Head of School

Christina Seix Academy; Hillcrest (NJ); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Christina Seix Academy in Trenton, New Jersey seeks a visionary Head of School to guide a Pre-K3–8th grade program and a residential component through an important transition. The leader will partner with a devoted Board, faculty, and families to advance CSA’s mission, wraparound services, and college readiness for graduates.

The role requires a deeply relational, courageous executive who can balance strategic growth with CSA’s community-centered model and financial stewardship.

Qualifications

• Required: Bachelor's degree in education or a related field; significant senior leadership experience in an independent, public, or charter school or mission-driven educational organization; strong financial management (budget development and oversight); experience building and leading senior teams; experience working with students and families from under-resourced communities.

Responsibilities

• The Head is CSA's chief executive, reporting to the Board of Trustees, with full operating authority over the school’s program, people, and operations; lead a senior leadership team across academics, residential life, finances, advancement, admissions, and student support; steward the school’s wraparound services, financial stewardship, and fundraising in partnership with the Board and foundations.

Job description

Christina Seix Academy (CSA), an independent Pre-K3 through 8th grade day and five-day boarding school in Trenton, New Jersey, seeks a visionary, deeply relational, and courageous leader to serve as its next Head of School. Since opening in 2012, CSA has approached education as the work of social justice, committed to dismantling the systemic barriers of race, class, and circumstance that have long limited opportunity for the children and families it serves. That commitment shapes everything about the school. Every student attends on a full scholarship, and CSA surrounds each child and family with wraparound support, from health and wellness services to family partnership programs, in a relationship that extends well beyond graduation. Serving approximately 230 students and deeply rooted in Trenton, CSA is a community where students, families, and educators truly know one another, and where the aspiration to grow "From Potential to Achievement" belongs to everyone.

CSA now stands at a defining moment in its history. For more than a decade, the school was shaped by its co‑founder and Head of School, Dr. Rob Connor, who guided CSA from its earliest planning stages into the distinctive model it is today and now serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees. Alongside this leadership transition, CSA is entering a new stage of growth: its first graduates are now in college, and the school is ready to take up the questions that will shape its future. An Interim Head of School is guiding CSA through the 2026-2027 school year, giving the Board time to conduct a thorough, thoughtful search for the leader who will carry the school into its next era.

Reporting to the Board of Trustees, the Head of School is CSA's chief executive. As the first leader to follow CSA's founding Head, the next Head will build on remarkable strengths while engaging new opportunities for the school. This is a role of real strategic consequence, requiring close partnership with the Board and the Senior Leadership Team, and it is also intensely hands‑on. At CSA's scale and in its culture, the Head is both strategist and beloved family member, as engaged on the sidelines, at student performances, and in the evenings of the residential program as in Board meetings and long‑range planning sessions.

The Head's responsibilities span the full breadth of the CSA model: the academic and residential program, the wraparound services delivered through the Irma Rivera Center and the Wellness Center, and the Graduate Success Program that supports alumni through high school and beyond. The Head also leads CSA's financial stewardship and advancement, and serves as the school's primary voice in Trenton and beyond, with students, families, faculty and staff, trustees, funders, and community partners. CSA seeks a leader who pairs genuine humility and warmth with executive strength and vision, someone who will honor what makes CSA extraordinary while having the courage to lead it boldly forward.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Christina Seix Academy is both an independent school, accredited by the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools, and a community-based organization. That dual identity is central to the Head's role: the next Head will lead not only a school, but a community institution whose work reaches CSA families and the city of Trenton itself.

The Board of Trustees is in the midst of a deliberate transition from its founding structure to the governance practices of a maturing institution. This fall, the Board set term structures for trustees, defined officer roles, and reshaped the composition of its committees. The Board is equally clear about the division of responsibility: it sets direction and policy, and the Head of School holds full operating authority over the school’s program, people, and operations. Board Chair Dr. Rob Connor now leads a national education network and is not on campus day to day, so the next Head will be the school’s clear leader on campus and in the community. In this work, the Head will be supported by a Board with an unmatched understanding of CSA’s history and mission, and by the Christina and Robert Dow Foundation, CSA’s founding and principal funder, which has been a steadfast partner since the school opened.

The Head leads a senior leadership team spanning academics, residential and student life, finance and operations, advancement, admissions and family services, student success and postgraduate support, human resources, and health and wellness, supported by Lower and Middle School deans who guide daily academic life. Together, they oversee a community of roughly 90 faculty and staff.

