Do you love working with adolescent and preadolescent students? In them do you see their power, potential, capabilities, and sparkle? In them do you see both struggle and a limitless capacity for greatness? Do you also love working with talented teachers who also love working with adolescent and preadolescent students? If so, you might like hanging out with us … we are looking for a passionate and skilled leader to be our director of upper school to lead and coordinate our Upper Elementary (fourth to sixth grades) and Junior High (seventh to ninth grades) divisions.
This winter, our perfect-fit, Montessori-wise, connective, brilliant, gracefully attentive-to-every-detail current director of upper school unexpectedly had to leave GMS to support a family situation; so we are now looking for a new perfect-fit, Montessori-wise, connective, brilliant, and gracefully attentive-to-every-detail director of upper school that could start as soon as this spring or July 1 for the 2023-24 school year.
Greensboro Montessori School is a 49-year-old, toddler-to-junior-high, AMS- and SAIS-accredited, 265-student independent school. Even during the recent pandemic, our Upper School has thrived. The Upper Elementary division has 45 to 50 students with four lead teachers, and the Junior High division has 20 to 30 students with three lead teachers. The School also has a relatively new ninth grade option that has both a strong foundation and still needs development. Our Upper School students have access to both our 10-acre main campus and our 37-acre wooded satellite campus. Their learning also happens in our teaching kitchen and 20-year-old permaculture gardens. Students make good use of our two activity buses, and they also take to the air for some trips outside of North Carolina and even the country. Beyond their core teachers, students are further nurtured and challenged by a team of Cultural Education (specialists) faculty (computer science, environmental education, physical education, Spanish, visual arts, wellness, and world music) and a strong Student Support team (school counselor and director of student support).
We seek someone who shares our Montessori passion and values: someone who can nudge, inspire, challenge, structure, support, and work side-by-side to help us be our best.
Desired Leadership Style
We seek a leader who believes in empowering faculty — in being a servant leader. We believe leadership is based on authenticity, humility, and connections, not power and control. We seek someone who is calm under pressure, who sees both the big picture and the hundreds of myriad details, who believes in our peace curriculum, and who finds joy in their work every day. We know open and regular communication on big and little details is critical for the program’s success. We also need a leader who has a systems-thinking approach to leading the program.
Needed Skills and Experiences
Roles and Responsibilities
The director of upper school is a 12-month position and will be responsible for coordinating the fourth to ninth grade curriculum and program, as well as the approximately 15 faculty who teach within our Upper Elementary, Junior High, and Cultural Education (specialists) divisions. Coordination will include internal and external communications, scheduling, enrollment management, parent partnership, student and program assessment, off-campus learning expeditions, bridge to the administration team, budget review, and being the face of our Upper School. While a relationship with all the students and a presence to the students will be important, most of the role is administrative and coordination. A small percentage of the role may also involve direct teaching responsibilities. This role works closely with the director of lower school and reports directly to the head of school.
To Apply
If you want to help us empower our fourth to ninth graders to step into the world as active and compassionate citizens, and if you have the skills to lead an extremely talented and dedicated group of Montessori educators, we want to hear from you.
If you are from outside the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina, know that this state is a wonderful place to live and that Greensboro is a wonderful medium-sized city which is very affordable. Relocation support is available.
Please email a cover letter, résumé, single digital picture that captures what you think is a critical part of the learning process, and your leadership statement to Ashley Daniels, director of human resources, at hr@gms.org. Â
P.S. By the way, you also need to have a great sense of humor, a willingness to work super hard, like or even love coffee, be an attentive and empathetic listener, and be open to driving one of our 18-passenger activity buses.
Greensboro Montessori School does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, gender, disability, age, national origin, marital status, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status with respect to recruitment, hiring, compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment
Greensboro Montessori School is a 49-year-old independent school located in Greensboro, North Carolina. We are accredited by the American Montessori Society, the Southern Association of Independent Schools, and Cognia (formerly AdvancEd). With a fantastic group of 60+ faculty and staff, supportive and engaged families, a clear long-range plan, a 37-acre satellite campus, a $4.9M operating budget with a strong financial portfolio, and a fantastic board of trustees, our School is thriving.
As a Montessori school serving students from toddler through ninth grade, our faculty and staff’s mission is to both “nurture and challenge” our 260 students – knowing when to push, when to support, and when to watch. We seek joyful, hard-working, student-centered, and compassionate educators with the right blend of subject-matter expertise and alignment with our core school values of grace and courtesy – someone who takes pride in helping and serving others.
Our School is a great place to be for students and adults, alike. If you are a committed and passionate education professional who loves helping students unleash their full potential, we want to meet you. To apply for any of our open positions, please email your cover letter and résumé to Ashley Daniels, director of human resources, at hr@gms.org.