[2025 - 26] KIPP Durham Principal (Resume Collection)

Every School. Every Student. Every Day.

The Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) North Carolina is a network of eight tuition-free, college-preparatory public charter schools serving approximately 3,000 students in grades K-12 across Durham, Halifax, Northampton, and Mecklenburg counties. At KIPP NC, we are dedicated to improving life outcomes for North Carolina’s children through culturally relevant, research-based curricula and by clearing paths for students to achieve their unique definitions of success.

At KIPP, we recognize that the strength of a school begins with its leadership. As a Principal, you are the driving force behind your school’s vision, culture, and academic success. Your leadership inspires teachers, guides students, and empowers families to be active partners in the educational journey. We celebrate your unique abilities to lead with purpose, build community, and achieve ambitious goals for all.

We are committed to supporting Principals in their mission to create transformational schools. With competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, and ongoing professional development, we ensure you have the resources and opportunities to thrive as a leader. You’ll be supported by a collaborative KIPP Team and Family, with access to robust networks of peers and staff dedicated to helping you succeed.

At KIPP NC, our collective ambition is a future without limits for every student. As a Principal, you’ll play a pivotal role in turning that vision into reality—one school, one student, every day.

Join KIPP NC and lead the charge in shaping brighter futures for our communities.

Role Overview: 

The Principal’s primary job is to drive academic and character outcomes for students. We expect our Principals to focus the majority of their time on instructional leadership, specifically all of the activities involved in leading and developing teachers to improve their instruction and drive student achievement.  

JOB SUMMARY:

Reporting to and supervised by the Head of Schools, the Principal will lead all instructional activities and programming with the goal of setting a clear school vision that is ambitious and rigorous, while driving student achievement and instructional leadership.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Instructional Leadership

• Set ambitious school-wide vision and goals, aligned with KIPP NC, that lead students on a path to and through college, career, and beyond.
• Build own and school staff’s knowledge and expertise in effective instructional design and academic standards
  • Develop teachers’ conceptual understanding of what students must know and be able to do and what instructional methods drive student mastery
  • Develop knowledge of how standards map to curricula and assessments
• Develop teachers to provide rigorous and high quality instruction
  • Lead analysis of and develop teachers’ ability to analyze student data to identify strategies that will move students toward mastery. Document all feedback and observations within the state-wide tracking system.
  • Regularly observe and coach instructional leaders to ensure they are providing high-impact, actionable and bite-sized feedback to teachers on a weekly basis.
  • Ensure teachers can collaborate, analyze their practice and their student data, and adjust instruction in content teams.
  • Lead whole-school professional development workshops that drive highest-impact improvements in teacher practice.
• Manage and develop a strong school leadership team (including Assistant Principals, Deans of Culture & Instruction, and Director of School Operations) that supports teachers and staff to provide strong student outcomes.

Manage People

• Oversee, lead, and communicate the vision of Liberation that informs the school’s culture, goals, and behavior management
• Develop leadership team members by teaching and insisting that they are true owners of the work and coaching and designing stretch activities
• Model expectations for leaders, teachers, and students on school-wide practices for a positive learning culture
• Pursue challenging professional goals each year
• Receive and implement constructive feedback to develop your skills 
• Problem solve around school-wide issues to best support your Team and Family
• Hold team members accountable to the behavior management systems and school expectations
• Build systems, structures, and relationships to develop and retain diverse, highly-effective staff
• Create an effective, collaborative team of people jointly responsible for the attainment of school goals and committed to achieving excellence.
• Hold direct reports accountable to performance expectations and follow through with school protocols and procedures
• Partner with the People Operations Team to manage human resource concerns at school site
• Partner with the Talent Acquisition Team to recruit, select, hire, and manage the performance of all staff
• Continually monitor progress on all measures of school and staff performance
• The following are managed by the Director of Operations (DoO) but supported by the Principal:
• Manage the school budget, attending monthly meetings with the Finance Team to ensure the books are balanced.
• Supervise student recruitment throughout the year to ensure that student enrollment targets are met or exceeded for the school.

