(2026-2027) Dean of Culture

Alma del Mar Charter School•New Bedford, MA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Alma del Mar is a K-8 charter school with a mission to prepare scholars for college and to cultivate them into service-minded leaders. This is achieved through a demanding yet supportive environment that offers a content-rich education. As an Expeditionary Learning school, Alma del Mar emphasizes a three-dimensional vision of student achievement, encompassing mastery of knowledge and skills, character development, and high-quality student work. The school is located in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Alma del Mar has a proven track record of academic success, with scholars outperforming district peers on MCAS and matching the performance of high-achieving schools in the Commonwealth. The school has also received national recognition for its work with English Language Learners. The Dean of Culture is crucial in maintaining a safe, joyful, and orderly learning environment, serving as a key member of the school leadership team and managing the school culture team. Alma del Mar is committed to fostering the professional growth and career goals of its staff.

Requirements

At least three years of working in a successful K-12 charter school or district school, in a school culture or teaching role, with increasing levels of responsibility.
Outstanding classroom management expertise and experience effectively coaching teachers in this area.
Experience managing or supervising others.
Experience and expertise in facilitating difficult conversations with students, families, and teachers.
Experience serving in a predominantly low-income community.
Proactive Systems Thinking: Anticipates a need and builds a system that addresses it.
Detail Orientation & Accuracy: Maintains high standards of precision and reliability.
Relationship-Building & Constructive Collaboration: Develops trust-based partnerships and collaborates effectively with staff, students, and families.
Show me the Outcomes: Filters every decision through the lens of potential impact on the school and our scholars.
High Demand, High Support: Sets a high bar for self, colleagues and scholars. When not meeting those high expectations, analyzes data to determine why and seeks the specific support needed for the scholar or staff member.
Oxygen Mask: Builds the kind of personal habits that support physical and mental health in order to be able to maintain consistently strong work and be a reliable colleague.
Crew: Believes that working with a diverse crew --with a range of perspectives, backgrounds and communication styles– makes us stronger. Seeks to uncover and address personal biases and structural inequities.
It's Your Ship: Takes collective responsibility for the success of the school.
Challenge, Challenge: Sees difficult problems as opportunities to increase capacity and grow skills. Seeks out, and improves through, feedback.
Include specific data in your resume demonstrating the success of your students and the adults you have coached.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience as a K-12 classroom teacher.
Spanish language proficiency is a plus.

Responsibilities

Manage and coach the culture team, including behavior interventionists and fellows, towards high performance through weekly observations, one-on-one meetings, targeted coaching, performance evaluations, and leading team meetings.
Set and take responsibility for school-wide culture goals and initiatives.
Collaborate with the leadership team to plan and facilitate high-quality training for Alma faculty.
Plan and lead school-wide culture routines and events to ensure scholars develop as service-minded leaders.
Train teachers school-wide on effective behavior management and culture-building practices.
Oversee the school-wide student discipline system.
Coordinate after-school detention, in-school suspensions, and manage discipline issues extending beyond the classroom.
Lead family engagement efforts and conduct parent conferences as needed.
Track and analyze non-academic student data.
Collaborate with outside agencies and community partners to connect scholars with necessary non-academic resources.
Work as a member of the School Leadership Team to address pressing tactical and strategic issues.

Benefits

Paid sick, personal, and vacation days
Paid holidays
Paid school winter break
Medical, dental, and vision insurance with PPO and HMO options
Paid parental leave
Short term disability available
Multiple retirement options, including a 403(b) with matching
Weekly meetings with a manager who supports you
The opportunity to have meaningful impact across a school
The autonomy to make decisions and do what is best to support the staff and students you work with every day
Friendly, supportive, #almazing colleagues