FINANCIALS

CSA operates on an annual budget of approximately $12 million, supporting an extended‑day, year‑round academic program, a residential program for students in grades 4 through 8, comprehensive family services, and ongoing support for graduates. The school carries no debt.

Since CSA opened in 2012, the Christina and Robert Dow Foundation has provided the substantial majority of its operating support. This extraordinary commitment makes possible one of CSA's defining features: every child enrolled at the school receives a full annual scholarship, renewable each year through 8th grade graduation as long as the student and family remain in good standing with school policies. Families pay a nominal $1,040 per year as an investment in their child's education, while the true cost of educating a CSA student averages approximately $55,000 per year across the day and boarding programs.

CSA's commitment to its students continues after 8th grade. Through a dedicated graduate fund of approximately $6 million, CSA also provides assistance with high school tuition and other education‑related expenses to graduates who need and request it. Each request is considered individually, reflecting CSA's deep investment in seeing every graduate thrive.

CSA does not currently hold an endowment. Over the past several years, intentional fundraising has expanded the school's outreach to foundations and local donors, laying early groundwork for a more diversified and durable base of support.

STRENGTHS

CSA's next Head of School will inherit genuine strengths:

• A community where everyone is known. At CSA, relationships reach well beyond the classroom. Bus drivers, houseparents, facilities staff, teachers, and administrators know students not only by name but by their families, histories, and hopes.
• A school of Trenton and for Trenton. CSA is woven into the fabric of its city. Many faculty and staff grew up in Trenton, some returning specifically to teach children whose lives mirror their own, and the school regularly welcomes neighbors and community organizations to make use of its campus. Fittingly, the first building any visitor encounters is not an admissions office but a Welcome Center, a reflection of a school that has never sought to stand apart from the community it serves.
• A model that serves the whole family. CSA's support extends to every member of a student's family, and families are deeply engaged in turn: in 2024-25, 116 families took part in parent‑led volunteer or peer support programs.
• Outcomes that speak for themselves. Every CSA 8th grader who has applied to independent day and boarding high schools has been accepted, and 96% of the inaugural Class of 2021 enrolled in four‑year colleges, nearly double the rate for other Trenton high school graduates. The impact reaches families too: households see an average income increase of $20,000 to $25,000 by the time a child graduates CSA, and 40% of the families of alumni now own their homes.
• Faculty and staff who see the work as a calling. CSA's roughly 90 faculty and staff bring remarkable devotion to their work, and almost 30% have stayed for a decade or more. The school offers real pathways for professional growth, and several current leaders have grown into their roles from within.
• Strong enrollment demand. Interest from Trenton families far exceeds available seats, a reflection of the trust CSA has earned in its community.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

In partnership with the Board of Trustees, the Senior Leadership Team, and the families and community partners who make up the CSA village, the next Head of School will focus on the following priorities in the first years of the role. The first is foundational: the trust the Head builds within the CSA community will make progress on all the others possible.

Steward the heart of CSA

CSA's greatest strength is the deep connection among its students, families, faculty, and staff, who know one another's stories and extend each other grace and support without question. The Head will invest the time to truly know this community, earn its trust, and protect the culture that sustains it. This is daily work, not a distant charge: the Head will build genuine relationships across the community and model the respect, care, and high expectations that define the CSA village. As CSA welcomes new families and colleagues each year, the Head will also ensure that this culture is intentionally passed on, so it can evolve without losing what makes it CSA.

Define CSA's next chapter

The next Head has a rare opportunity to make a lasting mark on the school’s direction. They will lead the Board and community in exploring the questions that will shape CSA’s future, including whether to expand the campus to grow enrollment and deepen impact and whether to extend the model into high school. On one of the most consequential questions, the groundwork is already underway: through June 2027, the Board is conducting a feasibility analysis of a public‑private partnership model, and the next Head will be able to draw on its findings in shaping the path forward. Throughout, the Head will engage the community thoughtfully, weigh each possibility against CSA’s mission and capacity, and translate this work into a proactive strategic roadmap the whole community can rally behind.

Advance the academic and residential program

Empower CSA's instructional leaders to undertake a comprehensive review of the academic program, ensuring an intentional, cohesive scope and sequence from Pre‑K3 through 8th grade, with smooth transitions between divisions. The Head will champion cross‑divisional alignment, invest in professional development and instructional coaching that help teachers grow, and ensure that assessment meaningfully informs teaching. The Head will also ensure that the residential program remains a safe, nurturing, and well‑run home for boarders during the school week. The goal is an experience that continues to prepare students to thrive in the competitive high schools and opportunities that follow.

