K-5 Dean of Students

Job Description

Job Description

Summary

Head-Royce School seeks a Dean of K-5 Students and Culture for the lower school division reporting to the Lower School Director. The Dean of Students and Culture is a key Leader responsible for fostering a positive, inclusive, and engaging environment where every student feels seen, valued, and supported. This role oversees student life, behavior systems, and community culture, ensuring alignment with the school's mission and values.

Student culture and community

• Collaborate and steward a K-5 community culture grounded in belonging, identity affirmation, and restorative practices.

• Serve as a visible, trusted, and joyful presence in the daily life of lower school.

• Build and sustain structures (morning meetings, community agreements, assemblies) that reinforce shared values.

• Collaborate with the K-8 Director of Equity and Community to ensure programming reflects the schools DEIB commitments from the very start of a student's journey at Head-Royce.

• Coordinate and support affinity group work at the lower school level.

• Support planning and logistics of Lower School assemblies and community events.

Behavior management and restorative practice

• Take a proactive, relationship — centered approach to student behavior.

• Overseas restorative practices and processes with students, families, and faculty when harm or conflict occurs.

• Develop, model, and implement tiered support for student behavior management and intervention.

• Document and track student incidents of harm and misalignment with stated expectations of behavior.

• Respond to acute behavioral situations appropriately.

• Develop and oversee systems and protocols for student behavior.
• Maintain open communication with teachers and families in support of students needs.
• Collaborate with counselors and teachers to design and implement lessons that foster a positive school culture and promote behavioral change.

Faculty engagement and education

• Serve as a consistent point of contact for families navigating concerns about student behavior and patterns, and well-being

• Collaborate with families to develop implement, and communicate behavioral support plans for their child

• Co-design and facilitate parent/guardian education opportunities on such topics such as belonging, identity, and restorative practices In collaboration with K-8 directors and school counselors.

• Oversee and support Lower School clubs and extracurricular programming.
• Coordinate affinity group offerings and student identity exploration.

K-8 Continuity and transition

• Collaborate actively with the middle school deans and middle school counselor to ensure continuity of support and culture across K-8 experience

• Participate in transition planning for rising 6th graders, sharing student context Participate in transition planning for rising 6th graders, sharing student context and co-designing bridge programming.

• Contribute to a coherent K-8 vision for community, belonging, and restorative practice.

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree required; Masters degree preferred (in education, counseling, social work, school leadership, or a related field.)

• Minimum 7 years of professional experience, working with elementary aged children in an educational setting.

• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and the ability to translate thatcommittment into daily practice.

• Culturally responsive educator who honors and affirms the full range of student identities.
• Strong collaborator who builds trusting relationships with students, families, and colleagues.
• Excellent communicator in both written and verbal forms, especially in difficult conversations.
• Organized, systems-minded, and ability to balance proactive programming with responsive support.

• Experience building or shaping dean of students role.

Additional Qualifications (preferred, not required)

• Experience with affinity group facilitation or identity-based programming.

• Understanding and support of Head-Royce’s core values with strong emphasis on equity and community.

• Background in socio-emotional learning (SEL) frameworks.

• Prior experience in an independent school setting.

To Apply

Interested candidates are asked to submit a letter of interest as well as a current resume.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.