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Full Time, 12-month
Start date: July 2023
Compensation: Based on years of experience, educational degree, and an average of the salaries on the N.C. State salary scale for Superintendent I and Principal B2 ($72,000 - $101,500), NC Health Plan, NC Retirement Plan, paid time off, Employee Assistance Program, free childcare for ages 5-14, employee-paid supplemental benefit options


Organization

Mission: Evergreen Community Charter School is a learning community committed to the pursuit of excellence in the holistic education of mind, body, and spirit. We prepare students for successful lifelong learning, social responsibility, environmental stewardship, and service. We value the voice of every member of our community. 

Vision: Working in partnership with parents, elders, and the community, Evergreen Community Charter School offers an academically challenging, developmentally appropriate, experiential, holistic, child-centered education to all young people. We nurture a passion for learning that lasts a lifetime as we challenge our community to discover their individual gifts, to honor their inner worth, to strive for excellence, to pursue respectful and ethical relationships with themselves and others, and to find their own path of service.

Located in Asheville, North Carolina, Evergreen Community Charter School is a tuition-free, public school serving approximately 450 students in grades K-8. We follow the EL Education model, a research-substantiated model for school design with roots in the adventure and leadership organization, Outward Bound. We are grounded in EL Education standards for student achievement and share the belief that engaging students in work that is challenging, adventurous, and meaningful results in authentic and deep learning and achievement. By finding complex, rigorous ways to engage with the local community and the natural world, our students achieve more than they thought possible, becoming reflective, active contributors to building a better world. Evergreen embraces rigorous and high quality work, character education, social justice, curriculum integration, differentiated instruction, and environmental stewardship.  

Evergreen has gained state and national recognition for its innovative approach to learning. Evergreen is one of two schools in North Carolina and one of 78 schools nationwide to receive the inaugural U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon Schools Award, which recognizes the highest performing green schools in the nation. We have also received the Exceptional Environmental Education Center Award from the Environmental Educators of North Carolina for our commitment to creating an environmentally-literate student body and the U.S. Green Building Council Charlotte Chapter Sustainability Award for being on the forefront of sustainability education. We became an EL Mentor School in 2009, an EL Credentialed school in 2017, and a national model for EL Education by hosting Site Seminars for participants from across the country. Evergreen has been named one of the 41 most innovative schools in America by Noodle, a North Carolina Green School of Excellence, and one of the top change-making schools in the country by Clayton Christensen Institute’s Canopy Project for our innovative work in the development of social and emotional skills for students. 

Evergreen Community Charter School is open to all students eligible to attend North Carolina public schools. Currently 69% of our students reside in Buncombe County, with the remaining students traveling from Haywood, Henderson and Madison counties on a daily basis. Evergreen is a Title I school, with 23% of our students eligible for free or reduced price lunch. Of our current student body, 13% identify as people of color, with 8% of our faculty and staff, and 18% of our Board also identifying as people of color. Sixty-six of our students (15%) are served in our Exceptional Children Program. The students in our EC program have various cognitive, academic, emotional, behavioral, and physical needs. 

Student and staff retention rates are strong. Data from the Department of Public Instruction have shown that we have one of the lowest student attrition rates in the state. Typically, we see an average of 3% (1 of 34) turnover among our teachers, and approximately 17% (3 of 18) turnover among our associate teachers, who often move into a lead teaching role at Evergreen or elsewhere. Family involvement is strong. Parents and guardians volunteer regularly in the classrooms or gardens, and during school events. The level of engagement in our community can be attributed to our culture. Evergreen is a strong community, driven by our values and our mission, and committed to creating a safe, welcoming, inclusive space for all.

Our strategic priorities are centered on racial equity and academic excellence. We are intentional about teaching social justice standards in every grade level and every enrichment class; we are committed to developing partnerships with other organizations committed to anti-racism; we dedicate resources to eliminating structural barriers to cultural and racial equity at our school. 

We invite potential candidates for this position to learn more about Evergreen Community Charter School by exploring our website, www.evergreenccs.org and to learn more about EL Education by visiting www.eleducation.org.

The Role of the Executive Director

The Executive Director is responsible for the overall management of Evergreen Community Charter School. They report to and work collaboratively with Evergreen’s Board of Directors. They manage a $5 million annual operating budget. They guide and respond to the needs of a community made up of approximately 80 teachers and staff, 450 students, and their families. The Executive Director directly supervises two associate directors, the Exceptional Children and 504 Program Coordinator, a business manager, a director of development, and an afterschool/summer camp program coordinator.

