Executive Director of Early Childhood Education

NOLA Public Schools Vision

The vision of NOLA Public Schools is that every student receives a high-quality education that fosters their individual capabilities, while ensuring that they thrive and are prepared for civic, social, and economic success.

Position Summary

The Executive Director of Early Childhood Education will be responsible for ensuring the fulfillment of NOLA Public Schools’ vision by leading early childhood initiatives, coordinated enrollment, and associated policy implementation. This position will be responsible for identifying areas to improve quality of and access to early childhood education in Orleans Parish. This position establishes relationships with external stakeholders including state and local agencies, the Mayor’s Office of Youth and Families, and public and private entities, to influence policies and operational improvements. The Executive Director will be responsible for ensuring NOLA-PS meets all Early Childhood deliverables as outlined in the cooperative endeavor agreement with the City of New Orleans related to millage funding, Bulletin 140 Lead Agency responsibilities, and early childhood coordinated enrollment State requirements. A strong candidate will be a leader in the early childhood field with excellent communication and management skills, experience with data-driven decision making, and a deep knowledge of early childhood policy and governance, including inclusive support for English learners and students with disabilities.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Reports to Chief of Student Enrollment Officer;
• Ensure strategies to expand access to high quality Early Childhood education are actively being pursued and realized by our district;
• Develop and maintain key relationships and provide regular updates to early childhood stakeholders;
• Define strategic direction and oversight of the Director of Early Childhood Initiatives, Director of Early Childhood Partnerships and Enrollment, Assistant Director of Outreach and Family Access, and the Bilingual Early Childhood School and Community Choice Advisors;
• Update the Chief Enrollment Officer on progress against critical milestones related to the launch of early childhood initiatives and the work of the NOEEN Steering Committee;
• Develop and oversee implementation of policy, budgetary and management needs to establish, modify or maintain the agency's administrative requirements and procedures for the facilitation of program delivery, including lead agency and implementation of the Early Childhood Millage initiatives;
• Serve in lead agency capacity role responsible for early childhood portfolio management, fully integrating EC in unified enrollment processes, and EC seat allocation and management;
• Lead with the NOLA-PS Communications team to develop and implement an annual Citywide Coordinated Enrollment Campaign;
• Serve as the NOLA-PS representative on early childhood committees and boards;
• Ensure annual review and updates of early childhood enrollment policies and procedures occur with stakeholders;
• Revise policies and procedures following a process that is accessible to families and providers and meets the requirements of Act 3 and Act 717;
• Ensure timely submission of early childhood requirements to the Louisiana Department of Education, including funding requests, the annual Coordinated Enrollment Plan and monitoring process information;
• Responsible for leading NOLA-PS strategy to ensure a positive family experience with early childhood enrollment is realized through effective and efficient inter-department planning, family engagement, and availability and accessibility of information including the enrollment website and application;
• Coordinates with Orleans Parish School Board Communications team to ensure consistent and strategic messaging;
• Ensure enrollment events, early childhood planning and stakeholder shared responsibilities are designed with the family experience at the forefront of our work;
• Understands the early childhood verification process in detail and can train others as needed;
• Responds to elevated parent concerns from early childhood;
• Supervisory duties include modeling the District’s core values, evaluate performance and provide feedback to employees on a regular basis (monthly) and help to resolve employee issues and disputes; and 
• Performs other duties as required.

Education and Experience

• Bachelors degree required. Master’s degree preferred in Public Policy, Education, or related field.
• Minimum 10 years of work experience in education, public policy, advocacy, with experience in early childhood (Infant to 4) policy, or practice.

Other Knowledge, Skills or Abilities Required

• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to bring clear and practical solutions to complex challenges;
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with stakeholders, including government and community agencies to improve a project or process;
• Strong project management skills, including the ability to work efficiently and manage multiple priorities in a dynamic, fast paced environment; and
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Work Environment

Listed below are key points regarding environmental demands and the work environment of the job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. 

• Required to use motor coordination with finger dexterity (such as keyboarding, machine operation, etc.) part of the work day;
• Required to exert physical effort in handling objects more than 30 pounds rarely;
• Required to be exposed to physical occupational risks (such as cuts, burns, exposure to toxic chemicals) rarely;
• Required to be exposed to physical environment which involves dirt, odors, noise, weather extremes or similar elements rarely;
• Normal setting for this job is an office/school setting; this position does require car travel between various Family centers and the NOLA-PS Administrative Office; and

Direct Reports:

Director of Early Childhood Initiatives, Director of Early Childhood Partnerships and Enrollment, Assistant Director of Outreach and Family Access

Performance Evaluation

The employee will be evaluated based on the above position using either two methods: via COMPASS or a NOLA-PS evaluating instrument. If the employee holds an Educational Leadership certification, he/she will be evaluated via COMPASS to ensure renewal of certification.