School Leader of Innovation

Job description

**At Rocketship Public Schools, we believe in the infinite possibility of human potential.**We believe that every student deserves the right to dream, to discover, and to develop their unique potential and it is our responsibility and our privilege to unleash the potential inside every Rocketeer we serve. Our non-profit network of public elementary charter schools propels student achievement, develops exceptional educators, and partners with parents who enable high-quality public schools to thrive in their community. We are a collective of parents, teachers, leaders, and students working together to transform the future for underserved communities across our country. At Rocketship Public Schools, we are unleashing potential. **Position Description** The School Leader of Innovation is a founding member of Rocketship's Innovation School, a first-of-its-kind lab school opening in Fall 2026 within an existing Rocketship campus. Reporting to the Director of Innovation School, the School Leader of Innovation is responsible for the day-to-day execution of a new instructional model, ensuring that the school's vision for personalized, AI-enabled, and joyful learning translates into excellent classroom practice, every day, for every student. At its core, this is an School Leader role: the School Leader of Innovation School drives data analysis cycles, observes classrooms regularly, provides continuous feedback, and co-plans units and lessons aimed at increasing educator effectiveness. What distinguishes this role from a traditional School Leader is its proximity to a fast-moving, still-being-built school model. The School Leader of Innovation School leads teachers, tutors, and instructional support staff through new rotations, tools, and routines as they're implemented and refined in real time, and uses student data and adult feedback to flag what's working — and what isn't — to the Director of Innovation School. Reports to the Director of Innovation School. Direct reports may include teachers, enrichment center coordinators, instructional support staff, and tutors. ### Our Ideal Candidate - Believes that adult preparation is essential to student success, and is energized rather than unsettled by helping build that preparation from scratch. - Exhibits command of upper elementary (grades 3-5) content and is eager to use that knowledge to develop teachers who demonstrate excellence in their planning and execution of lessons, including lessons delivered through new rotations, tools, and models. - Is fluent with data and systems — comfortable standing up new tracking and feedback loops, not just using ones that already exist. - Understands that eliminating the achievement gap is hard work but deeply rewarding and within their control, and is eager to do that work under the added uncertainty of a first-year program. ### Essential Functions The School Leader of Innovation School is deeply committed to the success of each Rocketeer, and the breadth of responsibilities reflects that commitment. The essential functions of this position include, but are not limited to the following: **Developing Effective Educators** - Foster a rigorous and college preparatory culture of excellence in every classroom that ensures high levels of student achievement. - Coach teams to build subject area expertise, including expertise in newly introduced instructional approaches (e.g., personalized rotations, AI-enabled learning tools). - Cultivate a culture of experimentation and iteration among instructional staff, grounded in the belief that setbacks are expected and are opportunities to improve. - Engage in cycles of data driven instruction and assessments to inform planning and personalize instruction to student needs. - Ensure at least 1.5 years of progress for all Rocketeers annually through management and planning. - Ensure Rocketeer progress toward Innovation School-specific growth and absolute achievement goals. - Collaborate with the Special Education team to ensure teachers are receiving the necessary support and training to maximize the delivery of instruction in our full inclusion model. - Teaching: The School Leader of Innovation will at times be required to step in and teach to either model for teachers, provide assistance to teachers or the school community, or to more deeply internalize the school model. As part of onboarding, the School Leader of Innovation may be expected to teach for three or more weeks to learn the curriculum and model. **Leading Day-to-Day Program Execution:** - Lead implementation of the Innovation School model across classrooms and learning spaces, ensuring adult roles are enacted as designed. - Work alongside school leaders at host school to maintain cultural consistency across shared spaces and make disciplined choices about which systems can and should diverge. - Monitor student mastery, engagement, executive function development, and overall experience day to day; partner with the Director of Innovation School to identify strengths and gaps. - Support staff in navigating new practices, tools, and expectations as they're introduced, with particular attention to the data and systems that underpin the model. - Use student achievement data and structured feedback cycles to identify what is working, what is not, and why, and surface findings to the Director of Innovation School to inform adjustments. - When issues arise, apply judgement to distinguish structural problems with the model from those linked to model implementation. - Analyze qualitative and quantitative data from classroom observation, assessments, and family and staff feedback to prioritize areas for improvement. **Student and Parent Partnership:** - Support a school community that fully involves parents in student achievement through multiple outlets including home visits, regular community meetings, and parent/family meetings. - Build trusting relationships with students and families, recognizing parents as their child's first teacher and essential partners in student success, with added emphasis on helping families understand and engage with a new instructional model. **Rocketship Professional Culture:** - Exhibit a high level of honest and humble self-reflection, owning good and bad outcomes; effectively respond to and implement constructive feedback. - Create a healthy, high-achieving, urgent environment where staff and students feel challenged and also fully supported and valued, even amid the ambiguity of a first-year program. - Promote and participate in collaborative opportunities across schools to share best practices, problem solve, and gather feedback. ### Qualifications **Required:** - BA from an accredited university - Valid teaching credential in CA or ability to transfer credentialing to CA - 3+ years of experience teaching in an urban city classroom and realizing significant gains - Deep knowledge of elementary instruction and planning skills - Strong, demonstrated comfort with data and systems — able to track, interpret, and act on new or evolving data sources - Experience with or strong interest in innovative instructional approaches such as personalized, project-based, or competency-based learning - Strong leadership skills and personal drive - Relentless pursuit of high expectations - Result-oriented and data-driven - Ability to inspire, motivate and develop others - Adaptable and able to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment - Ability to engage and empower parents and families - Experience in building and maintaining outstanding school culture - Excellent time management and organizational skills - Strong verbal and written communication skills **Preferred:** - Experience operating in a start-up or build-from-scratch environment strongly preferred