Launch High School Principal

Founding High School Principal -- Launch High School at Floyd Bennett Field

About Launch

Launch Expeditionary Learning Charter School is currently engaging in a community-driven design process to plan for a brand new high school option for students of Central Brooklyn focused on tackling the two greatest challenges of our time– climate change and racial equity. The school will welcome its first 9th graders in a temporary space in Brooklyn, NY in Fall 2025, and then move to its forever home at Floyd Bennett Field (FBF) in 2026, through a unique partnership with the United States National Park Service (NPS). Launch High School at FBF will operate as part of a learning ecosystem built on 1,000 acres of national park land in the middle of New York City and serve students who have been systematically excluded from opportunities that lead to green jobs and most affected by environmental racism in our city, preparing them to disrupt systems of inequity and build a better world. Over time, the learning ecosystem will expand as Runway Green to serve as a hub for over 50,000 students from NYC public schools to come and engage with workforce development and experiential learning opportunities in a waterfront national park environment that they would otherwise be unable to access.

Launch High School at FBF builds on the work of Launch’s middle school, which has operated in Weeksville, Brooklyn for 11 years. It is part of a network of 14 EL Education (formerly Expeditionary Learning) and NYC Outward Bound schools in New York City, and is the NYC network’s first charter school. EL is a proven educational model being implemented in over 150 district, charter and independent schools across the country. Launch's mission is dedicated to empowering all students to develop the knowledge, skills and character to disrupt inequities in society and build a better world. We believe that students at all levels can be pushed and supported to do more than they think possible.

The high school’s instructional approach will be project-based and competency-based, with deep support for all students around wellbeing and wayfinding. You can learn more about the high school model on this one-pager and in our work-in-progress School Design Blueprint.

What You’ll Do

During the 2024-25 school year, before Launch High School at FBF opens, you will have a year to prepare in a range of ways for a successful inaugural school year in temporary space starting in Fall 2025. Your time will be split between being a leader-in-residence at Launch middle school in Brooklyn, NY, where you will gain deep knowledge of the middle school experience of many incoming 9th graders, forge strong relationships with students, families and staff members, and have spaciousness to deeply engage in year two of the community-driven design process, and extended visits around the country to innovative schools and institutions that can support you to build the vision and skills required to launch the school successfully. 

The priorities for your first year will include:

• Complete the School Design Blueprint, by co-facilitating the Community Design Team (broad range of stakeholders including alumni, staff, family members, and representatives from partner organizations, that has been meeting bi-weekly since November 2023) with design partners from Transcend. Ensure that a comprehensive vision is outlined for the 9th through 12th grade program, with specific focus on deep design around the 9th grade experience that will set students up for a life-changing four years
• Build conviction in the community about the vision for Launch High School
• Coordinate the piloting process to test elements of the design and improve them based on feedback from stakeholders 
• Ensure all materials and resources (i.e. curriculum, schedules) are ready for bringing the School Design Blueprint to life in the 2025-26 school year, through building and coordinating with Transcend, working groups made up of Community Design Team members, and others
• Recruit a founding high school staff and students
• Prepare to onboard the staff of Launch High School, including developing a scope and sequence for professional development, and systems for coaching, support and management
• Develop Launch High School’s Staff and Student/Family Handbooks 
• Build relationships with community and industry partners to ensure that all anchor partners in our learning ecosystem are in place on FBF in Fall 2026 and working with our students in modified ways in the 2025-26 school year
• Plan for launching in a temporary space, while also keeping your eye on the long-term vision at FBF

Starting in Fall 2025, you’ll serve as the Founding Principal at Launch High School. Roles will include, but not be limited to:

