Principal - State Teacher III - Platte Valley Youth Service Center

State of Colorado•Greeley, CO

10d•Onsite

About The Position

This position is open only to Colorado state residents. This recruitment may be used to fill multiple vacancies. The Division of Youth Services (DYS) provides a continuum of residential and non-residential services for youth committed to the custody of the Colorado Department of Human Services. DYS operates fifteen secure facilities serving youth aged 10-21 and contracts with private providers. The Division also oversees the Colorado Youth Detention Continuum for at-risk youth and administers juvenile parole services. This work unit delivers comprehensive educational services to adjudicated youth in a structured, supportive, and secure learning environment, promoting high academic standards, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, vocational readiness, and accountability. Educational services include special education, general education, career and technical education, and postsecondary programming, ensuring alignment with state standards and student needs. The Principal creates a school environment that fosters student learning and progress across all educational domains, alongside social-emotional regulation and the use of treatment tools for successful community transition. The Principal supervises, plans, and assures the delivery of daily educational services, including curriculum individualization and integration to meet diverse student needs and align with various educational goals and guidelines. The role ensures coherence in data collection, analysis, and use across classrooms and the facility system, making data accessible and meaningful for all stakeholders. Effective education data management, monitoring, and reporting are key responsibilities. The position facilitates communication and collaboration between the school program and other facility programs, maintaining safety and security, and ensuring adherence to facility policies. Compliance with all legally mandated state and federal education requirements and accreditation expectations is crucial. The Principal oversees human resource functions within the school program, including supervision, coaching, performance management, and HR processes for education staff. Building strong partnerships with parents, families, and community stakeholders is also a primary responsibility. Maintaining CDE Principal or Administrator licensure is required.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in a field of study related to the work assignment
Current, valid Professional Teacher license issued by the Colorado Department of Education
Four (4) years of professional experience in an occupational field related to the work assigned to the position
CDE Principal licensure Or current CDE license and currently enrolled in Principal licensure program Or current CDE licensure and the ability to obtain principal licensure within 18 months
Must be 21 years old or older.
Must possess a current, valid, non-restricted Colorado Driver’s License

Nice To Haves

Experience working with at-risk or adjudicated youth
Leadership experience
Proficient use of assessment data to inform instructional practice
Experience building a program
Relevant years of state service
Licensure aligned to position or ability to obtain licensure.
Experience with special needs populations: youth with IEPs, 504s, Multilingual backgrounds
Experience working with at-risk or adjudicated youth
Proficient use of data to inform decision making and instructional practices
Leadership roles and experience
Dean, Coach, Coordinator Role and/or Assistant Principal experience
Secondary school experience
Trauma-Informed practices and knowledge as it applies to at risk populations and classroom instruction
Experience with differentiated instruction; developing lessons/curriculum and providing differentiated instruction
Project-based learning experience
State Experience

