The Branson School
About The Branson School
The Branson School is a coeducational, college-preparatory day school of 320 students, grades 9-12, located in Marin County, California. Branson prides itself on fostering nurturing relationships with students while maintaining high academic standards. The faculty values collaboration, professional development, reflection, and continual exploration of good teaching. Branson teachers work in a beautiful, well-resourced environment with dedicated students. The faculty is widely regarded as outstanding and there exists in the faculty an admirable esprit de corps and a positive attitude about their work and their relationship with students.
Mission Statement
Branson develops students who make a positive impact in the world by leading lives of integrity, purpose, learning, and joy.
Diversity Mission Statement
Branson believes that diversity, equity and inclusion are essential to create a truly excellent learning environment and a vibrant, caring community. We aspire to have every member of the Branson community feel a deep sense of belonging and inclusion.
Job Summary:
The Dean of Student Life is responsible for attending to the health and well being of all Branson students throughout their high school journey. The ideal candidate is passionate about working with teenagers, and values the complex and diverse ways they approach the world as they become young adults. The Dean of Student Life not only understands what teenagers need to thrive in the 21st century, but also holds a deeply rooted belief that student centered decision-making creates an atmosphere that best benefits their social emotional and intellectual growth.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Senior administrator responsible for the social, mental, and emotional well being of all Branson students involved in nearly all aspects of the school program.
- Responsible for ensuring that each student, and by extension, each family, is known, understood, and feels a deep sense of belonging at the school.
- Provide vision for short and long-range SEL and DEI strategies to ensure ongoing character development, programmatic excellence, mission alignment, and institutional growth.
- Ensure that programming and practices are rooted in best practice and a research based understanding and experiential application of culturally responsive practices and social emotional frameworks.
- Serve as ambassador and advocate for the collective and individual student experience which requires an authentic appreciation for adolescents and a deep interest in developing personal and generative relationships with all students.
- Primary administrator in charge of student crisis management.
- Manage and oversee Student Life Programs and Student Counseling programs and budgets.
- Supervise, and support personal/professional growth of 5 direct reports: 4 Class Deans, School Counselor.
- Steward implementation of Pillar 2 of the Strategic Plan (https://www.branson.org/about/strategicplan)
- Organize and lead ongoing professional development for employees in adolescent development, counseling, mental health issues, stress, anxiety, and appropriate boundaries.
- Oversee implementation and evaluation of all non-athletic co-curricular programming:
- The Advisory Program
- Community Honor Board
- Student Senate
- Student Life Advisory Board
- Grade level Class Orientations
- Welcome events for parents and students
- Grade level programming
- Design, monitor, evaluate advisory curriculum, advisors and the advisee experience.
- Work closely with the Director of DEI to ensure that all students feel a deep sense of belonging to the school community.
- Oversee all student disciplinary issues. Regularly evaluate and revise, as needed, disciplinary practices at the school to ensure that outcomes are equitable, transparent, restorative, and otherwise mission aligned.
- Author and revise Branson Family Student Handbook on annual basis to capture and consider needs of students, the institution, and applicable laws.
- Liaise regularly with the PA President.
- Design Parent Education programming.
- Work with the Director of Safety to co-plan and coordinate safety training programs and compliance for students.
- Partner closely with the Director of Studies to ensure a student-centered approach to the academic program.
- Serve as an advisor.
- Serve as a Human Development teacher.
- Oversee the counseling program.
- Serve on the Senior Leadership Team.
- Co-Chair the Student Experience Committee.
- Chair the Class Dean’s group.
- Chair the Student Support team.
Key Qualifications and Skills
- An academic and experiential understanding of adolescent development and current research related to adolescent development.
- A demonstrated record of culturally responsive, anti-racist, trauma sensitive practices.
- Creative solution seeker with an action oriented approach to problem solving.
- Ability to be emotionally constant in stressful situations.
- Comfort with atypical hours.
- An ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, across diverse constituencies.
- Ability to respond quickly to student emergencies.
- Ability to pass state and federal background check, fingerprinting, and provide a recent negative TB test or screening.
- Graduate degree preferred.
- At least five years experience working with teenagers in the realm of student life.
Equal Employment Opportunity Policy
Branson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity for all applicants, employees, volunteers and interns, and the School makes decisions based on the merits of each candidate. Branson prohibits discrimination based on an individual’s race, color, religion (including all aspects of religious beliefs, observance or practice, including religious dress or grooming practices), sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender, pregnancy and breastfeeding), sexual orientation (including heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality) national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, marital status or registered domestic partner status, uniformed service member or veteran status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic characteristics or information, or any other basis protected by law. The School will afford equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants, employees, volunteers, and interns as to all terms and conditions of employment, including, without limitation, compensation, hiring, training, promotion, transfer, discipline, and termination.
For Consideration
To apply, please send a cover letter, statement of teaching philosophy and resume via email to:
Michelle Jones, Director of Human Resources, resume@branson.org.