• Instructional Leader
  • Support all teachers to effectively deliver project-based and competency-based instruction, designed to develop students around the Future9 Competencies– Build Community, Design Solutions, Engage in Inquiry, Express Ideas, Learning Interdependently, Navigate Conflict, Read the World, Reason Quantitatively, and Sustain Wellness.
  • Develop a work culture of cooperation, positive attitudes, and teamwork, where all staff are motivated to perform with excellence and continually improve
  • Create, foster, maintain, and protect a culture of student voice and choice, where heads, hearts, and hands are engaged in project-based learning
  • Ensure a program where students can graduate with a Regents Diploma and with a personalized pathway for life after high school graduation that aligns to their skills, passions and dreams for the future
  • Ensure staff are prepared to operationalize the model outlined in the Launch High School Design Blueprint, and are convicted in the vision that it supports and impact it will have on the community
  • Monitor and analyze student data for efficacy of curriculum, instruction, and growth
  • Provide coaching for all staff members to support both their personal development and the support they’re able to provide students
• School Culture Leader
  • Ensure that Launch High School’s Design Principles– Power of Joy, Everyone Belongs and Grows, Deeper Learning Rooted Here, and Liberation through Action–are evidenced in every experience the school offers and every decision made as school leader
  • Build a cohesive culture across both students and adults, where adults model the traits and habits we try to develop in students
  • Lead with a racial equity mindset
  • Establish and continually strengthen strong Conditions for Innovation– Conviction around the importance and potential of the work being undertaken, Clarity so that the community understands the path forward, Capacity to successfully carry out the work with the personnel, funding and time required, Coalition to ensure committed stakeholders are helping the work become a sustained success, and a Culture of effective, sustainable and equitable innovation and learning– across school stakeholders
  • Create and maintain a learner-centered approach to the work, where success is always inclusive of a whole child focus
  • Focus on consistent, transparent communication amongst stakeholders to prioritize family and community engagement
  • Oversee student discipline in collaboration with students, staff, parents, and advisors
• Holder of Strategic Vision
  • Serve as liaison to the Board, consistently attending Board meetings, keeping Board aware of successes and growth areas, and engaging the Board’s deep involvement in the school’s growth
  • Align work to the goals set out in Launch’s Strategic Plan, working as a team with the leaders of the middle school and network
  • Be the voice of Launch High School in work with external partners, ensuring that the larger NYC community understands Launch’s vision and approach
• Operational and Administrative Oversight
  • Together with the Operational leader and team you assemble, ensure school safety and compliance with all applicable district, state, and federal laws, including required documents for the charter authorizer
  • Together with the Operational leader, oversee school finances to ensure financial stability

Who You’ll Be

• Aligned with, passionate about, and invested in both the vision for Launch High School at FBF that is currently in progress (School Design Blueprint) and the community-based design process by which it will continue to be developed
  • This includes unwavering commitment to equity, Launch’s mission, and the EL Education model 
• An experienced school leader, with at least two years of experience leading, managing, and coaching a team of adults with clear evidence of being able to drive results through the supervision of others, and building on a foundation of at least three years teaching experience with a proven track record of elevating student achievement and cultivating positive culture
  • Preferably in an urban setting
  • Preferably in a high school
• Alignment with the educational philosophy and core beliefs that will undergird Launch High School at FBF: EL Education, project-based and competency-based learning, and work-based/career-connected learning 
  • Preferably with experience teaching and/or leading in a school that uses one or more of these elements
• Entrepreneurial
  • Comfortable with rapid growth and evolution (personal and of the school) within an innovative educational model  
  • Skilled in starting and growing a new program as it is in development
  • A visionary that can construct, implement, and successfully reach a desired outcome, in true partnership with community 
• Committed to staying at Launch HIgh School at FBF at least five years, which will include seeing the inaugural 9th grade class through their graduation and leading the school to scale
• A leader who demonstrates:
  • Self-awareness, demonstrating an accurate idea of one's own strengths and weaknesses 
  • An ability to treat all members of the school's community with respect and to inspire others
  • Skill in project-based and competency-based instruction, and innovative educational approaches, as evidenced by quantitative and qualitative data
  • Strong organizational, self-management, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to handle many responsibilities simultaneously
  • Enthusiasm, energy, and optimism, even in the face of challenges
  • Adeptness in managing  change, coupled with innovative  thinking to surmount obstacles
  • A belief in the value of building relationships and balancing empowering staff and students while ensuring accountability
  • Composed demeanor during crises, underpinned by optimism and resilience 
  • Confident and effective communication, adjusting styles to suit  diverse audiences 
  • Empathetic listening  skills and high emotional intelligence
  • Strategic thinking, critically assessing information, data, and  processes to facilitate organizational  improvement
• A model of the qualities we expect from all staff of Launch High School at FBF:
  • Intellectual curiosity and openness
  • Passion for teaching and  learning
  • A love for, appreciation of, and deep commitment to young people 
  • A love and appreciation for growing and building a powerful and collaborative  school team 
  • Strong collaboration, interpersonal, and communication skills, including an ability to work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and with diverse perspectives and to maintain strong professional relationships
  • A hunger for feedback and self-improvement
  • A high level of ownership over the overall outcomes of the scholars they lead
• Someone who believes:
  • Our students are the next leaders in the green economy
  • All young people can achieve at high levels
  • A learning ecosystem is an innovation with the power to break down the silos between school and community
  • Power should be shared with staff, students, family members and the larger community
  • Ongoing feedback strengthens performance and outcomes
  • The value of Ubuntu - I am because we are
• Holder of a Bachelor’s degree, with advanced degree preferred

We're Committed To Giving You

• Highly competitive compensation, commensurate with experience, along with a full benefits package.
• The opportunity to lead truly historic and groundbreaking work
• A supportive team of educators

Launch is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any individual or group for reasons of race, color, creed, sex, age, culture, national origin, marital status, sexual preference or mental or physical disability.

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