EXECUTIVE PRINCIPAL (Effective for the 2025-2026 School Year) Washington County Schools 405 W. College Street.
Jonesborough, Tennessee 37659
www.wcde.org
We are seeking a dynamic, visionary, and proven leader to join our educational community as the Executive Principal to lead, support, and provide daily coaching and management of all school leaders. Serving a student population of approximately 8000 students in grades PreK-12 in Washington County located in Northeast Tennessee, the Executive Principal will lead in a collaborative environment to shape the academic, social, and cultural landscape of our 14 schools. Requiring an unwavering focus on student success, innovation, and fostering a supportive learning environment, the ideal candidate will possess exceptional leadership skills, a passion for a high quality education for all, and a commitment to excellence of all stakeholders in the Washington County Schools community.
TERM OF EMPLOYMENT: Full-Time, 240 Day (12 months) annual contract – senior administrative position
REPORTS TO: Superintendent of Schools
SALARY: Commensurate with qualifications, responsibilities, and relevant experience based on the approved senior administrator salary schedule. Annual salary includes base salary plus additional variable compensation based on level of education.
BENEFITS: A competitive employee benefits package is provided by the Washington County Board of Education
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: Annual based on performance of assigned duties and established performance objectives
FLSA Status: Exempt
ANTICIPATED START DATE: July 1, 2025; Duties to begin by/before July 1, 2025 for the 2025-2026 school year (exact start date negotiable)
POSITION DESCRIPTION
The Executive Principal is a cabinet-level position providing strategic leadership and effective management of the organization, operations, and leadership of schools for students in all grades pre-K to 12 and post secondary where applicable. The Executive Principal is a key leadership position within the school system, responsible for supervising, supporting, developing, and evaluating school principals and assistant principals to ensure quality schools, programs, and services aligned to efficient and effective operations to best provide the opportunity of success for all students.
Under the direction of the Superintendent, the Executive Principal will be responsible for principal quality, effective school operations, and school performance, primarily through the direct management of all school principals and assistant principals of each school. To ensure effective schools, the Executive Principal is responsible for the leadership development and support of principals, assistant principals, and aspiring school leaders to promote and support high-quality teaching and learning in every classroom, every day, for every student.
QUALIFICATIONS PROFILE
Certification/License:
- Valid Tennessee Teaching License required; AND
- Valid Tennessee Instructional Leadership License (ILL) required
Education: - Minimum of master's degree from an accredited college or university, preferably in Instructional Leadership (or equivalent).
Experience: ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES (include but are not limited to):
Develop and effectively execute an implementation plan that advances the District’s five-year vision, supports a seamless PreK-12 learning community and allows for transparent accountability towards student outcome goals established by the Washington County Board of Education.
Cultivate a culture of high expectations with shared strategic goals around measurable and continuous improvement in principal quality, as well as around student academic achievement in all schools.
Create, manage and sustain effective systems that enable the district to identify, recruit, support and develop a strong pool of highly-skilled Principal candidates for schools as well as a strong network of supports to support the work to include:
Monitoring performance: Data and performance management systems that enable weekly, real-time coaching conversations with Principals centered on continuous improvement of school leadership and school quality and on the impact of leadership support;
Developing leaders: Transparent, fair and effective tools for assessing Principal Assistant Principals, and School Leadership Team capacity, developing leadership and succession plans and providing differentiated supports that result in improved performance;
Setting a learning agenda: A learning scope and sequence for Principals that is built on regular assessment of principal and school leadership team capacity that results in measurable improvement of the coaching and management provided to Principals in schools;
Allocating resources: Establish and maintain systems that allow data-informed decisions about Principal needs and to allocate resources accordingly, including the allocation of instructional supports and content experts to school leaders, based on need;
Informing stakeholders: A communication system for ensuring Principals receive actionable information in a timely and efficient way, and that district leaders,,external stakeholders, and school leadership team members are well-informed of District and School initiatives, successes, and struggles.
Supervise the administration and daily operations of schools, including making sure that all school administrators are held accountable for meeting and exceeding expectations and that schools remain efficient, effective, and good stewards of public resources.
Develop systems to effectively provide ad-hoc operational support to Principals (e.g.escalated inquiries, emergencies, etc.).
Actively recruit, hire, support develop, and evaluate school leaders, to include principals, assistant principals, and aspiring school leaders
Build effective, collaborative cross-team partnerships.
Develop and maintain strong relationships with other senior leadership team members, including all members of the superintendent cabinets and the directors/supervisors that they oversees.
Work toward convergence with the district leadership team to ensure that the needs of Principal and the schools are met by other District Office function and services.
Work with the Human Resources team to develop internal talent pipelines and external talent recruitment strategies for future principals and assistant principals.
Collaborate with all district departments to monitor schools’ operational performance and compliance, resolve open issues, and ensure principal time is focused on instructional leadership.
Serve as the Superintendent's designee, as needed and assigned by the Superintendent
MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:
Ability to model and lead all district and school work n the best interest of students.
Ability to utilize applied leadership expertise, sound judgment, integrity, honesty and credibility.
Strong knowledge of Tennessee education laws and regulations.
Excellent interpersonal, communication, and leadership skills.
Ability to analyze data and make data-driven decisions.
Dedication to the well-being and success of all students and educators..
Demonstrate courage in making difficult, yet necessary, decisions.
Capable of establishing and executing an ambitious vision, coaching others to do the same.
Effective strategic planning capabilities, including the ability to establish high-level, long-term strategic vision and goals, and align/manage and execute activities on the ground toward goal fulfillment.
Ability to define problems, analyze data, identify opportunities and outline valid conclusions and action steps.
Demonstrates the capacity for adaptive leadership, including the ability to manage teams and individuals effectively and collaboratively through change to meet and exceed high expectations.
Exemplary written and verbal communication skills; communicates regularly and clearly, leveraging strong interpersonal and organizational skills.
Strong knowledge and understanding of operations, management and organizational design in district and school settings; uses this knowledge to assist principals in continuously improving student outcomes.
Ability to build collaborative relationships with a wide variety of stakeholder groups, including external partners, to ensure the entire system operates to meet school and principal needs.
Thrives in a changing environment and demonstrates a lifelong commitment to learning, humility and flexibility.
Possess a track record of success as demonstrated by superior academic and professional achievement.