Principal in Residence Job Description

ORGANIZATIONAL AND PROGRAM OVERVIEW:

By 2025, KIPP DC will build upon two decades of proven results to develop into a more impactful, innovative, and inclusive school system that provides joyful, identity-affirming learning experiences so that all students and alumni achieve extraordinary outcomes. We are a network of eighteen schools educating nearly 7,000 students and employing 1,200 teachers, leaders, and staff members dedicated to our mission. 

The KIPP DC Principal in Residence (PIR) program is a two-year, regionally-operated residency to prepare aspiring principals in the adaptive, technical, and managerial skills to lead a KIPP DC school. PIRs are full-time members of their residency school leadership teams and almost always operate from a Vice Principal position. Principals in Residence will have daily opportunities to practice the skills and competencies required to lead high-performing schools.  The PIR program is a two year pathway to becoming a principal, pending successful completion of the program, vacancies, and an individual PIR’s readiness to fill those vacancies. 

ROLE OVERVIEW

A Principal in Residence (PIR) is an aspiring principal preparing to lead a KIPP DC school in an ideal two year timeframe, although this may depend on vacancies and alignment. PIRs are committed to and actively contribute to the success of their placement school and act in alignment with the rest of the school leadership team vision and priorities.  Placement schools are usually the current school where an individual already works, if they are a current KIPP DC employee, but this may also depend on need and match.  When and if an unexpected principal vacancy presents itself, KIPP DC may look to the group of current PIRs to step into a principal role on a shorter timeline than described above. 

The PIR’s role mirrors that of a vice principal for the majority of the development program, namely: leading both instruction and school culture as the leaders of subsets of teachers and students in either specific grade levels and/or departments.  Towards the end of their time as a PIR, the role mirrors more of a school leader, with clear responsibilities fully owned by the PIR at the school-level. 

In addition to their school-based performance goals, PIRs are actively developing the leadership skills and competencies outlined in a development roadmap. They actively seek growth through participation in high-quality, meaningful formal and informal professional development, invaluable on the job training, transformative coaching, and cohort based learning experiences with leaders across KIPP DC,

The PIR role is an exempt role, and reports to their school leader in year one and two of the program. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Vision & Goals
    • Support development of School Leader’s school-wide vision and takes an active role in investing and mobilizing teachers to achieve the collective goals of the school; owns the implementation of select school priorities in support of the school-wide vision
    • With guidance from the School Leader, leads the planning and goal setting for the grades/departments that he/she coaches and ensures alignment with school-wide goals
    • Set, communicate, and execute a vision for a school-wide initiative/priority that addresses an inequity
    • Connect team/s’ vision, goals and actions to KIPP DC’s goal of becoming an anti-racist organization
  • Plan & Prioritize
    • Prioritize and manage own time to accomplish short and long-term goals or priorities
    • Demonstrate strong judgment and data-based, timely decision-making
    • Act decisively to overcome barriers and make difficult choices with the long-term and short-term impact in mind 
  • Lead School Culture
    • Set a vision of excellence for student and staff culture, along with the School Leader, and executes on plans to uphold it
    • Build positive, affirming and joyful student culture across teams
    • Build an inclusive grade-level/department or school-wide environment for special populations
    • Manage parts of the daily school operations (e.g. arrival/dismissal, lunch/recess) 
    • Act as the first Leadership Team contact on student intervention and family communication; determines appropriate next steps and follow ups 
    • Plan for and predictably respond to student behavior that doesn’t meet school culture expectations. Coach, support and follow up with teachers in service of empowering them to do the same
    • Maintain calm and poise in unpredictable, potentially stressful, situations with students
  • Instructional Leadership
    • Establish & communicate experiential and academic goals for students
    • Demonstrate strong student achievement results across classrooms that they coach
    • Understands curriculum, pedagogical practices, standards, lesson plans, unit plans, assessments & each one’s purpose for multiple grade levels or departments
    • Collaborate with other coaches and leaders to support teachers in instructing and assessing and connects teachers with relevant resources to improve their content knowledge and instruction
    • Participate in ongoing learning to build knowledge outside of own content area expertise
    • Lead data-driven instruction by analyzing homeroom specific and grade/department level data and developing and executing plans to address gaps and by helping teachers do the same thing for their classes
    • Lead a culture where general educators, special educators and other team members collaborate to meet the needs of unique learners 
  • Manage & Develop
    • Builds trusting, strong relationships with teachers and school staff as the foundation for development and management work
    • Capture sharp, meaningful evidence during observations
    • Ground feedback and next steps for teachers in student impact and data 
    • Identifies high-leverage coaching focuses ground in student impact, transferability, context and teacher match
    • Develop, rely on, and refine systems that result in the effective coaching of all teacher
    • Identify an academic gap across a grade level or department and develop and execute a plan that results in improved student experiences and outcomes
  • Hire & Retain
    • Actively and regularly communicate with principal about progress, strengths, areas of growth, and potential trajectories of individual team members
    • Collaborate with School Leader to run school based internal hiring processes for teacher leader positions where applicable
    • Understand and practice fair and legal employment practices
  • Operations Management
    • Take the lead on staff facing, school based systems (i.e. testing, school schedule, arrival, dismissal, etc.)
    • Support the leadership team in executing school operational systems such as arrival and dismissal, mealtimes and COVID-related operations including weekly testing, creating and supporting coverage plans so people can quarantine, reaching out to families, etc. 

