Department Chair & Arts Teacher

About the Branson School:

The Branson School is a coeducational, college-preparatory day school of 420 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 and staff value collaboration, professional development, reflection, and continual exploration of good teaching. Branson employees work in a beautiful, well-resourced environment with dedicated students. The faculty and staff are widely regarded as outstanding and there exists in the adult community 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.

Core Values:

Kindness, Courage, Honor, Purpose

Community Statement of Belonging:

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.

Reports to: Department Chair

Salary: Branson uses a faculty salary scale that is based on education and years of experience and ranges annually from $85,782.00-163,899.00.

Start Date: July 1, 2025

About the Arts Department:

The Arts department at Branson is a vital component of the Branson student experience; in addition to the three-year requirement, the arts are interwoven into the educational fabric of the school via interdisciplinary projects, celebrated through community festivals & concerts, and engaged in meaningful work outside the practice rooms in robust visiting artist programming and in partnership with local organizations. The program meets all students wherever they might be in their artistic study and inspires them toward a deeper sense of their authentic artistic voice by broadening their perception of the creative process. Branson student-artist-athletes truly do it all.

Job Specifics:

This position will offer someone the chance to lead a dynamic and collegial department while also bringing expertise as an arts educator to bear. Our school values artistic literacy, cultural understanding, and social engagement, and we are looking for a faculty member who will encourage students to become confident, socially conscious, and creatively fulfilled performers. The ideal candidate will demonstrate the qualities of a successful department chair, and have the capacity either to teach dance and theater or visual arts with a particular expertise in film, video and/or digital media arts; candidates with the latter skillset will have the exciting opportunity to develop and steward a new media arts curriculum at Branson which will equip students with the practical skills and conceptual frameworks needed to become confident, ethical, and adventurous storytellers across media.

Department Chair Expectations:

Title: Arts Department Chair and Arts Teacher

Reports to: Assistant Head of School for Academics and Dean of Faculty

Direct reports: All full-time and part-time teaching faculty in the department

The primary responsibility of the Department Chair is to oversee the quality, scope and continued development of each teacher and each course in their respective disciplines.  Chairs manage their department’s budget, conduct weekly department meetings, set agendas and priorities for the department, and sit on the Department Chairs committee. Chairs must be well-versed, if not expert, in their discipline; willing to remain informed of the latest literature and research within the discipline; collaborative, yet decisive; and willing and able to evaluate, supervise, and have the occasional difficult conversation with colleagues. Department Chairs must have the ability first and foremost to put the needs of our students front and center in departmental decision making. The department chair position is considered 20% of an FTE and comes with a course release and an additional $5,733.00 annual stipend.

Essential Responsibilities:

Oversee the implementation of the goals of the Strategic Plan for the department (https://bransonstrategicplan.org/teachingandlearning/). Work with the school administration to implement and support school initiatives (SP) and keep the school’s mission at the forefront of all decision making.
Nurture department morale and facilitate difficult conversations when necessary
Assist department members in creating personal yearly goals within our evaluation system in August
Oversee the scope and sequence of all courses within the department
Coordinate standards across classes and between teachers who are instructing the same class
Evaluate each department member at the conclusion of each year based on the following:Classroom observations (minimum of two class visits per year per department member)
Student Feedback
Revisitation of Yearly Goals in May/June,
Any other rubric-based evaluations (DEI, Pedagogy, SEL, etc.)
Sharing all written notes and feedback collected by the chair over the course of the year
Ensure that teachers are trained in and employ culturally competent teaching practices
Organize a monthly visit from the DEI office to a department meeting
In addition to more formal evaluations, perpetually hold the department collectively and individually accountable to excellent performance; this takes many forms, from motivating, nudging and inspiring, to intervening when necessary to support struggling department members, to reporting to and coordinating regularly with the Dean of Faculty regarding curricular changes, departmental proposals, and any issues within the department that might require the DOF’ support or intervention, to coordinating with the Dean of Faculty to provide appropriate professional development and examination of pedagogical practices for individual department members.
Serve on the Department Chairs committee; bring a collaborative, iterative and innovative mindset to those meetings, and relay pertinent information and action items from Department Chair meetings to department members in a timely fashio
Chair all hiring committees for departmental positions.
Lead the process for student course placements, and assist in scheduling decisions as needed
Serve as a “thought leader” for the department by researching and sharing educational trends, best practices, and educational research related to the department’s curricular goals, current projects, and the landscape of secondary education in the discipline.
Ensure that all department materials (curriculum guides, webpages, etc.) are updated and current for each teacher and for the department
Prepare / run a regular department meeting and an annual department retreat

