade bands, and tiers of support—is intentionally designed to support all learners, especially students with disabilities (SWDs) and multilingual learners (MLLs), in achieving their most ambitious personal goals.

The MDSS does not function as a day-to-day case manager nor compliance executor; their focus is on strategy, systems, and people. Via strong relationships, clear resources, and constant use of data, the MDSS creates the conditions for teachers and leaders to thrive. The MDSS is also a key thought partner for the broader network team, working to ensure that student supports are fully integrated into network decision-making and systems.

This leader’s capacity to drive meaningful change and continuously improve will be critical as Excel prepares for future growth.

Salary: $110 - 170k, commensurate with experience

• Set and Uphold a Clear Vision for Student Supports
  • Establish and communicate a shared, network-wide approach to student supports, including Special Education, Multilingual Learner services, and academic and behavioral interventions
  • Ensure this vision aligns with Excel’s instructional philosophy, and balances network consistency with school-based flexibility
• Advance Inclusive Tier 1 Instruction
  • Partner with network-based academic leaders to ensure Tier 1 instruction, curriculum decisions, and professional learning are designed to be inclusive and accessible for all learners, including students with disabilities and multilingual learners
  • Collaborate across departments to reduce unnecessary separation between general education, special education and ESL services
• Maintain MTSS Systems, and Strengthen Tier 2 and Tier 3 Supports
  • Maintain and continuously improve MTSS systems for assessment, intervention and progress monitoring
  • Lead the network team to define what high-quality specialized instruction looks like in both self-contained and inclusive instructional settings
  • Support alignment between intervention, specialized programming, and core instruction
  • Ensure school teams have the resources needed to effectively implement Tier 2 and Tier 3 with fidelity
• Support and Develop School-Based Leaders
  • Create clear role expectations and decision-making boundaries for Deans of Student Supports, in partnership with principals
  • Design onboarding, professional learning, and collaboration structures that help Deans of Student Supports succeed and grow
  • Support school leaders in developing strategy for building-based leadership of MLL instruction and services
  • Support school leaders in effectively supervising, developing, and retaining student support leaders
  • Identify growth opportunities that leverage internal…