More specifically, the Executive Director’s responsibilities include:
Accountability. Responsible for ensuring the accurate completion of all required state, federal, and other reporting requirements related to student assessments, attendance, employees, charter school performance framework, finances. Responsible for ensuring that all local, state, and federal mandates are followed.
Safety. Collaborate on the development and implementation of the school safety plan. Monitor compliance with safety policies and practices.

Finance. Create, administer, monitor, and oversee procedures for implanting fiscal policies. Collaborate on budget development in support of strategic goals, needs of students, and staffing structure. Review monthly budget reports, monitor and approve expenditures, propose amendments if needed.

Development. Collaborate with the Director of Development to create strategies for securing major gifts, grants. Oversee development office duties related to annual fund, donor recognition, corporate sponsorships, foundations, fundraising events, etc.

Legal. Serve as liaison between school, board, and school attorney on all matters involving legal advice and involvement.
Board Policies. Assist the board in the development, review, and evaluation of board policies. Communicate board policies to stakeholders and monitor implementation.

Strategic Goals and Operating Plan. Serve as a key participant in strategic planning processes with the board and other stakeholders. Translate strategic goals into operational plans, develop, monitor, and guide organization structures to accomplish the goals. Assist the board in assessing progress toward goals.

Continuous Improvement. Serve as instructional leader, establish, monitor, evaluate, and modify systems and structures for the school’s continuous growth in the three dimensions of student achievement: mastery of knowledge and skills, character, and high quality work. This involves overseeing the development and implementation of the school work plan (i.e., school improvement plan); collaborating with the Instructional Leadership Team, administrative team, EL Education school consultant, and others to collect and analyze data, set improvement goals, and establish pathways for goal achievement.
Personnel. Create, communicate, monitor implementation, review, evaluate effectiveness of personnel policies. Participate in recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and termination processes. Develop employment contracts. Supervise, evaluate, and mentor administrators, business manager, and development director. Ensure appropriate use of personnel evaluation procedures by other supervisors.
Curriculum and Instruction. Ensure proper implementation of required state assessment programs by the Testing Coordinator. Collaborate on the selection and use of internal assessments. Align annual professional development plan to curricular and instructional needs. Assist in planning and presentation of professional development. Monitor instructional programming and alignment with the school design model.
Promotions and Retentions. Participate in team discussions regarding possible retentions. Make final decisions regarding promotions, retentions, and summer school.

External Work. Establish and maintain partnerships with other organizations, colleges and universities, and individuals in efforts to embed the school in the larger community.


Opportunities

As we began our search for a new Executive Director, the Evergreen community completed a survey designed to identify the opportunities, along with desired qualities and characteristics of our next Executive Director. The following emerged as priorities for parents, students, staff, and community and are guiding the selection of our next school leader. Building on Evergreen’s successful 24-year history and strong reputation in the region, state, and EL Partnership School community, the next Executive Director will have the opportunity to focus on the following priorities:

  • Guide the school through changes that positively impact student growth and achievement.
  • Attract, develop, and retain outstanding faculty.
  • Develop a sustainable staffing model in support of students' and teachers' needs.
  • Nurture a culture of equity and inclusion among all Evergreen community members.
  • Implement the vision laid out in the 2022-2027 strategic plan, which includes these goals:
  • Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) within Evergreen’s community feel a strong sense of belonging.
  • Evergreen’s school culture is enriching and embraces the various ways that people contribute, creating pathways for all students and families to participate in building our community.
  • Evergreen's internal school culture deepens trust among administrative leaders and staff so that everyone feels supported, heard and valued.
  • Evergreen’s academically rigorous, holistic, equity focused curriculum prepares students to become global citizens and contribute to a better world.

Desired Qualifications And Characteristics

Evergreen recognizes the social and educational value of a diverse leadership, staff, and student community. To that end, we actively seek and encourage applications from qualified individuals representing diverse social, ethnic, and racial groups. 

Evergreen’s Executive Director must be an experienced educational leader with a broad base of skills
and experience. The successful candidate will possess many of the following:

  • Emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, social management)
  • Ability to sustain and nurture our school culture
  • Strong communication skills
  • Ability to guide and support faculty, staff, parents/guardians toward goals
  • Proven commitment to anti-racism and interrupting institutional racism
  • Interpersonal skills such as compassion, humor, respect
  • Valuing the expertise of teachers and supporting their autonomy

Evergreen’s next Executive Director should have:
  • Teaching experience
  • School administration experience
  • Lived and/or learned experience in culturally/racially diverse communities

Additionally, the following background will position the candidate for success:
  • Experience with EL Education, including the commitment to holistic, rigorous, experiential education
  • Charter school experience with a deep commitment to public education

A Bachelor’s degree in education is required, an advanced degree in education or administration is preferred.