Further responsibilities specific to the Arts Department Chair:

Oversee both the Arts Academic and Performance budgets, including short and long term budget planning in partnership with Business Office; detailed management of the Academic materials Budget; collaboration with the Technical Director in the oversight of the Performance budget;
Hire, onboard and oversee all visiting artists, guest musicians, and performance support employees for the department as necessary. (includes partnership with Human Resources and the Dean of Faculty);
Maintain and develop annual Arts Facilities and Technology needs and requests in concert with Director of Operations and Director of Educational Technology;
Collaborate with the Annual Calendar Committee, Events Coordinator, and Athletic Director in scheduling annual events and performances;
Organize Arts Department events planning and marketing with the Communications Office;
Work with the Arts Council Representative of the Parents’ Association and Parent Liaisons in support of department rehearsal and performance;
Collaborate with the Admissions office in producing Arts Night as well as participate in other communications for prospective families as needed.

Teaching Expectations:

Course Development and Instruction (Dance and Theater)
Teach 3 Performing Arts Courses :Develop and teach Acting courses, emphasizing both classic and contemporary approaches including improvisation, ensemble, and experimental practices.
Develop and teach Dance courses, ideally engaging choreography, contemporary, hip hop or global dance traditions, to broaden students’ technical abilities and expressive range.
Collaborate with the Department Chair and fellow Arts faculty to refine the scope and sequence of performing arts offerings in alignment with the Branson Strategic Plan
OR:

Course Development and Instruction (VIsual Arts)
Teach 3 Visual Arts ClassesDevelop and Teach 1+ film/video course(s) a year, covering documentary, narrative and experimental practices, and ideally exploring new media formats like digital animation, mixed media, radio, and podcasting
Teach existing curriculum in concert with Visual Arts team – possible course offerings include: Survey of Visual Arts (intro level); Intermediate Drawing and Painting, Photography, Sculpture; thematic Advanced Level Visual Arts; and Portfolio Review
Collaborate with the Department Chair and fellow Arts faculty to refine the scope and sequence of Visual Arts offerings to integrate film/video/new-media offerings in alignment with the Branson Strategic Plan
Collaborate with the Department Chair and department members in refining course objectives and reimagining course scope and sequence in line with the goals of Strategic Plan
Community Support and Collaboration Serve as an advisor to a group of students
Teach an Immersive at the end of the school year
Be available beyond standard school hours for rehearsals, performances, and special projects
Work closely with the other Arts Faculty on performances – guiding students through rehearsals, shows, and backstage support
Support the school’s program when needed, either as a clubs advisor, affinity space leader, ad-hoc committee member, etc.
Qualifications

A master’s degree or higher in Theater, Dance, Fine Arts, a related field, or equivalent professional experience (preferred)
Dedication to creating a supportive, inclusive atmosphere where diverse learners feel comfortable taking creative risks (experience with high school-age learned preferred)
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 opportunity 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:

We encourage those that align with Branson’s shared commitment to its Mission Statement, Diversity Mission Statement and Core Values to apply by uploading a cover letter and resume to https://thebransonschool.applytojob.com/apply/s6RvE5AhIB/Department-Chair-And-Arts-Teacher

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