High School Dean of Student Life

Position Responsibilities

The Dean leads student life through strong relationships, clear expectations, and continuous improvement to ensure student dignity and success.

Culture, Belonging & Student Voice

• Maintain visibility and community presence: Conduct regular informal walkthroughs and high-traffic supervisory presence (hallways, cafeteria, arrival/dismissal) to foster student rapport and safety.
• Drive climate initiatives: Partner with counselors and advisory leads to design and implement orientation, advisory, and peer-mentoring curricula; evaluate impact using recurring climate survey data and ongoing student focus groups.
• Promote student agency: Facilitate periodic student advisory forums to gather feedback, identify needs, and co-design solutions for school-life policies.

Student Conduct & Restorative Accountability

• Implement equitable discipline: Administer student behavior policies, ensuring disciplinary referrals are logged, investigated, and communicated to families promptly and consistently.
• Lead restorative interventions: Facilitate restorative conferences, harm-repair agreements, and re-entry plans to decrease repeat infractions and recidivism rates.
• Enforce safeguarding and policy compliance: Investigate and document all incidents involving bullying, harassment, identity-based harm and other misconduct in accordance with school policies and procedures, and institutional child safeguarding standards.
• Coach instructional staff: Provide proactive behavioral support and de-escalation strategies to faculty, to reduce classroom discipline referrals.

Attendance & Tiered Student Support (MTSS)

• Manage attendance systems: Monitor attendance and tardiness data; identify students exhibiting chronic absenteeism and implement targeted interventions in a timely manner.
• Coordinate Tier 2 & 3 behavioral supports: Co-lead the MTSS behavioral team; establish individualized support plans with clear goals and outcomes, assigned case managers, and routine progress-monitoring checkpoints.
• Facilitate cross-functional reviews: Convene recurring case-management meetings with counselors, learning specialists, and administrators to evaluate intervention data and adjust student support plans accordingly.

Student Leadership, Co-Curriculars & Equity

• Oversee student governance and clubs: Manage the student council and chartered student organizations; establish transparent election guidelines, leadership training modules, and operational budgets.
• Expand equitable participation: Track co-curricular demographic participation rates on an ongoing basis to identify engagement gaps and remove barriers.
• Coordinate campus life events: Direct logistics, staffing, and risk mitigation for schoolwide assemblies, spirit weeks, and major extracurricular events.

Professional Learning & Community Partnerships

• Deliver staff professional development: Facilitate scheduled professional development sessions on de-escalation, restorative practices, and classroom culture management.
• Resolve complex stakeholder concerns: Serve as primary liaison for escalated family concerns regarding behavior and social-emotional dynamics, resolving inquiries with timely, documented follow-up.
• Ensure compliance and reporting: Manage mandatory reporting, safeguarding procedures, and inter-agency documentation in strict alignment with legal and institutional confidentiality protocols.

Operations & Continuous Improvement

• Audit behavior and climate data: Periodically analyze incident, detention, and suspension metrics disaggregated by demographic subgroups to eliminate disproportionate disciplinary outcomes.
• Maintain policy documentation: Conduct ongoing review and revision of the Student Handbook, behavior rubrics, and incident-response flowcharts.
• Execute leadership and operational duties: Oversee delegated student life operational budgets, coordinate duty rosters, participate in the Leadership Team on-call rotation, and fulfill tasks assigned by the High School Principal.

Position Requirements & Qualifications
The successful candidate will demonstrate the experience and leadership capacity to foster a safe, inclusive, and high-performing school community.

Required Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in education, school counseling, educational leadership, or a related field.
• At least 3 years of full-time experience supporting adolescent behavior, well-being, or student life in a school setting.
• Proven ability to build trusting relationships, resolve conflict, and balance student care with accountability.
• Strong communication, organizational, technology, and interdisciplinary collaboration skills.
• Strong commitment to safeguarding, equity, inclusion, and student dignity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or relevant credential in educational leadership or school counseling.
• Experience in student life leadership, MTSS, positive behavior interventions, and restorative practices.
• Experience with attendance interventions, student activities, adult learning facilitation, and international school settings.

Working requirements

• Some evening and weekend commitments to support school events and activities
• Active engagement in the curricular and co-curricular life of the school
• Participation in school trips and student events as assigned
• Regular movement throughout the campus and presence in classrooms, meetings, events, and student spaces
• Flexibility to respond to urgent student, family, safeguarding, or operational needs
• Completion of required safeguarding training and professional learning