Headmaster

About Chesterton Academy of Northern Utah

Chesterton Academy of Northern Utah (CANU) is a pro-family high school that opened Fall 2023, located a few minutes north of Salt Lake City.  Chesterton Academy offers an integrated, rigorous curriculum centered on the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Focusing on the classics, the school develops complete thinkers who learn to draw on faith and reason for the purpose of building a culture of life.  CANU is a charitable ministry, dedicated to raising up a new generation of joyful leaders and saints in Utah.

Administrative Model

The Headmaster and the Executive Director comprise the Administrative Team, which operates under the Board of Directors at Chesterton Academy of Northern Utah. These co-leaders share responsibilities for nurturing and maintaining the mission and traditions of the school, ensuring fidelity to the Magisterium. Both the Headmaster and Executive Director are hired by and report directly to the Board of Directors.

Requirements and Preferences

The Headmaster must be passionate about their Catholic faith and demonstrate a deep commitment to classical education.

Requirements:
Applicant must be a practicing Roman Catholic
Strong understanding of Classical Education
Teaching experience in a classical school and/or Catholic environment
Strong communication skills
Strong leadership skills

Preferences:
Administrative experience in a Classical or Catholic Secondary School
Experience working in a Chesterton Academy
Graduate Degree in Education, Theology or related field
Current teaching license
Skilled in conflict resolution
Experience working in a new school and building a joyful culture with parents, students and faculty.

Headmaster’s Role
Summary:

• The Headmaster is responsible for implementing the school’s academic vision and mission; upholding the school’s discipline policies and traditions; as well as the Chesterton Schools Network curriculum.
• The Headmaster is responsible for the hiring, mentoring, and training of teachers.
• The Headmaster works in collaboration with the Executive Director, which is responsible for the image, public relations, fundraising, enrollment/tuition, activities, events, recruiting, and marketing of the school. He/She will help support these activities.  He/She will also work with the Executive Director on building strong parent-school relationships and communication.  A positive, collaborative relationship between the Headmaster, the Executive Director, and the Board is essential.
• The Headmaster serves as the leader of our teachers and is responsible for guiding them as they provide a safe learning environment that adheres to our Catholic identity and meets the approved Chesterton Schools Network curriculum and mission of the school.  By training our faculty to be better teachers and to uphold the policies of the school, the Headmaster plays a crucial role in creating an environment that attracts and retains students and families.  The role is focused on inspiring teachers in the classroom and igniting support and enthusiasm for classical education among our faculty, parents, and Catholic community.

In addition to any teaching responsibilities, the primary responsibilities of the Headmaster are:

• Building the Morale of the Faculty, Students, and Parents
• Forming the Whole Student
• Understanding, Promoting, Protecting, and Implementing the Chesterton Schools Network Curriculum

To those ends, the Headmaster is responsible for the following:

• Curriculum and Academic Excellence
• Implement the Chesterton Schools Network curriculum as provided on Chesterton Online, the Network’s learning management system, and in the specified timeframes
• Ensure teachers use the proper course materials for each class
• Participate in Chesterton Schools Network curriculum discussions and headmaster calls
• Assist with annual supply ordering by making sure all teachers prepare material requests for the following year during the end-of-year in-service
• Review relevant course documents and see that they are uploaded to CANU’s shared faculty folder. The documents that must be uploaded are: course syllabus, weekly or bi-weekly teaching plans, tests, and other relevant instructional materials, etc.
• Educate the faculty about the CLT and develop ways to improve student preparedness
• Work with the Student Information System on the promotion and administration of the CLT8 (freshmen), CLT10 (sophomores), and CLT (juniors and seniors)
• Review the implementation of the IEW program at in-services and when the units are being taught throughout the year; review the effectiveness of the program annually
• Explore opportunities to provide more robust academic challenges to students, e.g., National Latin Test, etc.
• Help the school develop ways to teach students about academic integrity

Instruction and Hiring of Teachers

• Oversee faculty hiring, management, evaluation, rehires, terminations, and teaching assignments.
• Verifies that contracts and employee handbooks are signed as part of the hiring process.
• Oversee classes’ adherence to curriculum and ensure that classes are academically rigorous
• Help faculty to cultivate a truly Socratic classroom
• Help faculty better appreciate our namesake G.K. Chesterton and better understand how the school can embody a Chestertonian spirit
• Conduct weekly 1-1 meetings with each teacher covering the following: pacing, adherence to the curriculum and appropriate assignments, homework load, classroom management, and professional development
• Thoroughly review academic policies with teachers at in-services and weekly meetings; e.g., attendance and tardiness, the appropriate time and procedures for make-up work/tests, sports eligibility, managing tests and papers around events, graduation eligibility, etc.
• Conduct classroom observations of faculty members as part of their evaluation process and arrange for master teachers and school leaders to conduct observations; the school expects at least one informal observation and one formal observation of each teacher per year
• Be present in hallways and classrooms and at events
• Work with the School Administrator to assign teachers to supervisions and duties for before, during, and after school. Assign extra duties to faculty as needed to assist with building management and academic needs (e.g., after-school math help, Latin help, etc.)

Parent-School Partnership

• Ensure that faculty members communicate with parents regarding students’ academic progress via regular phone calls and conferences
• Help the faculty manage student workload by holding all teachers accountable to using the school calendar to share the dates of major quizzes, tests, and papers; and review dates to make sure that they are in keeping with our mission to support family life
• Review each course’s homework load with teachers at 1-1 weekly meetings
• Review homework load with students periodically.
• Promoting and upholding the school’s discipline and uniform policies and helping students and parents understand them better

Student Information Systems

• Review grade books and ensure faculty are current on inputting grades and returning graded work to students, per the timeline and SOPs in the family and employee handbook
• Ensure that all faculty members enter all data into systems including grades, absences, demerits, detentions, etc.
• Identify any teachers with technical issues that can be referred to the Student Information System for further assistance.

Admissions and Enrollment

• Work with Executive Director to review prospective student applications
• Conduct a 10-minute interview with each student who shadows and participates in family interviews.
• Review placement tests with other admissions decision-makers and contact parents if a student must undertake remedial work
• Deliver presentations to prospective parents and students at open houses and selected school events
• During the admissions and enrollment phases, work with students who request accommodations for learning disabilities or other conditions (must be documented by a physician)
• Conduct exit interviews with all families of students who leave prior to graduation

Teaching Responsibilities (as needed and outlined in additional Faculty Job Description)
As a small school, the Headmaster will teach a few classes. The exact number of courses will be finalized over the next few months.

Relationships
The Headmaster maintains the following working relationships:

1. The Headmaster reports directly to the Board of Directors.
2. The Headmaster is a part of the school’s Administrative Team.
3. The Headmaster works closely with the Executive Director and staff members to advance our mission.
4. The Headmaster has a supervisory relationship with faculty