Superintendent, Dayton Public Schools
Alma Advisory Group, United States
Job Description
About Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools (DPS) is situated in the 4th largest metropolitan area in Ohio and serves approximately 12,500 students in 27 pre-school, elementary, middle and high schools. Known as the Birthplace of Aviation, Dayton has a long history of innovation, and a rich higher education community including Central State University, Wilberforce University, Sinclair College, Wright State University, and University of Dayton, all nearby. We are also proud of our arts and culture scene, and we boast over 16,000 acres of outdoor recreation including parks, hiking trails and open green spaces. Our district spans 49 square miles and has approximately 2,300 dedicated staff. Students attending Dayton have benefited from a rich athletic history, one-to-one technology, the College Credit Plus Program, Challenging Learning Centers, and the expansion of Project Lead the Way and STEM programming. The mission of DPS is to equip our students to achieve success in a global society by implementing an effective and rigorous curriculum with fidelity.
About the Superintendent Role
The seven-member Board of Education of the Dayton Public Schools is seeking the district’s next permanent Superintendent. In completing this search, the Board is seeking a leader with the ability to develop a unified vision for education in the district, setting the foundation for the next 5, 10, even 20 years of the district’s future. We are seeking a leader who has demonstrated success for students, and is able to provide schools with the guidance, tools and autonomy to enable the success of each of our students. At this time, the Board has deliberately organized the district’s leadership to allow the Superintendent to maximize their focus on the academic success of students. The Business Manager role, which is accountable for operations, will report directly to the Board, along with the Treasurer role responsible for Finance (the treasurer role normally reports to the Board in the state of Ohio.)
What You’ll Do (Responsibilities)
Develop a unified vision for student success, inspiring hope and strengthening our culture
- Partner with students, staff, families and the Board to identify our top priorities moving forward and to develop a vision for DPS that can take us into the next 5, 10, even 20 years into the future.
- Set educational/academic goals and galvanize action across the board members, administrators, teachers, parents, students and the broader education, civic, and philanthropic communities around a shared plan to ensure high quality learning experiences for our students in every building.
- Adopt instructional models and structures based on practices that are research based, culturally responsive and demonstrated to be effective and holistic; serving the whole child to meet student needs.
- Develop innovative approaches to prepare our students for careers or college while addressing systemic inequities in order to improve the experience of students, teachers and families.
- Ensure learning environments that fully support multilingual learners and students with diverse learning needs.
- Ensure the wellbeing of students navigating challenging circumstances including foster care system, students that are unhoused or in temporary housing, and students grappling with issues of gender and sexual identity.
Cultivate a thriving workforce of staff and educators through thoughtful professional development systems and retention practices
- Develops and leads a high-performing leadership team to achieve ambitious goals aligned with the district’s strategic plan.
- Recruit, retain, develop and inspire effective staff at every level of the organization with an emphasis on diversity, fair and equitable compensation, and culturally responsive education practices.
- Create the conditions where our intergenerational workforce wants to stay with us because they have the appropriate guidance, support, development, and collaboration that they need in order to do their best work on behalf of the students they serve.
- Create and nurture conditions for professional growth and organizational learning through purposeful cycles of continuous feedback and coaching.
Build and cultivate strong relationships across the district and in the community
- Nurture trusting relationships with community members and partners in an effort to offer solutions that create value for students, families, and staff.
- Work closely and openly with the Board and foster an open relationship and clear vision for role clarity between the Board of Directors and the Superintendent.
- Expand trust, partnership and connection with our community, learning what matters to our families and our communities to inform key decisio