Academic Dean - Private High School

SailFuture; Saint Petersburg (FL); On-site; USD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee health contribution

401k with 6% match

20 days PTO

Job summary

A private non-profit high school in Florida is seeking an Academic Dean to lead academic affairs and curriculum development. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in project-based learning and a passion for working with at-risk youth. Responsibilities include faculty management, lesson planning, and ensuring student accountability. The position offers a salary of $70,000 – $80,000 and benefits including health contributions and PTO.

Qualifications

• Experience leading and managing teams.
• Demonstrated portfolio of work in project-based learning.
• Successful track record working with at-risk youth populations.

Responsibilities

• Oversee all academic affairs and curriculum development.
• Manage faculty recruitment, training, and supervision.
• Develop hands-on learning experiences and lesson planning.

Skills

Project based learning

Team management

Curriculum development

Collaborative approach

Leadership

Understanding at-risk youth populations

Tools

Google Drive

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Notion Curriculum Database

NWEA testing systems

Job description

About the SailFuture Academy

The SailFuture Academy is a purposefully disruptive, private non-profit high school in St. Petersburg, Florida. We serve families in poverty and system-involved youth.

We believe in making exceptional education accessible to hard to reach youth, and empowering our students to achieve economic freedom and social mobility through a pragmatic high school experience.

Students focus on foundational academic and character development curriculum in 9th and 10th grade and participate in an in‑house internship in 11th grade and an external apprenticeship in their 12th‑grade year.

Most notably, every student participates in a 7‑week, international rite-of-passage sailing expedition onboard a 100’ school ship.

About the Academic Dean

We are seeking a creative, passionate, and experienced leader who shares our vision for project-based education that equips a young person with an entrepreneurial mindset and the core skills needed to enter the ‘real world.’

The Academic Dean reports directly to the Head of School and is responsible for overseeing all academic affairs, teacher leadership, and curriculum development at the SailFuture Academy.

The Academic Dean is expected to be both a thought leader and skilled at execution. The ideal candidate will have compelling ideas for how to develop real‑world curriculum and the ability to implement those ideas in the classroom across all seven of our key disciplines: Applied Mathematics, English Language Arts, Maritime Leadership, Social Emotional Learning, Design Lab, Pathways, and Business. The Academic Dean is not expected to be a subject matter expert in all disciplines, but must show an ability and commitment to learn, solve problems, and author engaging classroom experiences at a high school level.

Day‑to‑Day responsibilities vary, and include lesson planning, curriculum writing, direct instruction, and administrative duties, teacher coaching, classroom observations, and more.

This is a year‑round position and typical working hours are 8am – 5pm, Monday through Friday.

Essential Functions

• Assisting in the leadership and development of hands‑on learning experiences, curriculum, lesson planning, and assignment creation.
• Faculty Recruitment
• Faculty training and onboarding
• Faculty supervision and classroom management
• Curriculum development, oversight, and managing supply/material ordering
• Manage all academic tools, including LMS systems, NWEA, School Information System, Notion Curriculum Database, Google Drive, and more.
• Manage and implement NWEA Map testing
• Oversee academic probation, parent notifications, and student accountability
• Serve as the primary point of contact for academic affairs between parent, teachers, and the school
• Oversee end of term student showcases
• Curriculum supply storage and organization

The ideal candidate

• The ideal candidate is aligned with our core values and is eager to begin, and capable of sustaining, the work needed to build a legacy project. The Ideal candidate will:
• Possesses a ‘whatever it takes’ mentality
• Demonstrated portfolio of work in project based learning
• Successful track record working with, or developing curriculum for at‑risk youth populations
• Has experience leading and managing teams
• Passionate about reimagining education
• Collaborative in their approach
• Lead by example and be excited to work in the trenches

Compensation

• $70,000 – $80,000, depending on experience
• $250 per month employee health contribution
• 401k with 6% match
• 20 days PTO (accrual)