Lower School Principal

FLSA Classification: Exempt, Non-Instructional Leadership Staff

Reports To: Head of School

Term of Service: 12-Month Position (starts August 1, 2025)

Mission:

The Howard School empowers students with language-based learning differences by addressing individual needs and leveraging strengths to develop a lifelong understanding of and advocacy for their own learning process.

School Profile:

Howard is a 74-year-old day school serving approximately 300 children, of all genders, in grades K -12. Howard is located in Blandtown on the vibrant Westside of Atlanta. At Howard we: 

• Practice kindness and respect
• Seek a spirit of partnership
• Honor our humanity
• Celebrate our differences

The Lower School enrolls approximately 110 students and employs approximately 10 Lead Teachers, 10 Assistant Teachers, and 1 School Psychologist. 

Position Purpose:

The Lower School Principal is responsible for providing leadership, development, and support for instructional, curricular, behavioral, and support systems. This position also manages and supervises the Lower School personnel (faculty, staff and students) and budget.  

Essential Functions:

• Readily promotes and engages in the 4 pillars of the school listed above in the School Profile.
• Demonstrates dedication and skill at creating a welcoming and engaging community that reflects the joy of the school and our inclusive nature.
• Maintains and supervises the Lower School program with a research and data-informed lens about what is best for education of a neurodiverse population.
• Working with Lower School faculty, maintains the academic and social environment of the Lower School. 
• Works directly with students and parents on disciplinary issues when appropriate. First focus is on developing and supporting teachers with agency in classroom management and behavioral issues.
• Communicates issues, decisions, and information to Lower School faculty, students and parents, as well as to other school divisions and departments, as appropriate.
• Maintains and offers feedback on systems to help students, parents and teachers monitor student progress. 
• Coordinates the writing and communication of Learning Profiles, progress reports, and other student documents.

• Oversees and engages in semi-annual student conferences.
• Fosters teacher mentorship, leadership, and collegiality.
• Conducts regular meetings with Lower School faculty addressing both routine school matters and issues of educational/philosophical interest and concern.
• Works with the Director of Enrollment Management to ensure robust and appropriate enrollment. 
• Supervises and evaluates Lower School faculty, assisting them in establishing their annual goals.
• With the Human Resources Director, orients and assists new Lower School faculty and hires.
• Serves as a member of The Howard School’s Leadership Team, working closely with all members.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Flexible, collaborative, creative, organized and passionate about emerging research, pedagogy, and educational initiatives, especially as applied to an LD school.
• Experience in an LD school with expertise in language-based learning differences.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills with a high degree of comfort navigating conversations that may have colliding perspectives. and/or be characterized by high degrees of emotional engagement.
• The strongest candidates for this role will demonstrate a high degree of self-awareness and understanding, deep emotional intelligence, and an unwavering focus on both seeing and bringing out the best in those around them.
• Ability to collaborate and work well with all faculty and staff.  

Physical Requirements and Work Environment

• Must have the ability to sit and stand for extended periods of time; exhibit manual dexterity to enter data into a computer; to see and read a computer screen and printed material with or without vision aids; hear and understand speech at normal classroom levels, outdoors and on the telephone; speak in audible tones so that others may understand clearly in normal classrooms, outdoors and on the telephone; physical agility to lift up to 75 pounds; and to bend, stoop climb stairs and reach overhead.
• Work primarily in a traditional climate controlled office environment.
• Work intermittently in outside weather conditions, including extreme heat and cold.
• Independent school work environments include occasional evening and weekend commitments. 

The Howard School is an equal-opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. All applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship status, age, pregnancy, disability/handicap, genetic information, uniform service member status or any other protected status in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. 

About The Howard School

The Howard School educates students with language-based learning disabilities and learning differences through instruction designed to complement and address each student’s individual needs, and to help each student understand and advocate for his or her own learning process. The curriculum focuses on depth of understanding to make learning meaningful and therefore, maximize educational success.

Connections working at The Howard School