Head of School

HEAD OF SCHOOL About Kalamazoo Country Day School

Kalamazoo Country Day School (KCDS) is an independent, PreK–8 school delivering a handcrafted, neuroscience?aligned education designed to give every child the Human Advantage in an automated world. Our Mastery Model is built on six pillars:
Relational Security, High?

Resolution Visibility, Academic Rigor, Handcrafted Curriculum, Highly Effective Teachers, and Cognitive Restoration. With class sizes under 15 and elite academic outcomes, KCDS is a place where children are deeply known, challenged, and inspired.

The Board of Trustees seeks a visionary, relational, and instructionally expert Head of School to lead KCDS into its next chapter. The Head serves as the school’s chief executive and educational leader, responsible for mission alignment, academic excellence, faculty culture, financial sustainability, and community engagement.

• Advance the KCDS Mastery Model and neuroscience?aligned philosophy
• Ensure high?resolution, rigorous teaching and learning
• Oversee curriculum, assessment, and faculty development
• Maintain small class sizes and relational security

• Partner with the Board on long?term strategy and vision
• Use data, research, and market insights to guide decision?making
• Anticipate trends in education, technology, and child development

• Recruit, support, and retain highly effective “Learning Architects”
• Foster a culture of relational competence, high expectations, and continuous improvement
• Lead professional learning aligned with mastery and inquiry?based instruction

• Ensure every child is known, supported, and challenged
• Protect the joy, humanity, and cognitive well?being of students
• Oversee programs that promote belonging, character, and leadership

• Oversee budgeting, operations, compliance, and campus safety
• Support enrollment strategy, retention, and market positioning
• Ensure long?term financial sustainability

• Serve as the chief ambassador and storyteller of KCDS
• Build strong relationships with families, donors, and community partners
• Support fundraising, stewardship, and major gift cultivation

• Serve as the primary liaison to the Board of Trustees
• Provide transparent communication and strategic reporting
• Support effective governance and committee work

The ideal candidate will be:

• An experienced independent school leader or equivalent educational executive
• Deeply knowledgeable about child development, neuroscience, and mastery?based learning
• A relational, emotionally intelligent leader who builds trust and community
• A strategic thinker with strong operational and financial acumen
• A champion of teachers and instructional excellence
• An exceptional communicator and mission?driven storyteller
• Calm, clear, and decisive in moments of complexity

KCDS is a rare environment where a Head of School can steward a deeply human, research?driven model of education that produces extraordinary academic and developmental outcomes. The next Head will inherit a thriving program, a committed faculty, and a community ready for growth, innovation, and long?term stability.

• Education: Bachelors degree or higher in Educational Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction, or a closely related field.
• Leadership
  
  Experience:
  
  Minimum of 5 years of successful, high-impact administrative leadership in an independent, charter, or elite academy setting.
• Pedagogical Alignment: Demonstrated expertise in progressive education models, data-informed mastery tracking, and the neurobiology of learning (e.g., executive function development, digital wellness).
• Communication: Exceptional written, verbal, and interpersonal skills with a proven ability to leverage research-backed evidence when communicating school ROI to prospective families, donors, and trustees.