Associate Principal; Secondary - Internal , Salem Public Schools, Salem, MA SY

Job Description

Associate Principal (Secondary) - INTERNAL ONLY, Salem Public Schools, Salem, MA [SY ]

Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history. Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district enrolling nearly 4,000 students in 11 schools. Our vision is to ensure that all students will be locally engaged, globally connected, and fully prepared to thrive in a diverse and changing world. We hold dear our core values of belonging, equity, and opportunity in everything we do.

We seek individuals who are passionate about urban education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement for all students, regardless of ability, economic status, gender identity, language, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or other backgrounds.

The Associate Principal (Secondary) serves as a key instructional and operational leader within the school, working in close partnership with the Principal to ensure high-quality teaching and learning, a culture of belonging, and strong family and community partnerships. This role bridges the responsibilities of Assistant Principal and Principal by assuming school wide leadership for instructional improvement, assisting the Principal with staff supervision, equity-focused culture-building, and operational systems.

The Associate Principal (Secondary) will build and manage critical systems for student support, academic excellence, positive school climate and safety and may be responsible for additional duties, sometimes after hours attending school activities or involving grant-funded and other school improvement initiatives. The Associate Principal is a full-time, full-year position who will be on-site more frequently (before and after school, as well as on some weekends, evenings, and vacations) to support the many transition activities.

• Put students first. Students are at the heart of our schools and we look to recruit and select leaders who make decisions in their best interest.
• Strengthen the culture of teaching and learning. The Associate Principal (Secondary) of an SPS school will change ideas about how young children learn in the 21st century and will redefine expectations about what young people in America's urban centers are capable of achieving.
• Demonstrate innovative and entrepreneurial thinking. The Salem Public Schools value robust approaches to teaching and learning, especially in urban areas where standard practices have not always served young people well. Modeling innovation in other sectors, the Associate Principal (Secondary) will use technology to advance improved teaching and learning practices and implement more robust assessments, support teachers and leaders as innovators, invest early in promising practices, and collect and use data to diagnose problems-of-practice and evaluate effectiveness of initiatives and to course‑correct when necessary.
• Engage families and the community as equal partners in the school improvement process. The SPS Associate Principal (Secondary) identifies deepening partnerships with parents, students, and the community as a key strategy for improving student learning outcomes. An effective leader is able to conduct this important work with the many diverse populations that we have represented in our district.
• Receive high levels of support in demand for high levels of accountability. Because teachers and leaders are innovators, SPS realizes that they need high‑touch, meaningful, and job‑embedded support. This will be provided through the district's new and innovative network model. In exchange, the district holds instructional staff accountable for student learning, their own professional development, and their contributions to the school learning community.
• Foster professional environments that value collaboration, data use, and continual improvement. Teachers must work together to collect and analyze data to sustain cycles of inquiry and improvement. Continual learning and data‑driven decision‑making are core to developing and supporting highly effective schools.