Job Description
Job DescriptionChief Academic Officer
Join Our "Relationships-First" Team:
We invite you to be a part of a team whose mission-aligned culture offers sustainable, rewarding career paths in teaching, operations, and leadership, built on collaboration and mutual support. Experience the difference at a workplace that celebrates and cultivates each team member's passions, skills and multi-disciplinary interests as we build a brighter future together, one student at a time.
Why Educators Choose S2:
- A "Relationships-First" culture where you're valued, supported, and included
- Collaborative planning time and mutual support
- Opportunities to lead initiatives that strengthen student growth at every stage of their PreK–12 education
- Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits including offering a competitive compensation package, including a strong benefits program and a 401(k) with a 6% organizational match
- A bilingual, community-rooted model serving Washington Heights and Inwood including a pantry partnership, Bachata Nights, multicultural festivals, and a reading initiative.
Our Chief Academic Officer:
Our Central Office at School in the Square exists to support and strengthen our schools: our Early Childhood Center, our Elementary School, our Middle School, and our growing High School (9th through 11th for SY 26-27). The Central Office is responsible for delivering high quality academic, operational, talent, human resources, financial, and community engagement services and resources that enable school leaders and teachers to focus on student learning and success. We are looking for dedicated, mission-aligned Central Office staff who will work closely with school-based staff to provide guidance, resources, and problem solving support that will advance instructional quality, organizational effectiveness, and student outcomes.
School in the Square is seeking a Chief Academic Officer (CAO) to lead the design and implementation of the School in the Square instructional vision and quality across all schools in the organization. This position reports to our Executive Director, and serves as the organization's senior instructional leader who oversees the Central Office Academics team and school-based instructional leaders. The CAO is responsible for spearheading a vision of and strategy for instruction, curriculum, assessment and school advancement that translates into consistently quality learning experiences for students across all campuses. The CAO has the primary authority and accountability for evaluating for the continuous improvement of both academic performance and the teaching and learning across the network, to ensure our students meet their fullest potential.
The CAO will co-lead the organization's day-to-day work alongside the Chief Operating Officer, ensuring that our academic priorities and operational systems reinforce one another, and supports school leaders in executing with clarity and consistency. The CAO will directly manage our Principals and partner with them to ensure coherence, rigor, and whole-child development across the organization. As we grow into a Pre-K - 12 academic home for the Washington Heights and Inwood communities, coherence across instructional design and the student experience will starve as an anchoring principle for the CAO. Together with the Principals, the CAO will set expectations for high quality teaching and learning, build school-based leader capacity, and drive measurable student outcomes. The CAO will also directly manage the Deputy Chief Academic Officer(s), who leads organization-wide instructional initiatives in close partnership with the academics team and consultants.
Who You Are:
- Competencies and Attributes:
- Strategic thinker who has a proven track record of resolving complex problems anchored in a high level of integrity and judgment.
- Highly organized, conscientious and execution oriented, including exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
- Comfortable and successful in navigating ambiguity and complexity.
- Collaborative mindset where they use strong emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills to actively partner with peers and stakeholders to share ideas and listen to diverse perspectives to align on and make decisions.
- Deep alignment with organizational values and mission.
- Experience and Background:
- At least 10 years of experience in K-12 education, with significant experience in NYS charter schools.
- Master's Degree in education, education leadership, curriculum and instruction, or other related focus. Doctorate is strongly preferred.
- Proven success as a Principal and network-wide instructional leader.
- Demonstrated experience improving academic outcomes across multiple schools.
- Experience leading and managing senior instructional leaders at the network level of an organization.
- Deep expertise in curriculum, instruction, assessment, and instructional coaching.
- Strong data literacy and experience leading data-driven improvement cycles.
- Exceptional people leadership, coaching, and change-management skills.
- Familiarity with state accountability systems, charter renewal processes, and authorizer expectations.
Key Responsibilities:
- Academic visionary who, in partnership with their Principal Cabinet, sets and implements a clear, compelling PreK-12 academic vision that is data-driven and embodies School in the Square's mission and values.
- This includes but is not limited to setting, implementing, and continually evaluating the quality of a cohesive organizational wide instructional framework - curriculum, assessment and school culture systems vision - that includes the integration of Spanish language K-12, special education and culturally responsive and inclusive instructional practices.
- Directly manages and coaches each school Principal to execute on organization-wide priorities, including but not limited to academic performance, school culture, teacher development and community engagement.
- Directly manages the Deputy Chief Academics Officers to lead the academics team of staff and consultants on high quality execution of organization-wide instructional initiatives.
- Sets and implements organization-wide teacher professional development.
- This includes but is not limited to coaching expectations and systems that measurably improve instruction over time.
- Monitors and improves academic performance across all schools using advancement strategies that diagnose root causes and improves student performance with differentiation.
- Collaborate with the Chief Operating Officer to ensure the day-to-day organizational-wide and school-based operations teams effectively support academic priorities.
- Lead and facilitate external and board-facing academic initiatives, including Academic Committee and board presentations and serving as the primary academic liaison with the NYS charter authorizers to support compliance, reporting, renewals and site visits.
What Can You Expect From Us
At S2, we take as much care of our staff as we do of our students. S2 is committed to supporting our staff by helping them build sustainable, rewarding careers that center on each individual's passions and multi-disciplinary interests. All of our faculty and staff are valued professionals and we are proud to provide team-building and collaboration, comfortable and friendly working conditions and more, to ensure our team members have the tools they need to succeed.
In addition to meaningful and rewarding work, School in the Square provides competitive salaries. Expected salary range for this role is $220,000 - $250,000, depending on experience, level of education, required certifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role.
Additionally, we provide opportunities for supplemental compensation, an excellent benefits package with:
- a 401K program with a 6% organizational match
- 93% coverage of healthcare coverage
- longevity bonus
- generous paid time off
- and a supportive work environment.
School in the Square understands specific groups are subject to marginalization. We believe these powerful groups should be centered in our community and are highly encouraged to apply. We are an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.