Job Description
The International Schools Group (ISG) is a not-for-profit, forward-looking school district in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Our five schools are co-educational day schools delivering Kindergarten 1 to Grade 12 in the American program and Foundation Stage 1 through Year 13 in the British program to expatriate children and some students from the host country. Students enroll in either an American or British curriculum education that encompasses these higher-level programs: Advanced Placement (AP) Capstone Diploma and/or International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) at American School Dhahran, ISG Dammam, and ISG Jubail and (I)GCSE and A levels at British School Dhahran.
History
Founded in 1962 and now in its 60th year, ISG was originally established to serve the needs of expatriate families working for the U.S. Consulate in Dhahran.
From its initial enrollment of six students to its present status as a district of five schools with approximately 3,200 students, ISG has earned a reputation for providing the highest quality American and British education. Today, over 50 nationalities make up the ISG community.
Governance
The district is governed by a Board of Trustees, supported by school councils, the U.S. Consulate General Dhahran, and is licensed by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education.
Accreditation
Our schools are accredited by some of the top institutions in the world: the Middle States Association Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS), British Schools of the Middle East (BSME), British Schools Overseas (BSO), and the International Baccalaureate (IB).
Our Mission, Core Values, and Strategic Goals
We inspire innovation and compassionate action.
Respect, acceptance, integrity, responsibility … with a commitment to act.
ISG is committed to four strategic, school improvement goals. Three of these are student-centered: 1) learner agency, 2) compassionate action and 3) growing literacy. The fourth goal is an organizational capacity goal striving for system coherence.
ISG Learns
Our schools are guided by our district mission, learning principles and assessment beliefs. Our shared focus is further complemented by the diversity of our community and core divisional curricula as we work in partnership with the community to educate tomorrow's future leaders. ISG maintains an emphasis on progressive teaching and learning. Curriculum and learning programs at ISG are evaluated and reviewed cyclically, through current research and trends in education. This ensures that our programs meet the highest standards of excellence and are being implemented in the most effective way in the classroom in order to enhance program outcomes and learning targets.
The 2021-2022 ISG Learning Report showcases academic success, college acceptances, and professional development at ISG.
PRINCIPAL VACANCY FOR 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR
ISG Superintendent, Dr. Michael Mack, seeks a dynamic candidate with proven school leadership experience to join ISG on August 1, 2024 to serve as the whole school Principal beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. The Principal will join a district leadership team that includes the Superintendent, Directors, Principals and site leadership team comprised of Assistant Principals, grade level, and department facilitators.
ISG Jubail at a glance
First established in 1978 as Jubail Academy, ISG Jubail offers an American, standards-based curriculum to 425 KG1 - Grade 12 students capped by the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP).
ISG Jubail’s curriculum has been developed using the Understanding by Design model to promote transdisciplinary, authentic, and relevant approaches to learning. Units of study encourage active inquiry, promote critical thinking and move from the concrete to the abstract. These units are designed so that students can try on new roles, experiment with ideas and materials and solve real problems. ISG Jubail is led by one Principal and one Assistant Principal.
ISG is committed to the safety and protection of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
For more information on ISG, please see the website: http://www.isg.edu.sa/
Our ideal candidate is passionate about student education and their role in collaboratively contributing to a high-functioning, international educational system. They will perform the day-to-day administration of the whole school including, but not limited to:
Child Protection
- Demonstrate a commitment to the safety and security of children and young people (child protection)
School Leadership
School Administration
- Acquire and maintain an excellent working knowledge of International Schools Group organizational policies, practices and procedures
- Proactively make recommendations to the Superintendent on improvements to support the change initiative, in school accreditation, teacher recruitment, curriculum and instruction, budget development, and learning support
- Lead and supervise all educational efforts of the school, and ensuring data in all areas are collected and communicated to school stakeholders, Superintendent, and Board of Trustees as requested
- Lead and oversee ISG’s school improvement plans for all school sites
- Participate fully in senior leadership meetings at District level
Staff Development
- Lead collaborative groups in order to achieve each of the components of the Continuous Curriculum Review cycle; this is a multi-year initiative that includes the development of scope and sequences for each discipline, developing cornerstone assessments, and coordinating curriculum mapping and unit planning across the system
- Systematically assess and monitor an individualized professional learning plan for each teacher, assisting in the data collection to show growth and adequate performance
- Develop teaching staff and hold accountable to the district’s standards for professional practice
- Facilitate teams of teacher leaders including lead teachers, coaches and subject coordinators
- Develop and lead a systematic approach to professional learning to ensure that staff continue to develop and are able to make progress on the change initiative
Communication, Collaboration and Teamwork
- Communicate proactively with the Superintendent and District Office administrators about school operation progress and challenges
- Collaborate with parents to ensure open and honest communication throughout the school community
- Collaborate proactively with district administration:
- Finance to develop annual school budget and actively manage expenditures
- Learning Office for on-going curriculum review, implementing new initiatives, and inviting external consultants to support the 21st century learning initiative
- Human Resources on workforce planning (hiring, retention, non-renewal of staff)
- Government Relations on local, Saudi Arabian legal compliance
- Admissions on a system coherent admissions process
- Marketing Communications on school and district communication opportunities, including marketing promotion through effective publications and school website
- Operations & Facilities with the planning, scheduling, and use of shared site space for sports, activities, and events
Other
- Network and liaise with prospective stakeholders
- Prioritize deliverables to ensure deadlines are met
- Perform other duties as assigned by the Superintendent
The ideal candidate will have:
- Masters or Advanced Degree
- Certificate in School Leadership
- Knowledge of ISG’s adopted standards, beliefs, graduate profile, learning principles, assessment beliefs, and school improvement goals
- Knowledge of current trends and educational resources available in technology
- A sound understanding of discipline, content, and best practices
- Broad knowledge of instructional practices, assessment literacy and resources
The ideal candidate will have:
Experience
- Previous experience as an International school Principal, preferably of a KG - Grade 12 school.
Skills
- Highly-developed communication and creative problem-solving and organization skills
- Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to and cultural awareness of all stakeholders along with the ability to adapt work style to meet their needs
- Ability to demonstrate professional maturity and discretion to handle a range of situations while maintaining the highest level of confidentiality
- Ability to anticipate stakeholder needs and demonstrate responsiveness to requests for action/ assistance action without prompting
- Ability to learn quickly, synthesize information, adapt, and apply learnings
- Ability to demonstrate effective time management with the ability to prioritize workload, work under pressure, deliver quality work and meet deadlines
- Ability to build and deepen positive, long-standing stakeholder relationships through transparent behavior
- Ability to communicate tactfully, constructively, and appropriately to audiences and stakeholders of all levels
- Ability to maintain professional composure in receipt of challenging or unfavorable news
- Ability to deliver unfavorable news while maintaining positive relationships
- Ability to resolve conflict constructively
- Ability to demonstrate active listening skills
- Ability to anticipate stakeholder needs and demonstrate initiative by meeting or exceeding expectations
- Ability to demonstrate effective decision-making using data
- Ability to deliver proactive status updates on outstanding work, anticipate next steps, and take action without prompting
- Ability to take ownership of errors, omissions, and poor judgment/ decision-making without prompting
- Ability to demonstrate teamwork by proactively sharing information and collaborating constructively for best outcomes by designing “win/win” solutions