MetroWest Jewish Day School (MWJDS)
Head of School * Position Overview * May 2020

MetroWest Jewish Day School (MWJDS) is a vibrant, creative, pluralistic, Pre-K-8 Jewish day school in Framingham, Massachusetts. MWJDS fosters the personal growth of each child through a multi-faceted, individualized, and dynamic 21st century approach to learning. Our student community actively engages in the comprehensive exploration of both secular and Jewish curricula, weaving together modern perspectives and ancient texts. MWJDS inspires our students to excel in the world as knowledgeable, caring, and responsible members of the diverse Jewish and global community. We embrace community, pluralism, and diversity as key values of our school.

Learning Community:
Our faculty works in partnership with parents, students, and each other to create the most successful learning environment for the individual student, the classroom, and the school community. Our students engage with and support each other inside and outside the classroom. At MWJDS, we stand by each other through joys and sorrows, frustrations and successes.

Diversity and Pluralism:
We welcome students and families from the Metrowest area and beyond, including 16 cities and towns from Brookline to Worcester, and from Waltham to Sharon. Our community includes interfaith, Modern Orthodox, unaffiliated, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Reform, and multi- denominational Jewish families; native Hebrew speakers and non-native English speakers; and students and families who are LGBTQ. Our students each bring their unique styles of learning and their gifts to MWJDS. Our community includes families who straddle a broad range of income brackets, and we have a financial commitment to affordability through our “Just Right” tuition plan.
MWJDS celebrates diversity of expression, belief, learning style, and practice as a strength. At our core, we believe that embracing our differences with dignity and kavod leads to growth and development for all.

Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic:
Our building closed on March 12, 2020, when the COVID-19 crisis hit Massachusetts. MWJDS was able to quickly respond, transform and adapt. Our teachers, families, Board, and full community re-engaged in a remote learning environment on March 17. Our teachers collaborated to reimagine learning for all students in ways never before explored.
While our physical space remains closed, our school is most definitely open. MWJDS has provided a source of comfort, learning, and strength during this crisis, and our community feels even more closely connected. Our next Head of School will lead us in facing whatever comes next during these uncertain times.

Position Description
MWJDS seeks a creative, inspirational, educational leader to expand our dynamic school. We seek a candidate who will advance and support our mission to serve a diversity of learners. Our next leader will build on our successful approach to continue to envision the future of the school educationally. Our new Head of School will also focus on the financial sustainability and the security of MWJDS well into the future.
The Head of School is responsible for:
● leading the school in all aspects of education
● hiring, supervising, mentoring, and annually evaluating faculty and staff
● leading the school’s administrative team, including operations, finance, marketing, outreach, and development
● creating and managing a balanced budget
● growing the school, engaging the community, promoting the MWJDS model for providing quality educational opportunities to a wide range of diverse learners
● partnering with the Board of Directors to manage and advance the mission of the school
● representing MWJDS in Metrowest and the Greater Boston area as the public face of the school

We imagine our next Head of School will bring direct or leadership experience in the following areas:
● mission-based management and administration, including fund-raising, grant writing, budget oversight, board collaboration, and supervision and mentoring of staff
● “schoolhouse” tenure, as a classroom teacher (in at least one grade, preschool through eighth)
● development and implementation of differentiated instruction, creating environments where all students can thrive
● counselling, social work, or student-focused collaborative problem solving

 

Our new Head of School will be someone who:

● loves kids and being around them

● motivates and leads faculty and staff in a collaborative style
● is passionate about Jewish life and learning
● exhibits strong time management and organizational skills, including well-developed ability to delegate, prioritize among competing demands, and engage team members
● exemplifies the values to which we aspire for our students and graduates
● listens attentively and communicates clearly
● engages with all stakeholders, including students, parents, faculty, staff, board members, and donors with menschlikeit.
● maintains a patient, steady, and encouraging presence even in challenging times
● has a good sense of humor
● is nimble and flexible when encountering the complex situations that arise in the day to day life of a school
● thinks out of the box

The Head of School will lead the educational leadership team, composed of the Pre-K-8 Academic Coordinator and the Director of Academic and Behavioral Support, as well as supervise the administrative leadership team, composed of the Director of Operations, the Director of Development, the Director of Admissions and Community Engagement, and the other office staff, all of whom are critical to our school. The Head of School reports directly to the Board of Directors.

 

For Further Information and To Apply:
If this sounds like you and the position interests you, we invite you to submit the following documents in PDF form to Irit Tau-Webber, chair of the search committee, at hossearch@mwjds.org.
● cover letter stating your particular interest in and qualifications for this position
● current resume
● statement of educational philosophy and leadership practice
● Three references
Prospective candidates are welcomed to review the MWJDS website at www.mwjds.org and contact Irit Tau-Webber at Itauwebber@gmail.com with any questions prior to submitting their applications. Review of applications will begin immediately. Ideally, the position will begin on July 1, 2020, but we have flexibility with the start date for exceptional candidates.