School Principal, Elementary & Secondary

Washoe County School District; Nevada (IA); On-site; USD 102,000 - 124,000; Full time

Job summary

Washoe County School District seeks an Elementary & Secondary Principal to serve as instructional leader and chief administrator. You will implement the school vision, lead staff development, monitor student achievement, and ensure compliance with district and state guidelines.

You will communicate with parents and community partners, manage budget priorities, and guide curriculum and assessment decisions to promote equitable student success.

Qualifications

• Education: Master's degree in administration, education leadership, or related field.
• Licenses/Certificates: School Administrators' License required. Proper endorsement is necessary before applying.
• Experience: Minimum of five years of certified teaching experience, education administration, or K-12 leadership.
• Leadership: Demonstrated leadership at school site level as an assistant principal or principal; and/or district-level AP leadership.

Responsibilities

• Develops and communicates the school's vision and aligns goals to improve student achievement.
• Advocates for the school and communicates with stakeholders; ensures compliance with laws and district policies.
• Builds strong relationships with students, staff, parents and community; models effective communication.
• Demonstrates knowledge of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and MTSS to guide instructional decisions.
• Leads budget planning, standard operating procedures, scheduling, and priority-based resource allocation.

Skills

School leadership

Educational administration

Staff development

Data-driven decision making

Education

Master's degree in educational leadership

Job description

School Principal, Elementary & Secondary (see addt'l job info.)

Human Resources

Administrative - Licensed - Assistant Principal - Elementary, Middle or High

Job Number 2000018150

Start Date

Open Date 08/18/2026

Closing Date 04/07/2027

PRINCIPAL

ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Under general direction, serves as the instructional leader and chief administrative officer of a school. Incumbent performs related work as required.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Develops, implements, and maintains the vision and mission statement of the school; involves students, staff, parents, community and stakeholders; recognizes the individual needs of all staff and students, including those of diverse cultures, backgrounds or abilities; understands student requirements and academic standards; analyzes student achievement results; plans, sets and implements goals to improve student achievement.

Advocates and serves as spokesperson for the school to all stakeholders; communicates with decision-makers outside the school community; and complies with district, state, and federal laws and maintains ethical interactions with students and employees.

Builds and fosters strong interpersonal relationships with students, staff, parents, and school community; articulates beliefs persuasively; defends decisions and behaves in ways that are congruent with these beliefs and decisions; demonstrates skills in verbal and nonverbal communication, including impact of personal image to communicate a positive image of the school; reports student performance to students, parents, teachers, and other leaders. Communicates effectively with students, parents, community, faculty, and staff and tailors communication to the intended audience.

Adapts leadership behavior to the needs of the current situation and constructively handles dissent; provides formal and informal feedback to staff with the exclusive purpose of improving individual and organizational performance; and recognizes and rewards individual accomplishments, celebrates school accomplishments.

Demonstrates integrity in meeting commitments with all stakeholders in a variety of settings. Demonstrates an appreciation for diversity and tolerance of different points of view; reacts constructively to making mistakes and continuously works at performance improvement; and constructively manages disagreement with leadership and policy decisions.

Applies knowledge of student growth and developmental stages; participates in the design and implementation of curriculum, focusing on congruent instruction; demonstrates knowledge of curriculum, instruction and assessment and their relationship to program goals and objectives; participates in decisions concerning consistent measurements, evaluation, and assessment strategies to further student progress; monitors the teaching methods and strategies being used and ensures that they are appropriate, varied and effective; articulates and requires effective student management strategies in all classrooms and common areas; conducts effective formal observations, walkthroughs with "Look Fors" and provides feedback to teachers; provides teachers with materials and professional development necessary to promote student success by equitable use of funding; and protects teachers from issues and influences that would detract from their teaching time or focus.

Creates a safe, orderly, and healthy environment to ensure successful teaching and learning; manages the operation and maintenance of the physical plant; displays a history of completing projects on schedule and within the budget; demonstrates understanding and involves staff in the development of school budget priorities; establishes a set of standard operating procedures and routines for class assignments, master scheduling, budget allocations, etc.; and manages time with a focus on the priorities of the school.

Makes decisions linked to vision, mission, and priorities; identifies decision-making structure, including which decisions are made by consensus or by the staff independently, which decisions are made by the leader after getting input from the staff, and which decisions are made by the leader alone; uses internal and external data on student achievement as basis for decisions; uses student achievement data to initiate constructive change and make instructional decisions; evaluates decisions for effectiveness and revises when necessary; makes decisions in teacher assignment, course offerings, scheduling and curriculum/instruction based on specific needs for student achievement; demonstrates proficiency with data management systems and possess the ability to analyze student achievement data; demonstrate an understanding of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) as it relates to student success including familiarity with Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL).

