The 2026 BES Fellowship for Founding School Leaders - Alabama

<p><strong>Fellowship for Founding School Leaders - Alabama&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>BES seeks a Fellow for our Fellowship program to serve as a founding school leader in Alabama. This BES Fellowship offers highly motivated leaders committed to transforming education the rigorous, multi-year training needed to design, found, and lead a high-achieving school that meets the unique needs of its community.</p> <p>BES welcomes applicants from any Alabama&nbsp;region for new public charter schools and aligned with authorizer priorities, with particular interest in leaders aiming to found schools in the Birmingham or Montgomery metropolitan areas or in rural areas of the state. For regions with significant charter presence, applicants will be required to make a strong case for how a new proposed charter school will be viable and meet the needs of the community.</p> <p><strong>Who We Are </strong><strong><br></strong>Strong schools are built by strong leaders, which is why BES identifies and prepares exceptional individuals to transform education in their communities. From school founders and executive directors to operations leaders, deans, and curriculum directors, we train leaders to build schools, to ensure their schools excel, and to sustain their results over time.</p> <p>The BES Fellowship and selection process fosters an equitable, inclusive, and empowering experience for Fellows. For over two decades, BES Fellows have founded over 220 schools and are currently serving more than 73,000 students, with many BES-trained leaders consistently driving student achievement beyond district and state averages and helping to close the opportunity gap.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>What You’ll Do&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>The BES Fellowship for founding school leaders includes one year of training for Build Track Fellows followed by three years of Follow On Support to support leaders in building a high-performing, locally responsive school. For a comprehensive description of our Fellowship, please visit <a href="https://bes.org/fellowship/">our website.</a> An overview is provided below.&nbsp;</p> <p>Fellows in Ohio begin with an intensive training year, where they engage in over 300 hours of coursework on school design, leadership, governance, and community engagement, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. Fellows also conduct in-depth studies of effective schools across the nation and complete residencies at high-performing schools, all while developing a charter application and establishing a founding board.</p> <p>In year two, the planning year, Fellows partner with a BES coach to refine their project management and leadership skills, hire founding staff, recruit students, and solidify their school vision. This dedicated coaching and cohort-based training, known as Fol