Organization: Downtown College Prep
Job Title: Principal
Location: San Jose

Posted: 2/9/09

The Opportunity:
Ganas. Comunidad. Orgullo.
Desire. Community. Pride.

These are the core values that inspire a diverse group of students to choose a path that has not been traveled by anyone in their family — the path that leads to earning a degree from a four-year university.

Downtown College Prep’s single, unambiguous mission is to prepare underachieving students who will be the first in their families to go to college to thrive at four-year universities. DCP was founded nine years ago by a group of concerned San Jose area teachers, parents and community leaders in response to the chronic high dropout and low
college matriculation rates among the region’s Latino teenagers.

DCP was the first charter high school in Silicon Valley and is one of the few schools in California to focus explicitly on college success for low-achieving urban students. The school is designed to help all of its students succeed, no matter what it takes. Since graduating its first class of students in 2004, DCP has far surpassed local school districts in educating Latino high school students and enrolling them in college. One hundred percent of DCP students—97% of whom are Latino—pass both the English/Language Arts and Math portions of the CAHSEE (California High School Exit Exam), a significantly higher rate than their peers in the San Jose Unified School District (SJUSD) and throughout Santa Clara County and the State.

Serving approximately 400 students in grades 9-12, DCP’s focus on first-generation students creates family and neighborhood pioneers who demonstrate that college success is a realistic goal for everyone. DCP provides a highly personalized education where students learn the fundamental skills associated with reading and computing in order to advance to high-level academic coursework.

Ninety-eight percent of DCP’s 224 alumni were accepted to four-year universities and 75% of them are on track to receive their Bachelor’s degrees. We are extremely proud that 20% of our first graduating class (2004) received their Bachelor degrees in Spring 2008, having completed their undergraduate programs in only four years. 95 students are projected to graduate from DCP in June 2009.

DCP has earned local, state and national recognition for its student achievement. Our School: The Inspiring Story of Two Teachers, One Big Idea and The School that Beat the Odds (written by Joanne Jacobs, former education editor of the San Jose Mercury News), tracks the early story of DCP, its founders and its innovative programs. Educators from throughout the state and nation come to DCP to learn how to establish and operate a successful school targeting underachieving students.

The Position:
The Principal is a strong, innovative leader who will lead the school to the next level of achievement in two critical areas: college matriculation and increased academic achievement measured, in part, by API scores. The Principal champions the school’s mission and values to all stakeholders and strives to build a culture of achievement. The Principal leads the school in the areas of school culture and vision, instruction, governance, site operations, discipline, and family and community outreach. The Principal is the leader of the three-person administrative team as well as a staff of approximately 20 teachers and 12 support staff.

Profile of the successful candidate:
The successful candidate will possess the following four qualifications in order to be considered
for the position of Principal:

- Experience as a Principal or school administrator; or equivalent leadership experience managing programs and staff
- Classroom teaching experience in the secondary grades (6-12)
- Experience working with the DCP target student: underserved, academically underachieving, low-income, immigrant
- Conversational or better in Spanish

More specifically, Downtown College Prep seeks a leader who has:
- Unwavering commitment to the mission
- Demonstrated success developing and cultivating productive relationships with students
- An energetic, innovative style that combines intellectual curiosity with strong analytical skills
- Demonstrated skill in communicating with a wide variety of stakeholders both in public and individual settings
- Proven ability to mobilize and sustain people behind a clear set of priorities and long-range goals
- Background and experience in the development and implementation of effective programs with strong vision and well defined outcomes
- Proven ability to grow excellent organizations through metrics such as attracting and retaining talent and achievement of programmatic goals
- Demonstrated ability to function effectively in a team-oriented environment
- An ability to engage the natural conflict that arises in organizational settings and use that conflict to move the organization forward
- Proven ability to coach teachers to excellence through the use of various pedagogical, motivational, and classroom management strategies
- Commitment to build a Professional Learning Community characterized by crossdiscipline collaboration, standards-based, data-driven instruction, and a relentless focus on increasing student learning
- A keen understanding of the relationship of failure to success. In particular, the ability to help all students and staff confront failure, reflect, and become better.

Application Process:
All applications must be submitted online. Please visit our website: www.dcp.org and click on the “Apply to be DCP Alameda's Next Principal” link to be directed to the online application.

Salary Range:
Negotiable based on experience

Contact:
For questions regarding the position or the application process please contact:
Shawn Gerth
Human Resources Manager
Downtown College Prep
1460 The Alameda
San Jose, CA 95126
Phone: (408) 271-1730 ext. 265
Fax: (408) 271-1734
sgerth@dcp.org