Build Relationships

• Build effective relationships among teachers, parents, and the community to improve student performance
• Exhibit a high degree of professionalism in all elements of this position, while serving as a contributing member of the school team and a dedicated role model for other employees.
• Respond to requests from the Regional Support Team in a timely manner, working with the regional team to ensure compliance of all KIPP North Carolina Public Schools policies and procedures
• Participate in KIPP North Carolina Public Schools Community actively by attending Principal Community of Practice meetings, engaging in discussion, and sharing best practices.
• Attend regular one-on-ones with their Head of Schools (manager)
• Lead liberatory work in your school by creating a safe, inclusive culture for staff and families, critically examining school practices to dismantle white supremacy's effects/legacies, facilitating school-wide PD on liberatory practices, and working with the Regional Support staff to further KIPP NC’s mission to be a liberatory organization.

Competencies:  The exceptional candidate will excel in the following competencies: 

• Student Focus: Belief that all students, regardless of background, have the ability to go to and through college, career and beyond; demonstrated commitment to the school’s unique community
• Instructional Leadership: Adept at data analysis; ability to extract meaningful insights across school-wide data.
• Instructional Leadership: Expertise in what the school-wide academic standards and state assessments require of students’ knowledge and skills to demonstrate mastery; able to translate student mastery requirements into instructional plans and strategies
• Instructional Leadership: Deep understanding of appropriate application and differentiation of high-leverage instructional strategies based on comprehension of child development and pedagogy.
• Instructional Leadership: Command of instructional design and the benefits and tradeoffs of school design decisions in driving student achievement.
• Liberatory Approach to Leadership: Tackles equity within the school through an awareness of racist institutional systems that impact both themselves and students and is working to disrupt those systems.
• Growth Mindset: 
• Direction Setting: Ability to set direction across an entire school and motivate others to action.
• Performance Management: Demonstrated student achievement results from teachers and leaders that they manage and coach.
• Talent Development: Demonstrated success in developing leadership capacity in others.
• Cultural Competence: Demonstrated ability to create inclusive environments that celebrate and support a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives.
• Achievement Orientation: Demonstrated resilience and focus on student outcomes.

Qualifications:

Required:

• A deep commitment to the mission of KIPP NC and an unwavering belief in the potential of all our students
• An unwavering commitment to liberation, anti-racism, equity, and inclusion
• Possess a deep commitment to both racial equity and improving the lives of kids from low-income communities
• Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum of 5 years teaching experience in the classroom in a tested subject area (EOG, EOC, AP)
• At least 1 year in a school leadership role, i.e.  Assistant Principal, Dean of Students, Director of School Operations, etc.
• Demonstrated leadership with the ability to lead people and get results through work with others year over year
• Current NC Teacher Licensure or ability to seek reciprocity from another state
• Pass Criminal Background Check
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, demonstrating strong prioritization, organization and follow-up skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills; positive attitude, enthusiasm and energy
• Experience using data analysis to facilitate and support decision making
• Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills
• Excellent interpersonal, human relations, and stress and conflict management skills
• Excellent planning, goal setting, coordinating, problem analysis, and decision-making skills
• Ability to facilitate and lead change initiatives and embrace innovation
• Enthusiasm to engage parents and community

Preferred:

• Master’s degree in education or related field from an accredited college or university
• Five years of administrative/supervisory experience, classroom leadership experience
• Experience in an urban education environment preferred
• YOY student growth results in K-12, demonstrating effective teaching and learning practices
• Current or willing to obtain NC Administrative Licensure
• Fluency in Spanish 

Additional Information

• Hours are 7am - 5pm, Monday - Friday
• Curriculum, materials, and resources are provided
• School Leaders are 12 month employees and work through the summer
• Required to stand 8+ hours every day
• Ability to lift 50+ lbs

Compensation

We currently offer a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package including:

Principal Compensation Scale

• Healthcare (medical, vision, and dental) at no cost to individuals and deep discounts for dependents
• Enrollment in a retirement program with employer match
• On-going professional development opportunities:
  • Monthly Principal meetings in-person and virtual
  •  support from Relay GSE
  •  leadership coaches
• Generous time off:
  • Paid Time Off  (17 days PTO & 6 days sick leave annually)
  • Time off for all major national holidays (including Fall Break, Winter Break, and Spring Break)