High School Principal

DRG Consulting; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Campbell Hall in Los Angeles is seeking a dynamic High School Principal to lead academic, cultural, and operational excellence for its division. You will report to the Associate Head of School and drive curricular coherence, community engagement, and fiscal stewardship.

The ideal candidate brings extensive independent school leadership, a deep understanding of adolescent development, and a track record in multi-division settings, with strong communication and collaborative leadership skills.

Qualifications

• Strong high school and administrative leadership background.
• Independent school experience with mission-driven governance.
• Experience in affluent, large urban-area independent schools.
• Understanding adolescent development beyond college readiness.
• Multi-division school experience (K-12 or 6-12).
• Classroom teaching and instructional leadership experience.
• Supervising and evaluating faculty; HR collaboration for growth.
• Proven ability to partner with families, students, and staff.
• Clear public speaking and stakeholder communication skills.
• Experience leading through change and enrollment shifts.
• Data-driven decision making and operational follow-through.

Responsibilities

• Lead the overall High School student experience with dignity, belonging, and high expectations.
• Serve as the division’s primary academic leader and steward curricular coherence.
• Oversee scheduling, grading policies, narratives, and report cards in partnership with key administrators.
• Partner with student life and wellness to maintain a healthy, inclusive environment.
• Recruit, coach, and retain High School faculty and staff with professional growth in mind.
• Build and lead a cohesive administrative team with clear accountability structures.
• Communicate the High School’s program, vision, and outcomes to families and community.
• Collaborate with Elementary and Middle School leaders for K-12 alignment.
• Manage the High School budget and allocate resources strategically.
• Maintain a future-ready mindset by monitoring trends and innovation.

Skills

High school leadership

Independent school experience

Affluent urban setting

Adolescent development

Curriculum leadership

Faculty supervision

Parent communication

Public speaking

Change management

Data-informed decisions

Operational follow-through

Education

Master's Degree or higher

Job description

Campbell Hall is pleased to work with DRG to conduct this search. Read the full job description HERE.

About Campbell Hall

Founded in 1944, Campbell Hall is a K-12 independent Episcopal day school serving approximately 1,100 students. Located on 15 sustainably landscaped acres that house state-of-the-art learning environments both indoors and out, each division - Elementary, Middle, and High School - has its own distinct buildings and dedicated space. The peaceful campus and intentionally designed facilities serve as a backdrop for inspiration, exploration, and curiosity. The school fosters a warm, inquiry-driven community where academic excellence is paired with character development and is guided by its mission to nurture "decent, loving, and responsible human beings." At Campbell Hall, students' social, emotional, and spiritual growth is intentionally woven into a curriculum that cultivates innovative thinking, collaborative problem-solving, ethical reasoning, and a deep sense of responsibility to others.

The Position

The High School Principal is the senior leader responsible for the academic, cultural, and operational excellence of its division and engaging and energizing the community of students, faculty, and staff in the High School. Reporting to the Associate Head of School, the High School Principal is responsible for executing the division’s educational and strategic vision, academic oversight, community engagement and communication, and staff and budget management[SW2] .

The Principal leads a team that includes an Assistant Principal, Academic Dean, Department Chairs, Director of College Counseling, Grade Level Deans, High School Faculty, Registrar, High School Office Manager, and High School Administrative Assistant. As a member of the Strategic Planning Group comprised of senior leaders who report to the Head of School, the High School Principal also partners with the Elementary School and Middle School Principals to contribute to the vision for Campbell Hall’s K-12 community[SW3] .

The next High School Principal will carry out the following:

Responsibilities

• Lead the overall High School student experience, setting the tone for a culture rooted in dignity, belonging, and high expectations and ensuring that students feel known, supported, challenged, and valued. Champion traditions, programs, and experiences that build belonging, school spirit, leadership, connection, and student voice, while maintaining a highly visible presence in the life of the division.
• Serve as the division’s primary academic leader, stewarding curricular coherence and the continued evolution of the advanced studies framework while supporting instructional excellence, interdisciplinary learning, and thoughtful academic pathways.
• Oversee core academic systems and processes, including master scheduling, student course selection, grading, narratives, and report cards, in close partnership with the Assistant Principal, Academic Dean, and Registrar.
• Partner closely with student life and wellness leadership to foster a healthy, inclusive, and developmentally appropriate environment while upholding consistent standards for behavior, engagement, and community life.
• Recruit, evaluate, coach, and retain High School faculty and staff, supporting professional growth, reflective practice, continuous improvement, and a strong culture of teaching and learning.
• Build and lead a healthy administrative team, clarifying roles and responsibilities, strengthening collaboration, developing department chairs as instructional leaders and managers, and establishing consistent structures for accountability, supervision, evaluation, and decision-making.
• Communicate and champion the High School’s academic program, vision, values, and outcomes, serving as a compelling storyteller with students, families, faculty, trustees, prospective families, and the wider community.
• Partner strategically and visibly with the Principals of the Elementary and Middle Schools to strengthen K-12 alignment, coordinate priorities, and contribute actively to the broader life and direction of Campbell Hall.
• Manage the High School budget and steward division resources, aligning financial and operational decisions with academic, student life, staffing, and strategic priorities.
• Bring a future-ready mindset to the High School, monitoring educational trends, emerging technologies, and evolving student needs, and assessing their alignment with Campbell Hall’s mission to guide thoughtful, well-paced innovation.

