Executive Director

Title of Position:  Executive Director of the Wilmington Learning Collaborative

Reports to: The Wilmington Learning Collaborative Board of Directors

Work Location: Wilmington, Delaware (Serving Brandywine, Christina, and Red Clay School Districts)

Position Overview

The Executive Director will support the execution of the overall vision and strategy for the Wilmington Learning Collaborative to ensure that the Brandywine, Christina, and Red Clay Consolidated School District schools within the WLC have the necessary operational and financial support to accomplish dramatic improvements in student achievement. The Executive Director reports directly to the Chairman of the WLC Council.

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative (WLC)

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative (WLC) is a groundbreaking voluntary partnership between the Wilmington, DE community, the Brandywine, Christina, and Red Clay Consolidated School Districts, the state (Delaware) and local (Wilmington) government agencies aimed at creating consistency for students, empowering educators, school leaders, and communities, and improving outcomes for students in the City of Wilmington schools. Governed by a Twelve-member WLC Council that includes superintendents and city board representatives from all three districts as well as key community members, the WLC is responsible for a group of eight schools, ranging from PK-2, traditional K-5 elementary and K-8 serving close to 2,800 students.

Responsibilities: The core responsibilities of the Executive Director will include, but not be limited to:

Overall Leadership

• Build and organize a team responsible for all WLC work as detailed below
• Accountable for the WLC in meeting its ambitious performance goals and serving students
• Collaborate with partner schools and districts over innovative practices

Smart Change Leadership and School Planning

• Collaborate with buildings and districts to and make recommendations for the employment, assignment, performance evaluation, and professional growth of those individuals
• Manage and support WLC building principals through a program of continuous improvement and assessment to support and monitor the progress of schools towards established goals
• Approve annual school plans and monitor individual school programs to ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local requirements impacting those programs
• Ensure access to selected supports and resources to school leaders as they plan and run their schools

Accountability and Monitoring

• Liaise with DEDOE to ensure that monitoring and compliance processes align with state requirements for WLC schools
• Participate in the compilation of a yearly report highlighting the performance of WLC schools
• Facilitate the sharing of best practices across all WLC schools

Public Relations

• Build partnerships and relationships with organizations within the community to support positive WLC school outcomes
• Serve as a spokesperson for WLC as needed, representing the WLC in public-facing events, conferences, legislative presentations, and community presentations
• Provide for effective two-way communication channel with staff, district employees, media, community, and board
• Oversee press release information and public awareness materials

Operations and Finance

• Work with the WLC team and each district in the development and execution of operational guidelines relating to WLC school’s staffing, budgeting, student assessments, technology, and IT services, facilities, equity, transportation, purchasing, and other operational guidelines and policies as reasonably determined by the WLC
• Identify public and private financial opportunities and threats, and take appropriate action to ensure the best financial, operational, and reputational results are achieved.
• Serve as a liaison for school-specific needs with WLC leaders and consult with the districts as necessary in critical areas such as student enrollment, IEP/LRE issues, student discipline, transportation, and all federal and state reporting
• Work with each district’s employee representative group (union) to ensure compliance with each district’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
• Oversee the budget and financial status of the organization, including developing short and long-range financial plans, monitoring the budget, and ensuring sound financial controls are in place; set financial priorities accurately to ensure the organization is operating in a manner that supports the needs of the program and staff
• Negotiate and manage contracts for any shared services across the WLC schools

Skills, Knowledge, and Experience

• You are relentless in pursuing educational opportunities and success for all students
• You have a demonstrated knowledge of the integral components and relationships that comprise effective schools and experiences that will translate to improvement in urban schools
• You can organize effectively, prioritize and oversee the implementation of multiple initiatives
• You can adapt quickly in the face of change
• You are an effective communicator who can instill confidence and buy-in from key stakeholders, including the WLC Council, families, state and federal agencies, city and state government, local school boards, educational associations, CBOs, and interest groups
• You have a strong background in school operations, including finance, facilities, and human capital
• You are an outstanding problem solver, strategic thinker, and decision maker, balancing data, wisdom, experience, and judgment to make sound decisions and do whatever it takes to get the job done
• Strong vision and strategic planning: The leader must have a clear understanding of what needs to be done to improve the school, and be able to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to achieve this
• Cultural competence: The leader must be able to understand and work effectively with the diverse communities that make up urban schools, including those of different racial, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds
• Data-driven decision making: The leader must be able to use data to identify problems and track progress, and make decisions based on evidence

Qualifications

• At least five years of successful experience as a school, district, state, corporate or other nonprofit organization leaders; eight years preferred experience
• Record of experience in organizational change and improvement Experience in an urban setting
• The ideal candidate should possess basic proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) as well as general knowledge of computer systems and networks.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to work in a fast-paced environment is a must
  Preferred experience as a former educator
• Evidence of success (experience versus competencies)
• Project management required skills and qualifications: collaborative, demonstrated leadership and management skills, proven success working with a board of directors or leadership team, strong experience in public relations
• Master’s in Education, Business Administration or similar preferred

Compensation

The WLC offers a competitive salary ($156,257 – $176,616) negotiable benefits, and retirement plan commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Any questions please contact Shanika Perry, WLC Board Chair, at Shanika.Perry@bsd.k12.de.us