Job Description
The Director of Diverse Learners leads the design, development, state reporting and compliance oversight of a network-wide special education program for all Summit Public Schools’ students and families across 10 Summit campuses across Washington and California.
Reporting to the Senior Director of Specialized Program as a network leader on the Schools team, the Director of Diverse Learners partners closely with school and network teams to align and cohere support for diverse learners through implementation fidelity of special education services. The person in this position directly manages the Program Specialists, and collaborates frequently with the network’s school leaders, operations, finance, human relations and legal teams. The Director assists leaders in using data-driven, research-based, and legally compliant best practices to serve young people in alignment with our culture, and ultimately, to sustain and improve student achievement on Summit’s commencement level outcomes.
The Director of Diverse Learners is responsible for researching, developing, and implementing outstanding special education services integrated within Summit’s competency-based curriculum and conducting professional development opportunities for faculty. Additionally, the Director of Diverse Learners develops and maintains systems for documenting and using diverse learner data, ensuring that all schools are providing exceptional, compliant services to students with IEPs and their families. Finally, the Director is responsible for state reporting that impacts funding streams in CA and WA systems.
The ideal candidate has deep experience in special education, cultural competency, excellent communication skills both written and verbal, superb attention to detail when completing large-scale tasks, and is devoted to providing high-quality experiences for students, families, and members of the Summit Schools faculty. Familiarity with Summit Learning or personalized learning is preferred.
This position will require travel to Summit Public Schools throughout the Bay Area, CA and Seattle area, WA. (Travel required: Approximately 20%)
Who We Are What if all students graduated high school with the knowledge, skills and habits they need to lead a fulfilled life? This is the question that guides our mission at Summit Public Schools.
Summit is a leading network of public schools that prepare a diverse student population for success in a four-year college and to be thoughtful, contributing members of society. We operate 10 schools serving over 3,400 students in the Bay Area and Washington state. 100% of Summit graduates are college ready and Summit graduates complete college at double the national average.
We need exceptional mission-aligned educators to join our team to help prepare our students for a fulfilled life. Join us!
What You’ll Do Strategy and Program Implementation
- Lead the development, implementation, and communication of a vision and strategy for the diverse learner program across the organization
- Leverage deep knowledge of Summit’s instructional design to ensure that personalization meets the needs of all students in alignment with IDEA
- Lead the development of anti-biased antiracist diverse learner policies and procedures to ensure all students’ needs are met
- Develop diverse learner program budget, including federal, state, and local grants that informs individualized school budgets based on school-specific population and needs
- Act as a strategic partner for general and diverse learner teams, as well as the greater community- including professional development, consultancies, meeting facilitation, etc
- Design, scale, and evaluate continuous improvement innovations based in data and aligned to organizational mission and vision
- Serve as an advocate for students and families of students with IEPs
People Management
- Recruit, hire, manage and develop a team of highly skilled Program Specialists who support site-based teachers of diverse learners
- Facilitate the delivery of services among multiple external providers by researching, evaluating and selecting the highest-quality providers and acting as the liaison among external partners working with Summit students with IEPs
- Partner with site administrators to recruit, hire, develop, and retain effective teachers of diverse learners
- Facilitate restorative conflict resolution strategies with IEP teams to resolve disputes related to diverse learner needs and services
Capacity Building
- Develop vision, strategic plan, and implementation of evidence based practices for specially designed instruction to maintain high quality across all Summit sites
- Design, plan, and implement professional development for teachers and program specialists differentiated to meet a range of professional learning needs
- Design, plan, and implement diverse learner new employee orientation and onboarding experiences
- Identify trends in practices and collaborate with stakeholders to develop and implement targeted professional development based in data and aligned to organizational mission and vision
Values-based Compliance
- Research and leverage deep knowledge of applicable laws, regulations, and policies that impact diverse learners
- Audit and assess current diverse learner programs against federal, state and local requirements to develop, manage and evaluate continuous improvement
- Monitor, evaluate, and provide strategic partnership to Executive Directors on appropriate staff-to-student ratio for diverse learners
- Effectively collaborate with local SELPA(s) and Puget Sound ESD in accordance with Summit’s organizational values and standards in addition to the responsibilities and practices of Charter SELPA partners
- Represent the interests of Summit Public Schools by ensuring Summit’s public commitment to high ethical standards and practices
- Ensure the overall accuracy of data in all information systems related to students with IEPs
Other duties as assigned to ensure overall diverse learner program effectiveness
What Qualifications You Need Key Qualities and Skills
- Commitment to uphold Summit’s values, belief that all children deserve a rigorous and equitable education that prepares them to live a fulfilled life.
- Bachelor’s Degree is required.
- A Master's Degree in education and an educational administration certificate, or a related field is strongly preferred.
- 4+ years of experience in education leadership is required; experience leading a high performing school and/or network of schools is strongly preferred.
- 4+ years teaching experience is required.
- Ability to travel to multiple school sites.
- Proficiency in Google Platforms, including Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Docs, and Google Slides.
- Clear health and background check
Who You Are About You
- You maintain high expectations for all students and believe all students can find success in school, college, and life.
- You thrive while collaborating and are excited to work with your colleagues. You find positivity in share successes.
- You share our vision to reimagine what schools should be and are excited to make an impact on the public education landscape.
- You are data-driven and have the ability to collect, evaluate, and utilize data in meaningful ways.
- You have a track record of success in leading a school or schools to high levels of performance.
- You are positive and resilient in the face of big challenges.
- You possess strong people management skills, with the ability to motivate, inspire, develop, and collaborate with a diverse group of school leaders, staff members, and community members.
- You are skilled at managing groups of leaders through fast-paced iterative design cycles.
- You have an ability to focus on long-term outcomes and think broadly on how to adjust structures to meet desired outcomes.
- You have a strategic mindset when it comes to executing professional development initiatives.
- You take initiative and ownership in driving your work to meet personal and team goals.
- You have the ability to apply honest, actionable, and timely feedback that results in improved performance.
- You are empathetic and culturally competent. You’re open to having hard conversations.
- You thrive in innovative environments and are comfortable with the ambiguity that can come with a dynamic and progressive workplace.
- You’re committed to continuous improvement, see feedback as a positive, and have a growth mindset.
What You Get
Summit offers competitive salaries and benefit options for full-time employees, including covering 75% of the health, dental and vision plan costs. We fully cover life and disability insurance. We have a “take what you need” PTO policy, 11 paid holidays and 3 weeks of organizational-wide closure during the year. The salary for this position starts at $135,524 and goes up to $160,327.22 commensurate with experience and qualifications.
Summit is an equal opportunity employer. We believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are directly intertwined with education. We are ALL better when we are able to bring our whole selves to work and honor each other’s voices across identities, cultural backgrounds, and life experiences. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals who are members of historically marginalized communities. Spanish language proficiency is a plus.
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