Responsibilities

Supervises and guides the development and implementation of curriculum and instructional practices across general education, special education, intervention services, and Career and Technical Education (CTE) and career courses, while assessing overall effectiveness.
Monitors the ongoing completion of unit plans and daily lesson plans and evaluates their quality, providing feedback and action steps.
Ensures fidelity of engagement strategies, clear teacher pedagogical approaches, planning for relevance and career connections, alignment with clear learning goals, state standards, and graduation competencies.
Provides a structured plan for ongoing professional development for teachers, both individually and collectively, to include instructional coaching, professional learning aligned with DYS initiatives, classroom observations, and monitoring growth in instructional or workplace practices.
Collects monthly and ongoing data related to student progress in essential skills, targeted outcomes, and classwork/computer-based work, as well as formative and summative assessment performance, ensuring data is systematically tracked and monitored.
Provides leadership and establishes expectations for data-driven instruction, including detailed plans to address student needs through comprehensive Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) processes and intervention processes.
Assures progress monitoring for both special education and general education is current, accurate, and complete and documents skill monitoring for post-secondary youth.
Collects and analyzes data from classroom observations, grades, behavioral incidents, and other sources to assess educational programming effectiveness and student progress, and provides a coherent analysis of the data.
Utilizes required data and monitoring systems, including Smartsheets, TRAILS, staff supervision tools, classroom observation systems, SIS, and HR tracking mechanisms for both education staff and youth served, within established timelines.
Supervises, evaluates, and guides the implementation of academic, Title I, special education, vocational, and postsecondary programming to ensure fidelity to established guidelines, regulatory requirements, and DYS expectations.
Establishes and maintains systems to monitor compliance with state and federal laws, DYS education policies, and special education & general education audit standards.
Develops, implements, and monitors the annual School Development Plan (SDP) within established timelines and processes, including alignment with QAYS standards.
Oversees and/or completes all required reporting related to QAYS standards, accreditation requirements, and educational outcomes at designated intervals.
Ensures documentation, data collection, and reporting are accurate, timely, and aligned with required standards, including documented student progress and clear communication of school-based issues and successes.
Reviews and analyzes student educational records, transcripts, assessment data, and performance information to determine individual academic needs and to create an academic plan for each student, and uses this information to inform master scheduling, course offerings, and graduation planning.
Develops and/or monitors the academic and post secondary plans and timelines.
Ensures school operations, schedules, youth plans, and cross-departmental decisions are communicated clearly and effectively to all relevant stakeholders.
Provides ongoing, accurate, and timely communication to facility leadership, the Facility Director, the Education Office, and the Director of Education.
Plans and facilitates structured communication systems for the education team, including weekly team meetings, MTSS meetings, special education coordination meetings, and dissemination of facility leadership information.
Ensures consistent understanding and use of Education Office processes, forms, and protocols across all education positions.
Manages the site education budget in alignment with DYS Education Office guidance and provides monthly financial reports to the Education Director.
Models and performs professional communication with youth support networks, including families and external partners.
Supervises education staff through scheduled all-period classroom observations, accreditation-required observations, and monthly documented classroom walkthroughs, as well as observations conducted in other professional settings during the duty day.
Provides in-class modeling of lessons, instructional objectives, classroom management strategies, and professional expectations, including modeling reflective practice, effective time management, and adherence to deadlines.
Evaluates staff performance across core competencies within the Performance Management Program (PMP), assigned duties outlined in position descriptions, and identified professional focus areas aligned to QAYS standards, Cognia accreditation requirements, the DYS Education Instructional Model, and the School Development Plan (SDP).
Provides actionable feedback, establishes next steps for improvement, and implements performance improvement plans when staff do not meet established standards, following all applicable HR processes.
Completes PMP evaluations in a thorough and timely manner in accordance with required deadlines.
Ensures consistent communication of expectations, including creation and review of instructional documents, instructional assignments and course planning, daily schedules, meeting and collaboration expectations, safety norms, work expectations, ongoing duties, and critical deadlines for all education staff.
Monitors and reviews classroom management practices, behavioral interventions, and restorative approaches to student behavior and reviews classroom incidents.
Approves annual and sick leave in alignment with staffing and operational needs.
Facilitates productive staff meetings, supervision meetings, facility information debriefs, and collective student data reviews with documented agendas, clarity, and actionable outcomes.
Ensures effective implementation of student behavior management practices across educational settings.
Leads hiring, onboarding, and training of new staff within established timelines and agency processes and maintains accountability for action plans, agreements, and performance expectations.
Collaborate and communicate with key stakeholders, including clinicians, client managers, facility administration, students, education teams, and parents, regarding school program practices, student progress, expected outcomes, student data and goals, and programmatic information.
Incorporate student efficacy and recognition in programming and classrooms through the use of student-led conferences, student recognition processes, honor roll, education open houses, and goal sharing and stakeholder communication through parent phone calls, client manager outreach for youth on plans or who have received IRs, staff meetings, professional outreach, small teams, and treatment team opportunities.
Schedule regular staff roundtables and feedback forums, monitor action items, and addresses identified needs in coordination with facility leadership and supervisors.
Serve as an active member of the facility leadership team, meeting the participation expectations, follow-up responsibilities, and established timelines.
Maintain communication that is ongoing, consistent, clear, and professional with DYS staff, facility personnel, and the Education Office and that is tailored to the needs of the meeting, stakeholder group, or event.
Utilize required structured communication as well as informal communication tools to ensure stakeholders work collaboratively to support student educational needs and facility goals.
Participate in monthly DYS Principal meetings, collaborative supervision structures, and cross-facility communication processes that promote teamwork and alignment across the work unit, facility, and DYS system.
Communicate directly and consistently with the Director of Education in writing and in meetings regarding human resources, personnel matters, budget, supervision, and programming, providing clear information, problem identification, and solution-oriented recommendations.
Share plans to address climate needs within the team or facility.
Ensure the same information is readily available to the Facility Director and other relevant leadership staff.
Engage in efforts to strengthen workplace culture and climate across the facility and within the education program by modeling and implementing Sanctuary tools and language, using trauma-informed practices and restorative processes, and championing the phase and points system as well as providing positive recognition and incorporating the facility systems (e.g., EAC).
Design and implement principal-led and education-led programming and special events, student recognition, and school climate initiatives.
Ensure positive culture and climate with adherence to and enforcement of workplace policies, Code of Conduct expectations, professional boundaries, and standards of professional behavior, utilizing accountability measures when necessary.
Evaluate and regulate security and safety of students and staff by exercising security and control practices pursuant to agency standards.
Ensure all staff follow required safety and security policies and practices of the facility and that this is appropriately modeled.
Regularly evaluate the school physical plant for safety/security issues: broken furniture, damage to walls/windows/doors, cluttered classrooms.
Follow policy and expectations while also ensuring classroom teachers are well versed in policy and expectations.
Provide ongoing feedback for education staff and work with facility leadership, shift supervisors, and YSS on needs, coaching plans, and communication to create safe practices and school environments.
Document all behavioral data and responses to share as necessary to address safety concerns.
Use deescalation techniques when needed.
Monitor youth activity in hallways, classrooms, recreation time, and on pod as needed.
Provide follow up information to relevant stakeholders.
Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan plus 401(k) and 457 plans
Medical and dental health plans
Employer supplemented Health Savings Account
Paid life insurance
Short- and long-term disability coverage
11 paid holidays per year plus vacation and sick leave
State of Colorado Employee BenefitHub Resource Center
Employee Wellness program
Excellent work-life programs, such as flexible schedules, training and more
Remote work arrangements for eligible positions
Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program