Head of School

Brightfield School is seeking an experienced, innovative, collaborative, and passionate leader to launch a new school community committed to providing accessible place-based education to families in Wiscasset and surrounding MidCoast Maine communities. This position promises the unique opportunity to shape the educational program and daily life of a school
being founded by a group of families whose current school community will close in June, 2023.

Summary

As a founding Board of Trustees, we are deeply committed to building an organization that (a) empowers educators to create and foster Brightfield’s educational program and culture, and (b) is well-equipped to be locally governed and mission-driven for years to come. At Brightfield, we aim to foster a student-centered, teacher-led, collaborative community grounded in place-based education. Brightfield’s Head of School will have responsibility for creating a school community that:
● reflects Brightfield’s mission and vision,
● aligns with the place-based educational model,
● fosters opportunities for social-emotional learning and development, and
● values diversity, equity, and inclusion.
 

The Brightfield Board envisions an educational community that uses the land, area, and communities surrounding Brightfield as an extended classroom for a rigorous and integrated academic curriculum that is experiential in nature. The Head of School will be asked to independently pursue the school’s vision and implement its mission.

The Head of School will be expected to:
● Ensure the financial health of the institution
● Serve as liaison to the Board on all aspects of operations
● Represent the Board to stakeholders
● Shape school’s programs (academics and all other offerings)
● All aspects of staff hiring, management, professional development, evaluation,
termination, etc
● Supervise all aspects of financial management, including strategy and fundraising
(the Head of School will receive partnership from the Board on fundraising strategy
and implementation

● Supervise all aspects of admissions, enrollment, and engagement with current and
prospective families
● Understand and maintain compliance with all relevant standards and guidelines, to
include:
○ Achieving recognition by the state of Maine as an approved independent
school (allowing the receipt of school choice funding) in advance of the
school’s second year of operations, and
○ Setting Brightfield on a pathway to obtaining NEASC and AISNE
accreditations with the goal of achieving accreditation by the school’s fourth
year of operations
● Represent the school to the broader community
● Design and steward Brightfield’s educational philosophy and curriculum (the Board
will provide the Head of School with a place-based education curriculum for
students in grades 1 - 8 that is currently in use)

This position will have a flexible start date.

For more information about our school or to apply, please follow this link below:

https://brightfieldschool.org/inquire/employment/join-our-team/