Thomas Jefferson Senior High School - Principal

THOMAS JEFFERSON SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

A HISTORIC COMMUNITY SCHOOL

The Los Angeles Unified School District seeks an outstanding high school principal to lead Thomas Jefferson Senior High School toward sustained academic growth, stronger student engagement, and renewed enrollment. Founded in 1916, Jefferson is the fourth-oldest high school in LAUSD and has served as a cornerstone of South Los Angeles for more than a century. The comprehensive school serves approximately 490 students in grades 9-12, including a substantial population of English Learners and newcomers.

Jefferson is an LAUSD Community School whose work is grounded in integrated student supports, active family and community engagement, collaborative leadership, and expanded learning opportunities. Its mission centers on student-focused academics, restorative practices, constructive dialogue, and inclusive community engagement.

Students have access to nine AP courses, Honors and dual-credit opportunities, AVID, arts, athletics, and Career Technical Education pathways in entrepreneurship, graphic communications, and teacher preparation. A broad network of partners supports health, wellness, enrichment, and college and career readiness. The historic campus is also undergoing significant modernization, creating an opportunity to honor Jefferson's legacy while building a compelling vision for its future.

Jefferson enters this transition with real momentum. Publicly available 2025 results reflect continued academic recovery, including multi-year improvement in ELA and science and progress in mathematics. Preliminary 2026 indicators look promising, but those results are not yet publicly available. Jefferson also benefits from a committed staff, with 95% of teachers reporting satisfaction and strong ratings for professional learning. The next principal will build on these assets while improving attendance, strengthening student connectedness, increasing enrollment, and ensuring consistent access to rigorous, cognitively demanding instruction.

Will be a student-centered, instructionally focused, community-minded, and equity-driven leader who honors Jefferson's history while creating urgency and coherence around its next phase of growth. The candidate will know how to lead a comprehensive high school serving English Learners, newcomers, students with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, and students who need stronger academic or social-emotional supports. The ideal candidate will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Lead high-quality instruction by ensuring consistent implementation of standards-aligned core curricula, including Myperspectives, Illustrative Mathematics, and Open Sci Ed , while increasing cognitive demand, academic language, student discourse, and reasoning through frequent classroom observations, actionable feedback, and structured coaching cycles.

2. Accelerate mathematics and English Learner achievement by addressing the language and reasoning demands of complex problems, embedding effective language routines and structured talk, and leading cycles of inquiry that move more students toward grade-level proficiency.

3. Use data to improve outcomes by analyzing multiple measures, including CAASPP, i-Ready, ELPAC, interim assessments, attendance, A-G progress, student work, and classroom evidence, then setting measurable goals and monitoring targeted interventions.

4. Improve attendance, belonging, safety, and wellness through strong tiered systems, restorative practices, student voice, family outreach, and coordinated use of Community School partners, with focused support for the grades and student groups with the greatest need.

5. Lead complex change through shared leadership by strengthening the Instructional Leadership Team, departments, and professional learning communities, aligning staffing and resources, sustaining Jefferson's positive adult culture, and navigating campus modernization and shared-campus systems.

6. Expand college, career, and enrollment pathways by strengthening A-G completion, AP and dual-credit access, AVID, CTE, arts, and community partnerships, while celebrating Jefferson's legacy and building a clear strategy to recruit, welcome, and retain students and families.

7. Promote a healthy, safe, and secure campus by building staff and leadership capacity to collaboratively develop and implement a site-specific Integrated Safe School Plan, engaging all stakeholder groups in proactively addressing the physical safety of students and staff, ensuring school wide adherence to safety procedures, and routinely practicing, evaluating, and adjusting those procedures as needed.

45G – E Basis ($141,159- $176,037) - 234 paid days

• For employees who change basis during the school year, this basis change may prevent them from earning a full year of service credit.
• For an annualized…