Dean of Students jobs in Mississippi

Jackson Public Schools is the second largest school district in Mississippi, serving nearly 20,000 students, representing more than 80 percent of school-aged children in the state's capital. Jackson Public Schools is an innovative, urban district committed to excellence that will provide every student a quality education in partnership with parents and the community.

About the Dean of Students Position

Reporting directly to the Middle School Principal, the Dean of Students will work with the school’s Principal to ensure that all students demonstrate significant and consistent achievement gains and internalize the school’s culture and values. This Dean will help lead the school’s efforts in fostering a culture that is positive, structured, consistent, and disciplined.

The Dean of Students is responsible for:

• Modeling the district's core values
• Working closely with the principal to establish a positive, structured, achievement-oriented, and innovative school culture
• Supporting teachers to hold all students to consistently high academic and behavioral expectations
• Acting as a resource to teachers in their instructional practice, especially as it relates to issues of discipline, relationships with students, classroom management, and school culture
• Assisting teachers, students, and parents in the effective creation and implementation of individual behavior plans
• Leading staff in collaboration with students, families, and caregivers to ensure all students have excellent attendance and arrive at school on time
• Serving as the point person for supporting behavioral crisis intervention and acute behavioral issues
• Supporting the effective use of a school-wide behavior plan
• Serving as the point person for discipline/culture issues
• Ensuring that the physical environment of the school reinforces school culture and facilitates student achievement
• Proactively circulating throughout classrooms and hallways during the day, to gain valuable context on student behavior and help support positive school culture
• Monitoring behavioral pull-out and in-school suspensions
• Coordinating student apologies and school culture messages at Community Meeting
• Supervising breakfast, lunch, in-between class transitions, enrichment, and dismissal, making sure students are always where they are supposed to be and ensuring a professional school culture at these times
• Managing after school detention
• Keeping accurate student discipline records, documenting all conferences, suspensions, and phone calls for behavior
• Tracking behavior on the school bus, ensuring students are exemplary bus riders to and from school
• Performing other related duties as requested or assigned

Key Competencies

The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following:

• Holding self and others accountable for helping all students reach high academic achievement
• Drive to improve the minds and lives of students in and out of the classroom
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
• Strong interpersonal skills with students, parents, colleagues, and community members
• Understanding of the nuances of urban school environments and school culture
• Consistently addresses matters of equity, race, and bias in decision-making
• Demonstrates ability to develop and facilitate the delivery of programming that drives improved academic performance and social-emotional success for all students
• Understands and implements promising, innovative and effective instructional practices and social-emotional learning strategies
• Communicates effectively, altering messages to reflect understanding of audience and context
• Works collaboratively with diverse stakeholders at all levels (i.e. district staff, students, families, community partners, etc.)
• Leads development of solutions to seemingly intractable problems
• Demonstrates critical thinking skills and the ability to analyze data, identify trends, and diagnose root causes
• Demonstrates excellent project management skills, including balancing long-range goals with close attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple projects under tight deadlines
• Continuously monitors progress and demonstrates persistence to overcome obstacles and achieve goals

Required Training & Experience

• Evidence of improving academic outcomes for students and eliminating disparities in achievement, opportunities and services for students;
• Ten years of supervisory/administrative/management experience in school administration, including knowledge of academic assessment, preferably in an urban school district;
• Knowledge of best practice in instructing diverse learners;
• Doctoral degree in Education in an area related to curriculum and instruction or academic accountability services preferred

Required Licensure/Certification

• Possession of a valid state certificate endorsed in school administration (Mississippi Code 486)

Salary Information