(NAME-MCE) Middle and High School Principals Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools Washington DC

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Middle and High School Principals

Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy   |  Washington,
SE DC 20003 USA   |  Full Time - 12 Month

Job Description

Being part of the educational leadership team at a Chavez School is
stimulating, demanding, and different from traditional public school
teaching. The Chavez Schools offer a challenging academic environment,
the opportunity for collegial collaboration, and continuous
improvement in curriculum, instruction, and assessment. We require a
strong team commitment, academic knowledge, investment of personal
time, application of sound educational principles and techniques, and
professionalism. We believe that every student can go to college
through achievement-focused teaching, and we search for professionals
who support that mission. The job requirements for teachers and
administrators at the Chavez Schools are challenging and reflect the
nature of working for a charter system that is trying to do things in
a better way. Please visit us on the web at www.chavezschools.org.

Chavez is seeking highly motivated leaders for our college preparatory
charter schools serving high poverty communities in Washington, DC.
Principal positions for both the Parkside campus middle and high
schools are available immediately. Please visit our website to find a
detailed job description for each posting and application materials.

Applicants must be intensely dedicated, extremely hard working,
passionate about closing America's racial gap in learning, highly
proficient in their subject areas, and unwaveringly committed to the
belief that all students can excel in a college preparatory setting.

Interested candidates should email a cover letter and resume,
application and EOE form, and transcripts to
recruitment at chavezschools.org. Hard copy submissions will not be
processed.

EOE. No phone calls please.

Mitzi Burby
recruitment at chavezschools.org
Tel:  202.547.3975, ext. 1
Fax:  202.547.3449
Job Code:       Principal

School History

The first César Chávez Public Charter School (Chávez) was founded in
1998 in response to lagging academic performance and exceedingly low
high school graduation and college matriculation rates among District
of Columbia public school students, especially among minority and
low-income students. Founder Irasema Salcido wanted to provide
inner-city students with a rigorous, high-quality education that would
prepare them for college and inspire them to civic engagement.

The founding Chávez school quickly earned a strong reputation for its
rigorous academic curriculum, unique public policy program, top-notch
faculty, and comprehensive student support services, which together
have ensured that 100% of graduating Chávez seniors have been accepted
into at least one college or university. By 2003, Chávez had risen to
the top of its local DC market and could not begin to meet the strong
parental demand for its program. Thus, the school took the first steps
towards expansion, developing a vision of growth that would ultimately
have Chávez serving some 3,000 District of Columbia students in grades
6 to 12. The school then redeveloped its board of trustees, gained
Charter Board approval to replicate and expand to the lower grades,
and partnered with Sallie Mae's Building Hope A Charter School
Facilities Fund.

In 2004, Chávez began its first phase of replication: it opened its
second campus – a combined middle and high school. Chávez also
transitioned the leadership at the founding high school, established a
home office structure to support both Chávez schools, and secured
permanent, new facilities for both campuses. These new,
top-of-the-line school facilities opened their doors to 900 District
of Columbia students in the fall of 2005. In just three years, Chávez
had gone from a single high school serving 250 students in temporary
facilities, to two permanent campuses providing a high-quality public
education to nearly four times as many students.

By taking the bold step of transforming its single school into a
network of small schools, Chávez intends to: 1) ensure that
significantly more Washington, DC students have access to a
high-quality education that prepares them for success in college and
life, 2) develop an ever-growing force of young leaders who have the
skills and knowledge to create positive change in their communities
and the world around them, and 3) provide a model of replication and
school network design for other successful schools to follow.

School Model

Chávez schools provide nurturing, safe learning environments where
every student is expected to meet rigorous academic and personal
behavior standards. It is challenging, but Chávez is a public school
of choice, and among both the students and faculty there is a sense of
pride and excitement in being part of a network of schools that is
beating the odds and achieving success. The Chávez school model is
characterized by the following five components:

I. Rigorous College Prep Program

All Chávez students are held to high academic standards that will
prepare them for college. The Chávez curriculum is aligned with DCPS
standards and evolved from the Modern Red Schoolhouse plan,
integrating their standards along with national standards in core
subjects (such as those of the National Council of Teachers of English
and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics), and is designed to
ensure that students achieve or exceed grade level content and
standardized test expectations, graduate from high school, and are
prepared for college.

All students are expected to demonstrate mastery of core academic
material in English, history/politics, math, science, and public
policy as well as competency in a foreign language, health, and art.
Double classes in English reading and writing are requirements for
ninth graders, ESL instructors focus on non-English speakers, and
Resource teachers support students with special needs. For accelerated
students, Chávez offers AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP English, AP
American History, and AP Computer Science courses. All students take
standardized tests such as the PSAT, SAT, and ACT; are required to
research and select college preferences during their junior year; and
are expected to gain acceptance to at least one college or university.

II. Unique Public Policy Program

Chávez makes use of the incredible wealth of public policy resources
located in the nation's capital, developing students into engaged
citizens able to affect change in the world around them. Public policy
themes are incorporated into the curriculum in every subject. In
middle school, student are introduced to policy issues through
community service, field trips, discussions on current events, and
public polciy classroom units. High school students must integrate
what they learn in policy-themed, interdisciplinary "Capstone Units"
at the end of their freshman and sophomore years. In their junior
year, students participate in three-week-long fellowships at respected
public policy institutions, and, in their senior year, are required to
write a 15-20 page public policy thesis. This program is intended to
help students connect their studies to the real world and prepare them
to become leaders in their own communities.

III. Meeting Student Needs through Comprehensive Support Services

Chávez serves a culturally, linguistically, and academically diverse
student body, but is committed to an inclusive program and doing
whatever is necessary to help every student who walks through its
doors succeed. To ensure that all students meet its rigorous
standards, Chávez operates an extended school day and year, provides a
variety of student support services and programs (e.g., mental health
specialists and social workers), and adapts courses to address the
wide range of abilities among our students, including for special
needs students and those with limited English proficiency. Chávez is
committed to a mainstreaming model for both ESL and Special Ed
Students. Fostering supportive relationships between students and
adults and maintaining a school environment that is safe and conducive
to student learning are priorities at Chávez schools.

IV. Safe, Supportive Learning Environment

The small class and school size, rich programs and support services,
and well-defined standards for academic and personal behavior create a
safe, supportive learning environment. This environment is key to
ensuring that no Chávez student falls through the cracks or feels
threatened at school – it is one of the primary features that
differentiates Chávez from other local, public schools.

V. Outstanding Faculty & Staff

Chávez attracts outstanding faculty and staff who are extremely
dedicated to the students and the practice of teaching. As a group,
they bring uncommonly strong academic credentials from the nation's
top universities into the classrooms of Chávez. Many have been and
continue to be actual practitioners in their field of study. For
instance, one science teacher works part-time at the Carnegie
Institute in addition to teaching at Chávez. As their work experience
and academic backgrounds attest, Chávez teachers are possessed of a
passion for their subject matter and for the art of teaching. They
bring this passion as well as a result-oriented focus into the
classroom.