Director of Special Education

Director of Special Education

Youth Build Preparatory Academy - Providence, Rhode Island

Job Title:

Director of Special Education Services

Reports To:

Chief Academic Officer

Works In Partnership With:
Chief Executive Officer, Facilitators of Learning, Learning Lab Facilitator, Advisors, Student Support Team, Families, Related Service Providers, and School Leadership

Supervises:
Assigned Special Education Staff, Learning Lab Facilitator, Related Service Providers, and Other Assigned Student Support Personnel

Approved By:
Board of Trustees

Date Revised:
June 30, 2026

Job Classification:
Full-Time, Exempt

Position Summary:

Youth Build Preparatory Academy is looking for a Director of Special Education Services who can lead special education with both technical skill and educational courage. This is not a paperwork-only compliance role. Compliance matters, and it must be done well. But at YBPA, special education cannot be reduced to forms, timelines, meetings, and service logs. The Director of Special Education Services must ensure that students with disabilities receive the services, supports, instruction, accommodations, and opportunities they are legally entitled to while also making sure they are fully included in a competency-based, project-based, interdisciplinary, liberatory learning community.

About Youth Build Preparatory Academy:
Youth Build Preparatory Academy is a competency-based, project-based, interdisciplinary learning community rooted in liberatory education. We serve students who deserve more than a traditional school model that asks them to sit still, comply, and memorize information disconnected from their lives. Our work is grounded in four core commitments:
Growth, Relationships, Agency, and Belonging. We believe students learn best when they are known well, challenged with purpose, and given opportunities to demonstrate mastery through meaningful work. We are building a school where students do not simply earn credits. They build identity, voice, skill, confidence, and a path toward their future.

Core Characteristics:
The ideal Director of Special Education Services is: deeply committed to students with disabilities and to building a school culture where access, rigor, support, and belonging are expected. skilled in special education compliance, IEP development, progress monitoring, service delivery, evaluations, eligibility, and family communication. able to lead special education as part of the school's instructional model, not as a separate program sitting outside the core learning experience.

experienced in supporting students with a wide range of academic, behavioral, social-emotional, executive functioning, communication, and transition needs. comfortable coaching teachers and staff on accommodations, modifications, specially designed instruction, inclusive practice, project-based learning, and competency-based assessment. strong at building systems, tracking details, meeting deadlines, protecting confidentiality, and communicating clearly. able to balance legal compliance with human-centered leadership. the work must be accurate, timely, respectful, and grounded in care.

collaborative and direct, with the ability to work across academic, student support, family engagement, operations, and leadership teams. committed to eliminating deficit-based thinking about students with disabilities. grounded in the belief that students with disabilities deserve meaningful access to rigorous learning, not watered-down expectations.

Essential

Roles and Responsibilities:

Special Education Leadership and Compliance, Instructional Leadership and Inclusive Practice, IEP Development, Implementation, and Progress Monitoring, Learning Lab and Intervention Oversight, Student Support, Behavior, and Access, Family Engagement and Communication, Related Services and External Partnerships, Data, Reporting, and Systems Management, Team Leadership and Professional Development

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree required. Master's degree in Special Education, Educational Leadership, School Administration, Curriculum and Instruction, or a related field strongly preferred. Current and active Rhode Island Special Education certification required, or the ability to meet applicable Rhode Island certification requirements for the assignment. Rhode Island administrator, supervisor, or special education leadership credential preferred where applicable. Minimum of five years of successful experience in special education teaching, case management, related service coordination, or special education leadership required.

Experience leading IEP meetings, developing IEPs, monitoring services, supporting compliance, and working with families. Strong knowledge of IDEA, Rhode Island special education regulations, Section 504, FAPE, LRE, procedural safeguards, evaluation processes, eligibility, transition planning, and discipline protections for students with disabilities. Experience supporting students at the secondary level strongly…