KMCE Director Of School Operations 22-23

KIPP Memphis Public Schools is part of KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program), a national network of tuition-free, open-enrollment, public schools that are successful in helping students from educationally underserved communities develop the knowledge, skills, character, and habits needed to succeed in college and the competitive world beyond. There are currently 270 KIPP schools across the nation serving nearly 100,000 students. Founded in 2002, KIPP Memphis serves over 1,800 K-12 students in our five North Memphis schools and almost 900 alumni on their journeys to-and-through college with our KIPP Forward Program.

As a leader in providing high quality education for students who need us most, the KIPP Memphis team and family serves as a model of excellence and collaborates with other community organizations to raise the overall quality of education in Memphis. The mission of KIPP Memphis is to create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose - college, career, and beyond - so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

The Director of School Operations is the operational leader of the school. S/he is critical to the successful and efficient running of the campus. This position is central to the realization of our mission as it provides the School Leader and Assistant Principals (APs) the opportunity to focus almost exclusively on teaching and learning within the schools. The Director of School Operations will therefore be an individual who embraces innovation and continuous improvement, is willing to get his/her hands dirty, and relishes the challenge of finding ways to work smarter and more efficiently, all in support of ensuring the instructional staff and leaders can stay focused on teaching and learning.

The Director of School Operations will report to the Managing Director of Operations and the campus Principal and manage the school front office team as well as outside vendors/service providers. They will also serve on the school leadership team.

Duties and Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Director of School Operations are, but not limited to, the following:

School Operations Leadership & Operations Team Management

• In partnership with the School Leader and the regional leadership, develops the school-wide operations vision that supports and operationalizes the academic and cultural vision of the school
• Plays a leadership role in the school’s strategic and annual planning and budgeting processes
• Hires, manages, coaches, and develops school operations team members (including front office staff and vendors) and holds them accountable to goals and outcomes
• Serves as the primary point of contact for the regional Shared Service Team, responding to requests and collaborating with teammates across the region to build scalable, region-wide systems, policies, and procedures

Finance & Purchasing

• Works closely with the principal to develop the school’s annual budget
• Actively manages the school budget throughout the year by participating in monthly budget meetings to review budget variances, actively monitoring school spending, and proactively seeking opportunities to ensure spending is always aligned to the school’s academic priorities
• Manages the school purchasing process by establishing clear systems for staff to request items, placing orders with vendors, tracking delivery, and coding and submitting purchases orders, invoices, and reimbursement requests
• Manages the school payment process for activity fees and uniforms
• Approves school purchases under a specific financial threshold
• Serves as the first school-based point of contact regarding finance and works with regional Finance team to ensure financial compliance and reporting

Facilities & Maintenance

• Oversees most aspects facilities issues, including maintenance, managing staff/vendors, aesthetics, shared space agreements, and campus safety
• Regularly conducts facilities walkthroughs and liaises with custodial staff/vendors to ensure that the facility looks the best it can
• Ensures that the main office is neat, organized, welcoming and has all important parent-facing materials

Food Service, Transportation, and Special Events

• Serves as the eyes and ears of the school to ensure that all school operations run seamlessly each and every day, proactively problem solving and developing systems where needed
• Oversees all aspects of food service, including quality, managing staff/vendors, meal tracking, and compliance
• Manages the logistics of meal delivery (breakfast, lunch, snacks) including staff duty schedules and cafeteria schedules and routines
• Oversees all aspects of transportation including vendor management, arrival and dismissal procedures, and setting and managing staff duty schedules
• Owns logistics of communications and external relations through parent letters, weekly staff notes, surveys, and visitors
• Owns all logistics (e.g. transportation, lodging, meals, staffing plan, etc.) of all off-site field trips and all on-site special events (Report Card Nights, Performances, Graduation, staff celebrations, etc.)
• Serves as point person for hosting visitors on school tours

Technology & Equipment

• Ensures that students and staff have access to needed technology and works with regional Tech Team to plan technology related enhancements
• Leads the school opening/start up process each year to ensure that doors are ready to open by ordering furniture, equipment, instructional supplies, and ensuring that student services (e.g. food service, transportation) are ready to go
• Manages the school’s supply and asset inventory (e.g. computers, textbooks)

Student Information, Testing, and Academic Operations Support

• Manages systems for and maintains accurate student data and information in compliance with federal, state, regional and school expectations
• Manages the substitute teacher process including participating in substitute interview events/orientations, orienting new subs to the school, and managing the process by which teachers seek coverage for absences
• Works with the principal or Assistant Principals to manage the logistical elements of all major student assessments
• Manages logistics of report cards/progress reports/transcripts

Student Recruitment & Enrollment

• Develops and manages student recruitment strategy to ensure that the school begins the academic year with full classes and actively recruits to fill open seats
• Ensures that parent info sessions, school tours, and the lottery and enrollment process are tightly planned and Executed

Risk Management, Compliance, and Human Resources Administration

• Ensure that the school is prepared for emergencies by conducting all drills and training staff on emergency plans
• Partners with regional Human Resources/ Talent Recruitment on the new hire process (e.g. interviews, new hire offer letters, onboarding)
• Partners with regional Human Resources/ Talent to ensure that school staff have complete, current, and accurate employee files and certifications; all personnel interacting with students have background checks on file; and schools comply with all areas of legal compliance (e.g. Human Resources, FERPA, etc.)
• Completes the exit form for terminating employees and partners with the regional human resources team on any action items surrounding the exit logistics
• Reviews time off data provided by the human resources team to ensure accuracy and assess leave trends
• Communicates leave needs and critical dates to the human resources team and assists in facilitation of employee leaves

Student Health Services

• managing office managers to coordinate preventative health services
• schedule and communicate to school staff Coordinated School Health (SCS schools) and Well Child (All schools?) screenings
• ensure that all families complete Well Child applications (or write “decline” so we still get credit for the application)*
• working with coaches and/or Athletic Director to ensure all athletes have physicals
• managing office managers to ensure immunization compliance and communicating to families when additional shots or records are needed
• working with the school nurse to establish hours, space, nurse needs, preferences for how students are sent to nurse, and serving as a point of contact for nurse when s/he has questions or needs
• ensuring that school staff (office managers at a minimum) have completed medication training
• ensuring that we are compliant with the number of staff members needing to be CPR certified; working with Well Child to schedule CPR training for staff
• notifying school community of health issues as needed (if there’s a ringworm, flu, or head lice outbreak in a classroom, for example)

• Bachelor’s degree required
• 3 to 5 years of relevant work experience required
• Prior leadership and management experience; successful team leadership and strong track record of results
• Experience working with underserved communities, families and/or students
• Excellent organizational and communication skills
• Friendly and able to work well with others in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to multi-task and work within an ambiguous, fast-moving, start-up environment, while driving toward clarity and solutions
• Extreme flexibility, with a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit to accommodate high levels of responsibility and multiple priorities
• Computer and financial literacy, including Microsoft Word and Excel
• Commitment to the belief that outstanding school leaders, staff, and teachers can achieve excellent outcomes for all students

Salary for this position is competitive and depends on prior experience, degree attainment, and credentials. A competitive benefits package will also be offered.

KIPP Memphis is committed to a policy of equal treatment for all individuals applying to the school. KIPP Memphis does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, handicap, age, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.

All application information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.