Summary

Lake Highland Preparatory School seeks an Associate Head of School to begin July 1, 2025. The Associate Head of School oversees the PreK-12 academic program, the three academic divisions, and student support and health in those divisions, including athletics, student life and belonging, admissions, marketing, and auxiliary programs. 

Working closely with (and reporting to) LHP’s President, Jim McIntyre, the Associate Head of School will help the school embark on its new and ambitious Strategic Plan, support and help to accelerate the work the school leadership is engaged in, including curriculum, pedagogy, cocurricular programming, student experience, service learning, campus development, and organizational structure, efficiency and systems. This expansive, multifaceted role offers significant challenge and opportunity on a broad scale for a relational, educational servant-leader who is successful at building and leading teams, knowledgeable about structuring PreK-12 curriculum, and focused on providing meaningful academic and programmatic experiences for students at all levels. 

This search is being facilitated by Carney, Sandoe, & Associates. Please apply directly through them using the information in the "To Apply" section of this posting.

Opportunities and Challenges 

The next Associate Head of School joins an exceptionally mission-focused community with a collaborative and cohesive spirit, while enjoying robust enrollment, strong parental support, and sound finances. Opportunities for leadership in this role include: 

• Helping to implement the school’s new (as of November 2024) Strategic Plan, managing school-wide progress 
• Ensuring academic excellence in each division, and guiding and leading others in the implementation and ongoing support of that vision and practice 
• Supporting the school’s work around diversity, equity, and inclusion, including welcoming an even more racially diverse student body and faculty and fostering a culture of belonging 
• Overseeing the student experience and educational journey such that each Lake Highland student realizes their full potential, benefits from the school’s programs and resources at each grade level and enjoys healthy social and emotional support throughout their time at LHP 
• Guiding the school’s admissions, enrollment, and marketing teams to both promote to and fill the school with qualified applicants 
• Proactively leading the hiring of faculty and administrators ensuring excellence, both in hiring and onboarding, of persons and process 
• Maintaining a strong athletics program that emphasizes performance, sportsmanship, participation, and personal growth and achievement 
• Guiding the school’s robust auxiliary programs to be models of excellence in serving current – and prospective – students, and in the operations and as a revenue source.

Qualifications and Personal Attributes 

The ideal candidate(s) will offer most or all the following qualifications and qualities: 

• Deep appreciation for the school’s mission; 
• Experience as a curricular leader, facilitating connections across departments; 
• Systems thinker and project manager – capacity to see the big picture and attend to details with high level organizational skill; 
• Facile with data and data-informed decision making; 
• The flexibility and collaborative spirit necessary to partner and compromise with other members of the senior administrative team; 
• Personal and professional commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and the skills to support critical conversations in the design of ever more inclusive culture, curriculum, pedagogy, and programs; 
• Strong interpersonal communication, including listening, mentoring, relationship and community building, presentation and facilitation skills; 
• A relational leadership style built on approachability, trust, transparency, and responsiveness; 
• Ability to coalesce teams and generate momentum of a group; 
• Appropriately balance the tension between autonomy and accountability; 
• Organizational fluency to manage multiple streams of information and respond to situations as they emerge; 
• Experience recruiting, hiring, supporting, retaining, and leading talented, diverse, and mission-aligned faculty and staff; 
• The confidence and humility to advocate for and embrace new ideas, invite disagreement, and welcome feedback; and 
• A style characterized by curiosity, warmth, consistency, and optimism.

To Apply 

Interested and qualified candidates are invited to contact the consultants in confidence. Candidates will ultimately need to submit the following materials as separate PDF documents: 

• A cover letter expressing interest in this particular position; 
• A current and thorough résumé of no more than four pages; 
• Finalists will need to submit a list of five professional references with name, relationship, phone number, and email address of each (references will not be contacted without the candidate’s permission) to: 
  • Ben Bolté, Senior Consultant - bbolte@carneysandoe.com 
  • John Allman, Senior Consultant - john.allman@carneysandoe.com 
  • Allison Stiles, Consultant - allison.stiles@carneysandoe.com 

This position announcement is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this job title and the education and skills required. This is not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills that are required or may be required in the future.

LHPS conducts background checks, including fingerprinting, and drug testing, and may use a third-party administrator. Background checks will be performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Lake Highland Preparatory School is an Equal Opportunity Employer.