Website The Nueva School
Director of Social Justice and Equity
July 1, 2022
The Nueva School seeks nominations and applications for a Director of Social Justice and Equity (JEDI – Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Director) to lead the school’s strategic work in the areas of social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion across all three divisions. A visionary and compassionate leader, this person will be joining a preK–12 school already engaged in challenging systems of inequity and seeking to deepen its commitment to creating a Beloved Community rooted in a culture of dignity. Candidates should embrace the culture of innovation encouraged at Nueva and possess a radical imagination and inquisitive spirit, a can-do attitude, and the critical hope necessary to envision and inspire us to build the world we want to live in. The role is multi-faceted and intersects with curriculum, pedagogy, strategic planning, professional development, parent education, student support, and community-building.
ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The Nueva School, an internationally recognized, nonprofit, independent day school, has served gifted learners since 1967. Today, Nueva serves nearly 1,000 students preK–12. Nueva is located in the neighboring towns of Hillsborough and San Mateo, equidistant between San Francisco and Silicon Valley, serving six counties throughout the Bay Area of Northern California. A constructivist school, Nueva is known for its distinctive inquiry-based interdisciplinary studies, project-based learning, and pioneering work in social-emotional learning and design thinking. The Nueva community instills a passion for lifelong learning, fosters social and emotional acuity, and develops the imaginative mind.
ABOUT THE ROLE
The JEDI director is a member of the school’s senior leadership team and reports directly to the head of school. In addition, they will lead and supervise a team of three JEDI coordinators whose responsibilities are primarily student-facing. The JEDI director will also collaborate closely with the division heads, director of admissions, director of enrollment and strategic engagement, and the director of teaching and learning.
The JEDI Director is responsible for the strategic vision and implementation of our JEDI work and is tasked with further developing systems, structures, and processes that enable us to uphold our authentic commitment to building a place of belonging where all can thrive. As a dynamic learning institution, the Nueva community recognizes that there is still considerable work to do within this realm and is looking for an individual who can continue pushing them forward.
Applicants who represent and understand the full diversity of the Bay Area community are highly desirable. The ideal candidate will possess a deep understanding of the diverse socioeconomic, racial, cultural, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, academic, and ethnic backgrounds present in the community. In joining the JEDI team at Nueva, the director will become part of an inclusive, iterative, and equity-minded community that recognizes that social justice is a lens with which they examine all aspects of our school community in order to ensure an educational experience where all students can thrive. In deciding whether to apply for a position at Nueva, candidates are strongly encouraged to consider whether their values align with Nueva’s mission, vision, and values.
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES
● Analyze and evaluate current systems, policies, and practices to identify areas of improvement that provide the foundation for a just and beloved community
● Continue to audit the curriculum and its implementation while supporting and coaching teachers in deepening their commitment to and implementation of anti-racist and culturally responsive pedagogy and practice
● Oversee the development and administration of evaluation metrics that help Nueva to examine JEDI program effectiveness across all aspects of the school through the collection of data over time
● Provide consistent and up-to-date professional development and educational opportunities for faculty and staff, the leadership team, our parent body, and the board
● Continue to refine anti-bias hiring process and actively collaborate with division heads in our recruitment, hiring, onboarding, employee evaluation, and retention practices
● Partner with the Director of Enrollment and Strategic Engagement and the Director of Admissions to expand the reach of identification, recruitment, and programming for gifted Black and Latinx students and for gifted students coming from lower socioeconomic backgrounds
● Strengthen restorative justice practices across all three divisions and the broader community
● Build meaningful, nuanced, and caring relationships with all members of the community
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
● Partner with key constituents and leadership to develop, execute, operationalize, and measure the school’s strategic JEDI plan and accompanying goals
● Co-lead the board’s Beloved Community Committee and further refine this new committee’s role
● Supervise and support the preK–5, 6-8, and the 9-12 JEDI Coordinators in successfully fulfilling their responsibilities through common planning, assessment, and ensuring their alignment with the larger strategic JEDI vision
● Work collaboratively with the JEDI team and the Director of Teaching and Learning to examine curriculum across prek-12 and to ensure representation of diverse voices, experiences, histories, and perspectives
● Develop a professional learning plan and opportunities for faculty and staff in collaboration with the director of teaching and learning that align with the strategic vision and provide thematic coherence from one year to the next
● Work with faculty in each division to find the nexus between equity work and the different developmental learning stages of our student body preK–12
● Participate in the planning and execution of the new teacher onboarding program in partnership with members of the leadership team
● Work with the Admissions Committee and all hiring committees to incorporate inclusive, anti-bias practices
● Work with parents, particularly families from historically underrepresented backgrounds, to ensure that they feel a sense of belonging within the school community and feel comfortable advocating for and accessing resources
● Support the Nueva Parents’ Association (NPA) in adopting equitable, inclusive, and culturally responsive practices through trainings and partnership
● Liaise closely with the communications team to share our JEDI work with the broader community and to routinely update the JEDI and Racial Equity & Accountability webpages
● Develop and lead the four-day summer Equity & Inclusion Institute
QUALITIES AND QUALIFICATIONS
Nueva seeks an inspiring, passionate, and relational leader who blends a data-driven and heart-centered approach to building a Beloved Community at Nueva. This individual will have a high EQ and model what it means to listen with empathy and lead with care and conviction. The director will have the proven ability to guide all stakeholders through their respective equity journeys and meaningfully engage our community in the challenging and richly rewarding path towards equity, justice, and belonging. In addition to the qualities noted above, the ideal candidate will possess the majority of the following:
● Demonstrated experience in leading JEDI work across constituent groups staying abreast of developments in the field
● Ability to think and work as a systems thinker
● Demonstrated ability to communicate meaningfully, both in writing and public speaking, to all school constituencies
● Demonstrated ability to lead and facilitate courageous conversations with a strong commitment to listen to understand
● Ability to develop and sustain relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders
● An understanding of one’s own positionality and the ability to help others to see theirs
● Ability to hold multiple truths and a commitment to valuing and including diverse perspectives and approaches
● A willingness to lean into discomfort and create trusting environments that inspire others to seek to do so as well
● Ability to foster social and emotional acuity and to manage emotions as well as understand and empathize with the emotions of others
● A profound openness to feedback and improvement, modeling lifelong learning
● Teaching experience and familiarity with progressive pedagogy, curriculum development, and child and adolescent development
● Bilingual abilities– Spanish/English or Mandarin/English
● Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s Degree preferred
APPLICATIONS AND NOMINATIONS
Evaluation of candidate materials will begin in early April 2022 and continue until a Director of Social Justice and Equity is named. The start date for this opportunity is July 1, 2022. Inquiries and nominations, and applications consisting of a cover letter and a résumé, may be sent in confidence to:
StorbeckSearch – Diversified Search Group
Staci Williams Seeley, Managing Associate; NuevaJEDI@storbecksearch.com
For more information, please visit The Nueva School at www.nuevaschool.org
The Nueva School is an Equal Opportunity Employer – we do not discriminate against any employee or job applicant on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, or sex. We welcome applications from people of color and those with experience outside the education field.