Understands faculty proficiencies and areas for growth, providing staff development that is in-depth, varied, and focused on student achievement; demonstrates use of technology to improve teaching and learning; delegates to site leaders; consistently identifies potential administrators/leaders from within the school; trains strong assistant administrators to be capable of immediately assuming leadership responsibility in this school or other buildings; demonstrates improvement of specific performance areas based on the recommendations of the previous administrative evaluation; participates in planning, implementing and evaluating a personal, professional development plan; demonstrates proficiency in electronic communication and technology; understands research trends in education and leadership as they apply to the goals and priorities of the school and district; participates in leading professional development based on school and district goals; and advances the profession through participation in local, state, and national professional groups.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education/Experience: Any combination of education and experience that would provide the required knowledge and skills is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and skills would be:

1. Education: A Master's degree from an accredited college or university with coursework in administration, education, educational leadership, or other related field.

AND

• Licenses/Certificates: School Administrators' License required. Proper endorsement is necessary before applying to the qualifying pools.

AND

3. Experience: A minimum of five (5) completed years of certified teaching experience, education administration, or K-12 leadership in an educational setting.

AND

• Experience: At least one (1) semester completed of leadership at the school site level as an assistant principal or principal; AND one (1) year completion as a Dean; OR the completion of McREL Balanced Leadership Series (4 courses); OR, the completion of Foundations of Leadership course; OR one (1) session completed of Summer School Zone Coordinator; OR one (1) year completed AP-level leadership at the district level (coordinator, Special Education Administrator "SEA", etc.)

• Evaluations: Effective or Highly Effective summative evaluations in the last three (3) consecutive years.

AND

6. Confidential References: Three (3) current Confidential References returned and dated within the last eighteen (18) months. One (1) must be from your current supervisor, and one (1) must be from your current evaluator (if your supervisor and evaluator are the same person, you only need one reference from them). One (1) from your most recent previous supervisor. If your current supervisor and evaluator are the same person, you will need to add one (1) additional reference from someone who can speak to your leadership skills. References must be filled out for the position you are applying for, not the position you currently hold.

COMPETENCIES FOR SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE OF JOB DUTIES

Knowledge of: Child and adolescent development; the philosophy of elementary and/or secondary school education; human relations, especially with respect to other school district personnel such as teachers, counselors, coordinators and school district administrators in the fields of curriculum, personnel and business; the problems of parents and community leaders and be willing to cooperate with them; modern instructional techniques and competence in school curriculum areas; the vertical structure of the courses of study in the District and the importance of articulation in these areas; principles and practices of school administration, including school finances, teaching methods and techniques, evaluations, and program development, applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, ordinances and policies; human resources development; school law; conflict resolution; public relations; principles of effective management, staff supervision and administration.

Skill at: Planning, organizing, assigning, and coordinating the activities of a professional and support staff; presenting ideas effectively, verbally and in writing; dealing constructively with conflict and developing consensus; selecting, supervising, and evaluating subordinates; dealing effectively with people within the community; team building; establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work; working with people, staff supervision and administration.

WORK ENVIRONMENT/ PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The work environment and physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Exposure to weather: Occasional exposure to outdoor weather.
• Exposure to loud noises: Occasional exposure to loud noises.
• Working in confined spaces: Occasional work in confined spaces.
• Working at heights: Rarely working at excessive heights
• Working with hazardous materials: Rarely working with hazardous materials.

Physical Demands

• Lifting/Carrying: Occasionally lifting to 25lbs, rarely lifting over 25lbs.
• Standing/Walking: Requires prolonged standing and walking throughout the workday.
• Bending/Stooping: Occasional bending and stooping to retrieve items.
• Reaching: Occasionally reaching above shoulder level.
• Pushing/Pulling: Occasionally moving objects by pushing or pulling.
• Climbing: May rarely need to climb stairs or ladders to access equipment.

THIS JOB SPECIFICATION SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED TO IMPLY THAT THESE REQUIREMENTS ARE THE EXCLUSIVE STANDARDS OF THE POSITION. INCUMBENTS MAY BE REQUIRED TO FOLLOW ANY OTHER INSTRUCTIONS, AND TO PERFORM ANY OTHER RELATED DUTIES AS MAY BE REQUIRED BY THEIR SUPERVISOR.

The Washoe County School District is committed to providing a safe and respectful learning and working environment for all students, staff, and visitors. The District prohibits bullying, cyber-bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, and/or discrimination based on an individual's actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, veterans or military status, marital status, disability or the presence of any sensory, physical or mental handicap in any of its educational programs/activities and employment, or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The District prohibits discrimination against any youth group listed in Title 36, as a patriotic society, (i.e. Boy Scouts of America) from access to public school facilities use.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Washoe County School District is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Washoe County School District is committed to providing all applicants and employees equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, military status, or other characteristics protected by applicable law. Here at Washoe County School District, we are a diverse group of people who honor the differences that drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our students and employees. We believe that through a culture of inclusivity, we have the power to reflect on the community we serve.

Internal Job Number 2027/28

Elementary Principal

Grade 31

Annual Salary: $112,951 (entry step)

*Salar