Executive Director of Middle Schools

Rocky Mountain Prep • Denver, CO

23d • $165,000 - $185,000

About The Position

We are seeking a bold, strategic, and relational Executive Director of Middle Schools to lead, coach, and support a portfolio of five RMP middle schools through a critical phase of alignment, improvement, and innovation.
As a key member of the Schools Team, reporting to the Interim CEO/Chief Academic & Schools Officer (CASO), the Executive Director will be responsible for managing the principals of RMP’s middle schools and serving as a connective tissue between school sites and network strategy. This role is uniquely positioned to bring cohesion across our middle grades while honoring the distinct context of each school— including standalone middle schools, co-located campuses with elementary or high schools, and a school operating as K–8.
We are looking for a leader who is fluent in both systems and relationships— someone who understands the developmental uniqueness of middle schoolers, the complexity of school design and management, and the art of coaching school leaders at all stages of their journey. This person will drive academic and cultural alignment across campuses while also supporting context-specific decisions, building trust-based principal coaching relationships, and translating the network’s academic vision into lived excellence across diverse settings.

Requirements

• 5–10 years of experience in public education, including at least 3 years as a middle school principal or comparable senior school-based leadership experience
• A track record of improving student outcomes, especially in school turnaround, transformation, or high-need, high-potential communities
• Strong instructional expertise, especially in middle grades math and literacy, and the ability to coach for both rigor and relationship
• Experience navigating school redesign, culture rebuilding, or strategic improvement— including launching or leading data cycles, coaching frameworks, or instructional systems
• A deep equity lens— grounded in real practice and an ability to lead across lines of difference with humility and cultural competence
• A relational coaching style that is clear, direct, and people-centered
• The ability to zoom in and zoom out: attending to details of school performance while helping principals see the bigger picture
• A willingness to lead publicly and manage individually, establishing a culture of presence, steadiness, and joy— even amid complexity or challenge
• The capacity to champion and drive cohesive network integration, serving as a visible exemplar of the network’s vision, values, and operating model, and inspiring and coaching principals to implement network priorities and standards with consistency and rigor across schools

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and manage a portfolio of 5 middle schools, serving as the primary principal manager and performance lead for each campus.
• Build strong, trust-based relationships with principals while holding them accountable for academic growth, student culture, operational strength, and staff sustainability.
• Set and monitor school-specific performance goals, co-develop improvement plans, and lead data-informed progress monitoring aligned to network-wide standards.
• Develop and lead cross-campus collaboration to align instructional expectations, academic systems, and school culture practices across middle schools.
• Partner with the Interim CEO/CASO and academic leaders to ensure rigorous, aligned, and culturally responsive instruction across middle schools.
• Observe instruction regularly, provide targeted feedback to school leaders, and support the development of coaching systems that lift teacher practice across classrooms.
• Lead the academic calibration and implementation of core curriculum tools (e.g., Eureka), especially in ways that support novice teachers and drive strong first teach.
• Stamp and scale instructional non-negotiables while allowing for contextual flexibility based on school design, community, and student needs.
• Ensure each middle school offers a consistent, developmentally responsive culture grounded in high expectations, restorative practices, and joyful belonging.
• Navigate the complexity of co-located campuses— collaborating with elementary and high school leaders to build shared expectations, optimize transitions, and create cohesive student experiences.
• Help principals strengthen adult culture by aligning vision, rebuilding trust where needed, and modeling a leadership stance that is clear, curious, and caring.
• Be attuned to community voice, family partnership, and school identity— understanding how differentiation by context enhances equity when aligned with core values.
• Coach and grow a range of school leaders— from novice principals stepping into their first role to tenured leaders refining their craft.
• Partner with principals to develop their leadership teams, grow teacher-leaders, and build distributed leadership capacity within schools.
• Identify future leaders across your portfolio and work with Talent and the Schools Team to build strong, diverse pipelines of leadership talent for the middle grades.
• Serve as a connector between schools and network teams— ensuring alignment and shared ownership across academics, operations, talent, and student services.
• Collaborate with other Executive Directors (elementary and high school) to strengthen horizontal alignment, build transition readiness, and ensure students experience a unified RMP journey across grade bands.
• Inform and refine network-wide systems for coaching, school improvement, culture, and professional learning.
• Surface trends, risks, and insights to the Interim CEO/CASO and broader leadership team, contributing to strategic decisions across the organization.

Benefits

• Paid Time Off, plus 5 weeks of Paid Organizational Holidays (including Winter and Summer Breaks)
• 100% medical coverage for employee-only plans; vision and dental coverage available
• PERA Retirement Plan (Public Employees’ Retirement Association of Colorado)
• Paid parental, medical, and disability leave
• Mental health and wellness support
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed