Principal - Synergy School

For more than a century, Lad Lake has fostered the growth of children and young adults throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest, providing them with the opportunity to take their futures into their own hands by teaching responsibility and accountability. Most of all, Lad Lake has given boys and girls the chance to make a fresh start.

Guiding growth has been our mission from the very beginning. It’s what we do best: guiding youth and their families on a path towards independence and achievement.

The principal serves as the senior campus leader for the Synergy Behavioral Reassignment School, holding full accountability for academic outcomes, instructional quality, staff performance, operational effectiveness, and regulatory compliance. This role integrates strong instructional leadership with comprehensive administrative and operational oversight to ensure the school functions as a high-performing, trauma informed, and outcomes driven learning environment aligned with Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) requirements and Lad Lake’s mission.

As both the instructional leader and campus administrator, the principal is responsible for selecting, developing, and supervising high-impact educators and support staff; designing and optimizing academic programs and schedules; improving math, reading, attendance, and credit attainment outcomes; preventing student disengagement and dropout; and ensuring safe, compliant, and fiscally responsible school operations. The principal oversees MPS behavioral reassignment contracts, ensures adherence to DPI and special education requirements, manages the education budget, and translates strategic goals into daily practice through data-driven decision making, staff coaching, and strong stakeholder partnerships.

The principal directly supervises the Assistant Director of Operations and the Assistant Director of Culture and Student Success, providing clear direction, performance accountability, and alignment across academic, operational, and student support functions.

• Lead recruitment, selection, onboarding, supervision, evaluation, and retention of instructional staff in alignment with student needs, DPI licensure requirements, and Synergy’s mission.
• Establish and model clear expectations for effective instruction, classroom management, and trauma-informed, culturally responsive practices.
• Implement a consistent instructional coaching and observation framework, including walkthroughs, feedback cycles, performance evaluations, and targeted professional development.
• Develop and facilitate ongoing staff learning focused on literacy and math intervention, differentiated instruction, engagement strategies, and behavior responsive education.
• Address performance gaps through coaching plans, improvement strategies, and corrective action in collaboration with HR and education leadership.

• Design and oversee class schedules, staffing models, intervention blocks, and student groupings to maximize instructional time, learning recovery, and credit attainment.
• Ensure curriculum, pacing guides, assessments, and instructional practices align with MPS standards and graduation requirements.
• Continuously evaluate and refine academic program structures to remove barriers to student engagement and achievement.
• Lead school improvement planning and continuous improvement cycles based on data and program evaluation.

• Drive measurable improvement in math and reading achievement using diagnostic data, formative assessments, and progress monitoring tools.
• Establish clear academic benchmarks and success indicators aligned with MPS contract measures.
• Monitor and improve attendance, engagement, behavior, and credit completion rates.
• Lead proactive dropout prevention strategies, including early warning indicator monitoring and coordinated interventions.
• Promote student voice, goal-setting, and ownership of learning.

• Ensure strong cross-functional collaboration between instruction, operations, and student support to deliver…