The ideal candidate will draw upon the following to be successful in the role:

Core Experiences and Skills

• A strong high school and administrative leadership background, including responsibility for academic programs, student life, faculty development, and the day-to-day operation of a complex secondary division, with meaningful decision-making authority.
• Deep independent school experience, with a strong understanding of mission-driven governance, community expectations, and the distinctive opportunities and complexities of independent education.
• Experience in affluent and/or large urban-area independent school settings, with the judgment to navigate high expectations, complex stakeholder dynamics, a competitive enrollment environment, affordability, family expectations, enrollment pressures, and the need to demonstrate educational value.
• A well-developed understanding of adolescent development beyond college readiness, including students' intellectual, social, emotional, ethical, and identity development.
• Multi-division school experience (K-12 or 6-12), with the ability to promote continuity, collaboration, retention, and effective transitions across grade levels and divisions.
• Significant classroom teaching and instructional leadership experience, grounded in a demonstrated understanding of curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, interdisciplinary learning, and effective support for teachers.
• Demonstrated experience supervising and evaluating faculty, and as appropriate, partnering with Human Resources on recruitment, onboarding, coaching, evaluation, professional growth, and personnel matters. This includes experience designing or implementing meaningful evaluation systems that establish clear expectations, provide useful feedback, recognize strong performance, and support continuous improvement.
• A record of effectively partnering with families, students, faculty, and staff and building trust, listening carefully while building shared understanding and sustaining productive relationships by being accessible, reliable, of sound judgment, and exhibiting consistent follow-through.
• Clear, transparent communication and public speaking, with the ability to tailor communication for students, families, faculty, staff, trustees, and the broader community; explain decisions with clarity and consistency; and represent the High School confidently at gatherings, events, and important moments.
• Experience leading through change, disruption, campus construction, or enrollment shifts, with the capacity to maintain stability, communicate clearly, and keep the community focused on students
• Data-informed decision-making, using quantitative and qualitative evidence alongside professional judgment to identify priorities, assess progress, and guide improvement.
• Strong operational follow-through, including the detail orientation, delegation skills, efficiency, and disciplined execution required to translate priorities into timely, sustainable results.

Ideal Characteristics and Core Beliefs

• Student-centered and committed to the whole student experience, consistently grounding decisions in students' learning, well-being, development, and long-term success, and valuing academics, arts, athletics, service, wellness, and community life as essential and interconnected parts of education.
• Mission-aligned, with a demonstrated commitment to developing decent, loving, and responsible human beings through purposeful leadership and daily practice.
• A connector and collaborator across multiple audiences, able to build productive relationships and shared understanding among students, families, faculty, staff, trustees, and school leaders, while communicating openly, considering varied perspectives, and explaining decisions with clarity, care, and appropriate context.
• Kind and supportive toward faculty, combining empathy and encouragement with clear expectations, candid feedback, and a commitment to professional growth.
• Grounded, approachable, humane, and respected, bringing authenticity, humility, good judgment, and genuine regard for others to everyday interactions and difficult conversations, while projecting confidence and credibility with appropriate gravitas and remaining accessible, collaborative, and responsive to the community.
• Patient, steady, and long-view oriented, maintaining perspective through complexity while advancing priorities with persistence, discipline, and sound judgment; open to thoughtful, incremental change and able to build shared understanding and pace implementation to support durable progress.
• Respectful of traditions while able to imagine new ones, honoring the practices that sustain community while identifying meaningful ways for the school to evolve.

Qualifications

• Master's Degree or higher, preferred
• Classroom teaching experience, preferably at the high school level
• Effective use of technology
• Experience working collaboratively with a range of constituent groups from diverse backgrounds
• Flexibility and a sense of humor

Benefits and Compensation

The salary range is $220,000-$240,000 for this 12-month position. Along with four weeks of summer vacation, there is a comprehensive array of quality benefits to support employees' health and wellness.

Application Status: Accepting Applications and Nominations

Start Date: July 1, 2027

Campbell Hall admits students of any race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletics and other school-administered programs.