COMPETENCIES

  • Student Focus: Builds strong relationships and holds high expectations for students, holds students’ best interests in mind, keeps owns commitments to students and makes sure others do the same and builds a culture of respect for all students
  • Results Driven:  Communicates that delivering excellent outcomes, in student experience and academics, is a guiding priority, sets challenging goals for self and others, takes initiative to go above and beyond to to achieve results, follows through on commitments, demonstrates resilience and flexibility 
  • Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: Demonstrates strong judgment and data-based, timely decision-making, gathers information from multiple sources, sorts out complexity, anticipates problems, values and encourages creative and innovative ideas, thinks expansively and avoids either/or thinking
  • Self-Awareness: Demonstrates understanding of own identity, privilege and power, understands strengths and weaknesses and the impact on others’ perceptions, seeks feedback and self-development, proactively asks for and willingly accepts assistance from others in a variety of roles
  • Equitable Practices: Believes that equity is something that can constantly drive one’s approach, rather than a lens that can be used sometimes, defines and communicates beliefs around racial and educational equity and leans into conversations about this, creates an inclusive environment that promotes a genuine sense of belonging for school community members across lines of difference
  • Impact and Influence: Is as clear on the purpose of actions as action themselves; effectively and reliably communicates “the why” to many stakeholders, adapts leadership style to influence others, takes the lead when there’s a need; demonstrates growth mindset and learns from mistakes when they inevitably happen
  • Empowering Others: Actively listen to other school community members; seeks to understand others’ views and needs, intentionally builds trust within and across teams of people to promote collaboration and opportunities for shared ownership, consistently demonstrates respect and appreciation for others by empathizing, valuing their time and contributions, and being available and responsive to their needs

QUALIFICATIONS

KIPP DC is looking for PIR candidates who are committed to KIPP DC’s mission that all students can learn and achieve at high levels, have a strong instructional background, a commitment to creating identity-affirming learning experiences, and are looking to develop the leadership skills necessary to lead great schools. Specifically, candidates should have:

  • Bachelor’s degree
  • Minimum of five years combined of lead teaching and school-level instructional experience (with a minimum of one year of school-level leadership experience in addition to the current school year)
  • Demonstrated academic results
  • Demonstrated leadership, management and coaching experience
  • One year of experience as a vice principal or equivalent role (preferred)
  • Experience teaching core subjects (ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, Special Education) (preferred experience, not required)
  • Unquestioned integrity and commitment to KIPP DC’s mission and to advancing its anti-racist ambition through their work with staff, students, alumni, and families

TO APPLY

Applications are closed for the 2025-2026 school year but join our community to stay up-to-date on the latest opportunities with KIPP DC. This is also a great place to drop your resume if you don’t see a role that directly aligns with your interest and want to stay in touch!

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

KIPP DC offers an extremely competitive compensation and benefits package:

  • When it comes to compensation, at KIPP DC we strive for clarity, equity, and to be highly competitive. We look at compensation benchmarks in schools across DC. A principal in residence is hired on the vice principal salary scale. Vice principal salaries start at $98,500 and increase with years of experience. Please see the salary scale here. 
  • KIPP DC offers a robust benefits package including medical, dental, vision, various voluntary benefits, and employer paid benefits such as short term disability, long term disability, life insurance, and a membership to One Medical.
  • KIPP DC also offers a 403(b) retirement account with employer contributions and match with vesting after three years.
  • KIPP DC has various support programs in place during the pandemic, including extended sick leave and robust health and safety protocols and training programs.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

​​KIPP DC Public Schools does not discriminate against, or tolerate discrimination against, employees or applicants for employment on any legally-recognized basis or protected class including, but not limited to, actual or perceived race; color; national origin; immigration status (except as necessary to comply with federal, DC, state, or local law); religion; sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and related medical conditions); age; physical or mental disability; medical condition; sexual orientation; gender (including gender identity or expression); marital status (including domestic partnership status); genetic information; political affiliation; pregnancy; family responsibilities; personal appearance; veteran status; uniform service member status; status of being unemployed; status as a victim or family member of a victim of domestic violence, sexual offense, or stalking; matriculation; or any other protected class under federal, state, DC, or local law.

Click here or here to review KIPP DC’s non-discrimination policy and KIPP DC’s Title IX Coordinator’s contact information.

KIPP DC requires all staff to provide proof that they have had all doses of a primary COVID vaccine or obtain approval for exemption for medical or religious reasons before beginning employment. New hires who have not received all doses of a primary vaccine or who are waiting approval for exemption will not be able to begin employment. New hires who have not received all doses of a COVID vaccine or who are awaiting approval for exemption will not be able to begin employment.

All KIPP DC staff are strongly encouraged to stay up to date on their vaccinations. The CDC currently defines being up to date on the COVID vaccine as having had all doses of a primary vaccine and as having received a booster, if eligible.