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I.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The Greater Newark
Charter School (GNCS), a charter Middle School with enrollment of
approximately 180 students located in Newark, New Jersey, seeks a new
school Director to lead the school beginning in August 2010. Ideally,
there will be at least one month of overlap (June) working with the
current “Interim Director”, staff and Board prior to the official
assumption of duties in August 2010.
The Search Committee
seeks an accomplished leader who is dedicated to the School’s Vision and
Mission as stated below.
The successful candidate
will be an outstanding and formally trained instructional leader with a
demonstrated track record of success working with urban students of
color, their families and a variety of other stakeholders. He or she
will have a firm grasp of “best practices” for elementary school
teaching and curriculum, staff development, a keen focus on outcomes,
and the use of data driven management for both the academic and business
sides of the enterprise. Additionally, the successful candidate must be
collegial and always respectful to all members of the GNCS family,
including external stakeholders and others. |
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II. OVERVIEW OF GREATER NEWARK CHARTER SCHOOL
School History and
Description
GNCS secured its charter in 1999. The original Founding Board consisted
of five persons, two of whom remain on the current Board.
Greater Newark Charter
School started classes during the 2000 – 2001 school year, located in
rented classroom space in a church in Newark New Jersey. The original
grades to be served were 5 – 7 and the initial class was comprised of 40
fifth grade students. Over the last ten years GNCS has evolved and
currently has the following characteristics:
- Facility:
The school is located in a traditional school building on Central
Avenue, Newark, NJ.
- Number of
Students, Grades and Classes: Total enrollment is at about 180
to maintain small class sizes.
- School Day:
The school day begins at 8 AM and ends at 4 PM for a total time of
eight hours. Total instruction time is seven hours per day.
There is also opportunity for after school classes and tutoring.
- School Year:
School begins in late August and ends June. The 2010-2011 school
year will begin on August 23, 2010.
- Student/Teacher
Ratio: 14:1
- District of
Residence: The school currently draws its students from the
following districts: City of Newark, City of East Orange, City of
Orange, City of Hillside and the City of Irvington.
- Employees:
The school employs a director, 14 classroom teachers, 1 full-time
social worker, 1 full-time nurse, 1 dean of students, 1 dean of
curriculum & instruction, 1 director of finance & operations, 1
administrative assistant, 1 part-time business office assistant, 1
high school placement coordinator and a child study team.
- Board Members:
There are currently 10 voting members. The voting members include 1
founder and 2 parents.
- Defining
Attributes: college preparatory, character building education
programs.
Vision
At Greater Newark Charter School, we believe all students
must possess ambitious academic and asperational dreams to be successful
in life. We will enhance all students’ feeling of self-worth,
pride in themselves, their achievements, their communities and the kind
of leaders they dream of becoming while encouraging them to be committed
to being agents of change within their Newark community and beyond.
To fulfill our mission, we maintain a highly talented staff to utilize
data-driven, academically rigorous curriculum within a culture of
engagement and aspiration to ensure every student is prepared to realize
their dreams. By assuring our curriculum references the rich
history and culture of the Newark community, in concert with imparting
holistic strategies, we believe our students graduate inquisitive,
empowered and inspired.
Mission
The mission of Greater Newark Charter School is to be the
best middle school in Newark.
Academic and School Culture
Our academic achievements have been very good and the overall
trend line measuring successful performance has continuously
improved.
The alignment of our
curriculum with New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (NJCCCS) is
the focus of our curriculum development. We rely on the results from
NJASK to determine which standards students were not learning.
Additionally, we examine data generated by the four benchmark
assessments in math literacy and science that students complete during
the school year. When modifying our curriculum, we have been careful to
also adjust our benchmark assessments so that they remain closely
aligned with NJCCCS. As a result of this ongoing analysis, we have been
able to identify the appropriate standards that our students need to
learn. With this knowledge, teachers have been able to focus
significant amounts of planning time to ascertain the best way to teach
these standards.
The delivery of our
educational program, including the delivery of services to
at-risk-students, is supported with ongoing team-building activities by
teachers, with a strong view to maintaining a collegial environment and
inspiring and maintaining a culture of achievement for all.
Future Growth Plan
In March of 2009 the New Jersey Department of Education informed the
school that they were renewing our Charter for an additional five
years. In addition, we were informed that they were approving the
expansion of our enrollment from a current maximum of 200 students
(grades 5 – 8) to a maximum of 500 students (grades k – 8) over the 2010
– 11 to 2013 – 14 timeframe.
While the school has
opted to defer expansion for at least one year, we are fully confident
and committed to an efficient and effective expansion program; in which
we expect our new director to be intimately involved.
Financial Condition
The financial condition of the school is sound and is managed in a highly professional manner by the administration, a finance committee and the Board of Trustees which includes a certified Business Administrator and treasurer both of whom are also certified public accountants.
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