Elementary School Principal

Job Description

Pay Range: $131,306 to $151,561 annually per Administrators Association CBA Salary Schedule 2026-27

Reports to:

Superintendent of Schools

Manages:
All school-based professional, paraprofessional, administrative, and support personnel

Position Summary:

Maine Regional School Unit 21 (RSU 21) serves 2,300 students with 600 employees across three communities and has an annual budget of $65 million. RSU 21 schools are consistently ranked as top performers in Maine. As Principal, you will deliver measurable results that drive student growth and achievement. As building leader, you will work collaboratively with other principals, district-wide instructional leaders, and educators to deliver on the district's mission and strategic plan.

Principals set the tone and lead by example to ensure the strongest school, parent/family, and community partnerships. RSU 21 principals operate with a mindset and framework of continuous learning and improvement, and both equip and inspire instructional staff to do their best work to improve student outcomes.

Love what you do, and the opportunity this position presents - especially your ability to shape, drive, and lead a high‑expectation instructional climate and culture dedicated to improving student outcomes. We seek a proven instructional and talent leader with a passion and a demonstrated track record of creating and maintaining high‑performing learning environments. Maine certification (or conditional certification*) as a school Principal required.

Master's Degree required. Five years of successful K‑12 teaching experience required. Experience in instructional leadership roles and experience working with teams of teachers strongly preferred. Experience as a Principal or Assistant Principal required. Our ideal candidates will be strong instructional leaders with both classroom and administrative experience, but we welcome candidates with educational and/or leadership backgrounds and expertise from outside the district‑setting as well.

Candidates with a proven record of using data to impact school and student growth are encouraged to apply.

Ensure all strategy and instructional design, delivery, and decision‑making is centered around rigorous student learning and high expectations for students and staff.

Develop, communicate, and employ a shared vision of instructional excellence to guide decisions and strategic planning. Establish meaningful goals to drive towards continuous school achievement and improvement. Ensure that benchmarks, curriculum, and instruction are aligned to outcomes that produce interdisciplinary and critical thinking, high student achievement.

Use student achievement data to drive instruction, program interventions, and teacher supports and development; analyze data to interpret whether students are on track and to assess the health of school programs; use results to initiate and manage school‑wide and classroom‑specific data‑driven change.

Serve as enthusiastic recruiter and effective school ambassador to market your school and attract high quality staff.

Recruit, select, hire and retain high percentages of strong teachers and make tough and timely decisions about exiting poor performers; employ a strategy to prioritize retention of high‑performing staff; ensure district alignment, guidance, direction, and support of all staff.

Accurately evaluate teacher performance against ambitious performance standards; communicate feedback that yields actionable change in teacher performance; create and monitor the effectiveness of systems for teacher improvement at the school level, ensuring that evaluation systems are instructive as well as evaluative.

Frequent classrooms to observe, monitor, and improve instructional and non‑instructional effectiveness; share actionable, honest, and ongoing feedback with teachers designed to improve their instructional performance; serve as instructional coach.

Provide frequent feedback to paraprofessionals to monitor and improve instructional and non‑instructional effectiveness.

Hire and build school‑based instructional leadership teams based on…