Chart a sustainable financial future

Working with the Board, the CFO, and the Director of Advancement, the Head will lead the development of a long‑term financial model that honors the Christina and Robert Dow Foundation's generous support while thoughtfully diversifying CSA's funding over time. Central to that work is growing advancement from its early stages into a strategic, sustained practice: broadening CSA's base of individual, foundation, and corporate support, strengthening grant‑seeking, engaging trustees as active fundraising partners, and helping the whole community, including families and a growing alumni base, find meaningful ways to invest in CSA's future. The Head will also explore new vehicles for long‑term stability, such as an endowment, while keeping budgets and resource decisions closely aligned with the mission.

Champion and amplify CSA's story and model

CSA approaches this work from a position of deep local trust. Within the community it serves, the school is well known and widely sought after, as demand for its seats shows, and its standing reaches well beyond its own families. CSA serves as a backbone organization for the city of Trenton, and partnerships with initiatives such as the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper, KinderSmile Foundation, Princeton University Athletics, First Tee of Greater Trenton amongst others, reflect how the city’s institutions already see the school. CSA is earlier in its journey with the regional institutions, funders, and civic partners, including hospitals and foundations, whose resources and networks will shape its next chapter. Here the next Head will inherit real momentum, as the Board grows and advancement moves from early outreach to more intentional relationship‑building. Extending that momentum and deepening these regional partnerships will in turn create a path to national opportunities, positioning CSA as a leading voice on what is possible when education, family partnership, and community work as one.

Build an institution that endures

Continue developing the systems, structures, and governance practices that will sustain CSA beyond its founding era. This includes clarifying roles, policies, and decision‑making processes so that CSA's relational culture is matched by consistency and transparency, building leadership depth across the organization, and partnering closely with the Board as its governance matures. Just as important, the Head will recruit, develop, and retain outstanding faculty and staff, investing in their growth and wellbeing so that those who care for CSA's children are well supported themselves.

Extend the continuum of support

Deepen CSA's wraparound partnership with families, ensuring that the Irma Rivera Center, the Wellness Center, and the Graduate Success Program work in close coordination with the academic and residential programs. As its first graduates move through college, CSA has an opportunity to define what lifelong support looks like, from college persistence to career pathways, and to clarify where its role should begin and end. Clear data and outcome measures should guide both what CSA offers and how it understands its impact.

QUALITIES AND ATTRIBUTES

CSA seeks a leader whose authority comes from presence rather than position. Across every conversation, the community described a Head who is seen and known in classrooms and hallways, at lunch tables and family events, and at community gatherings across Trenton. The right candidate is a servant leader who never asks others to do what they wouldn't do themselves, who remembers names and the details of people's lives, and whose care extends to faculty and staff as fully as to students and families.

Equally essential is a genuine understanding of the families Christina Seix Dow founded CSA to serve. Many are navigating circumstances most independent schools never encounter, and they deserve a Head who meets every interaction with nuance and respect, and who sees first the strength, resilience, and aspiration they bring. That understanding may come from lived experience that connects with the community in some way, which is a meaningful advantage. It can also be built by a leader humble enough to arrive as a learner, comfortable saying "I don't yet understand," and committed to setting out to gain that understanding.

Behind CSA's warmth is an organization of real complexity, and the next Head must lead it with executive skill. CSA seeks a seasoned leader with a record of building and developing strong teams, establishing the operational structures that allow a growing organization to thrive, and translating vision into clear, actionable plans. Strong financial acumen is essential, along with experience partnering with a board on governance and long‑range strategy. The ideal candidate is data‑informed, comfortable moving between operational detail and big‑picture thinking, and serves as a true thought partner to the Board.

The role also demands courage and steadiness. CSA's culture is warm and heart‑led, and the community wants a leader who honors that while bringing clarity, transparency, and follow‑through. That means speaking the truth, making difficult decisions with both moral and practical judgment, and remaining steady through hard moments, without needing to please everyone all the time.

Finally, the next Head will be CSA's most vital ambassador. Candidates should be compelling storytellers and natural relationship‑builders who can open doors in Trenton, across the region, and nationally, with donors, community partners, civic leaders, and fellow educators alike. Fundraising will be a central part of the role. Direct experience cultivating major donors and foundations is a significant asset, and candidates newer to fundraising should bring the relationship‑building instincts, conviction, and drive to make it a core part of their work. Familiarity with the intersection of private philanthropy and public funding will be valuable as CSA evaluates a potential public‑private partnership.

