** This opportunity is now successfully closed**

Assistant Head of School, Community

Ask anyone what they love about SJK and they are likely to say, “the community”. We are proud of our welcoming, supportive environment that challenges and nurtures each student’s talents. Our talented teachers genuinely care about fostering each child’s authentic individual development with passion and commitment. Our new strategic plan puts our community front and center, detailing opportunities for the school to further develop our connections to each other and the wider community to support our mission.

Position Summary:

The Assistant Head, Community will oversee the day-to-day running of the school with a focus on community, student life and well-being. They should be highly organized, an adaptable and innovative leader, good motivator, communicator and administrator, and capable of managing key aspects of ongoing school improvement. The successful candidate will provide professional leadership and guidance across a range of areas to enable the effective development of the school, its faculty and its students. They will have a passion for creating a culture where everyone feels connected, respected and valued.

The successful candidate will be a key member of the school’s Leadership Team. They will play a crucial role in developing and implementing whole-school strategy and development, ensuring a consistently positive experience for all students.

The Assistant Head of School, Community, will collaborate across the school to create, lead, and support opportunities for the systematic development of our community. Some of these high-level strategies will include:

  • Build our focus on mental, emotional, social, spiritual and physical well-being.
  • Enhancing our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and social responsibility.
  • Providing enhanced opportunities for integration across our student population including creating a world-class boarding program.
  • Developing innovative and engaging co-curricular and summer enrichment programs.
  • Augmenting our experiential education including relaunching our 5 Worlds Program.
  • More details can be found in our Going Beyond! The SJK Strategic Plan 2022-2027

Qualifications and Experience:

  • Minimum of ten years of teaching and/or administrative experience, preferably in an independent school environment.
  • Experience in a boarding school and knowledge of residential life programs is essential.
  • An educational background suited to the role, such as a bachelor’s degree and a Bachelor of Education degree. A master’s degree and formal leadership qualifications, such as the CAIS Leadership Institute, would be an asset.
  • A collaborative leader and team player with the ability to work collegially with multiple constituencies and foster collective leadership.
  • Excellent organizational leadership skills with experience using project management tools to ensure projects remain on schedule, communicate progress and meet agreed-upon goals.
  • Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, as well as an ability to promote new programs and initiatives to internal and external audiences.
  • Skills in team building, conflict resolution, consensus-building and decision-making with multiple constituents.
  • A systems thinker who understands how decisions impact the whole of an organization with demonstrated capacity for data-driven decision-making.
  • A high degree of emotional intelligence with the ability to problem solve complex situations.
  • Experience with managing budgets and creating business plans to ensure that new initiatives are viable and sustainable.
  • Demonstrated personal commitment to professional growth and to receiving and acting on constructive feedback.

School Description:

SJK is the leading co-educational independent school in the Waterloo Region of Ontario. The School, which was founded in 1972, is located on a beautiful 36-acre natural campus offering enriched educational programming for day students from JK-Grade 12 and international boarding students from Grades 9 – 12 through our accredited International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme. The School’s co-ed Boarding Residence is located in close proximity to the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.

SJK offers a world of learning where we embrace innovation, diversity and internationalism. We have dedicated and inspirational educators, attentive to the needs of individual students and their families. Our expectations are high; students are encouraged to find balance through academics, sports, arts, service and leadership. As the only accredited IB World Continuum School in Southwestern Ontario, our students love to learn, and graduate as confident, well-rounded individuals fully prepared for post-secondary education and life beyond. Our graduates take their passions to the world as leaders and global citizens.

As a community, we believe in the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. We strive to be a place where every student, faculty and staff member, parent and alumni feels that they are welcome and valued. We achieve this by living our core values and by appreciating that our learning community is enhanced by human differences. We value the unique experiences that each individual brings to our community and the myriad of perspectives that our diversity provides. We also recognize that it is our common humanity that binds us together as a community. We welcome applications from individuals who feel that they could make a positive contribution to our diverse community.

Waterloo Region is an active, dynamic and thriving place to live and work. It has a thriving technology sector, convenient transport links, and is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Ontario. The Region includes the bustling cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo, as well as four scenic rural townships: North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot, and Woolwich. The Region is a popular and affordable alternative to living in Toronto and offers a pleasing mix of big-city benefits and small-town charm. Toronto, London, Brampton and Hamilton are only an hour away.

Application Process with Pender & Howe:

St. John’s-Kilmarnock School has retained Pender & Howe to lead the recruitment initiative for the Assistant Head of School, Community position. Pender & Howe is a boutique retained executive search firm specializing in collaborating with human capital leaders, governing boards, and organizational leaders in identifying exceptional talent.

The search is led by Travis Hann (he/him). For consideration, please email a copy of your CV in confidence to: Travis Hann (Partner) – [email protected]

We thank all applicants in advance. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.