Additional qualities and attributes include:

• A leadership style that centers teachers, balancing autonomy with accountability
• A gift for seeing and developing potential in others, including a record of retaining and developing faculty and staff of color
• Experience leading an organization through change while maintaining stability and trust
• Familiarity with Trenton and Mercer County, or a genuine commitment to embedding oneself in the city and learning it from the ground up
• Flexibility and sound judgment in navigating gray areas, guided by both heart and principle
• Warmth, optimism, and a sense of joy that lifts the morale of the whole community

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

Required

• Bachelor's degree
• Significant senior leadership experience in an independent, public, or charter school, or a comparable mission‑driven educational organization
• A record of sound financial management, including budget development and oversight
• Experience building and leading senior teams and strengthening organizational systems
• Experience working with students and families from under‑resourced communities

Preferred

• Master's degree or higher in education, educational leadership, or a related field
• Experience as a Head of School or in a comparable chief executive role
• Fundraising experience, including cultivating major donors and foundations
• Experience as a classroom teacher
• Experience partnering with a board of trustees
• Experience with residential or boarding programs
• Experience in early childhood, elementary, or middle school settings
• Familiarity with community‑based organizations or wraparound service models
• Experience with accreditation processes

MISSION AND VALUES

Mission

CSA’s mission is education and empowerment, and its overarching goal is to prepare students with interactive and hands‑on learning for success in high school, college, and adulthood to help break the pernicious cycle of poverty. Students become empowered learners with a powerful sense of identity and commitment to their own, their families, and their community’s well‑being.

Values

Our intergenerational learning center community is structured on systems dedicated to belonging and connectivity – which we believe drives academic success.

Every child has the potential to achieve. CSA firmly believes that every student is capable of extraordinary things, though success may look different for each student.

Families and communities are partners. CSA is just one part of the infrastructure that enables a child to achieve. This support system also includes families, caregivers, friends, and community organizations, all of whom CSA views as key partners.

Innovation is essential. The systemic challenges that CSA seeks to address are profound, and the context in which the school operates is a dynamic one.

This is the work of social justice. CSA’s work centers on the dismantling of systemic barriers caused by the intersections of race, class, immigration status, and other elements of identity.

MORE THAN A SCHOOL: THE CSA MODEL

At the heart of CSA is a conviction that a child’s success cannot be separated from the wellbeing of their family and the strength of their community. CSA’s Theory of Change describes the school as a community‑centered ecosystem that confronts the forces that perpetuate poverty: obstacles to upward mobility, limited access to power and agency, and the absence of belonging. Rigorous academics sit alongside health and wellness, financial literacy, the arts, athletics, and ongoing networking as cornerstones of success, and families are treated as essential partners rather than recipients of services.

The thread that ties this work together is social capital. By fostering networks, norms, and trust, CSA equips students and families with the relationships and tools they need for long‑term, intergenerational stability and mobility. This work begins when a child enrolls at age three and extends across an eleven‑year partnership that continues through high school placement, college readiness, and career exploration.

CSA brings this philosophy to life through a model of wraparound services that surrounds each student and family with coordinated support. Rather than treating academic, health, emotional, and economic needs as separate concerns, CSA addresses them together, recognizing that a child’s ability to learn is shaped by everything happening beyond the classroom. Two centers anchor this work: the Irma Rivera Center, which partners with families on stability and economic advancement, and the Wellness Center, which supports the physical and emotional health of students and families alike. Working hand in hand with teachers, residential staff, and a network of more than 25 community partners, they ensure that when a family faces a challenge, CSA can respond with the full strength of its community.

The Irma Rivera Center

Named for Christina Seix Dow’s mother, who instilled in her the values of hard work, cultural pride, and thoughtful communication, the Irma Rivera Center (IRC) is CSA’s hub for family partnership. The IRC approaches every family through an asset‑based lens, recognizing their resourcefulness, resilience, and aspiration, and working alongside parents to refine their goals over the course of their child’s time at CSA. Families can access classes and support in financial literacy, employment, housing rights, legal assistance, food security, crisis support, and navigating local, state, and federal services. Families, in turn, are active contributors to the life of the school, giving generously of their time and energy to strengthen the community.

The Wellness Center

CSA’s Wellness Center reflects a simple understanding: students learn best when they are healthy, well‑fed, and emotionally supported. Two full‑time nurses and two counselors serve both day and residential students, and the Health and Wellness team extends that care to families,