Principal - Michigan Connections Academy

School Summary

Michigan Connections Academy (MICA) is a tuition-free, online public school serving students in grades K–12 throughout Michigan. MICA is authorized by Ferris State University Charter Schools Office and governed by an independent Board of Directors. The school is operated by Michigan Connections Academy, a nonprofit corporation, through a contract with CA of Michigan, LLC, to provide its educational program and other services. Connections Academy, a division of Connections Education, is accredited by AdvancED.

Position Summary and Responsibilities

Michigan Connections Academy seeks dynamic, visionary leaders and change agents to join its team as Principal. This position ensures all students receive a personalized learning plan by implementing a distance education instructional program with fidelity. The Principal is responsible for establishing an organizational culture: putting the interests of students and families first; recruiting, retaining and developing faculty and staff; building and growing relationships with key external stakeholders including regulators; and implementing the vision where every child receives a personalized and customized education, and academic achievement is at the forefront.

The Principal will report to MICA’s School Leader and will manage staff as they consult regularly with Learning Coaches and students, ensuring that each child successfully completes his/her instructional program. The Principal is responsible for overseeing overall school operations working with parents, students, support staff, and certified teachers who “virtually” facilitate a home-based student instructional program. The Principal will spend most of their time working with internal and external stakeholders on matters of academic outcomes, reporting, and supervision. This individual will work closely with key centralized service partners including School Support, Enrollment, Technical Support, Materials Management, Fulfillment, Finance, Human Resources, Payroll and Facilities Management. It is also anticipated that this individual will manage a range of special projects and duties.

The Principal must lead by example regarding continuing education and professional development. To lead effectively in these areas, the Principal must:

1. participate successfully in the training programs offered;
2. review current trends, developments, and research as they pertain to education and school operations; and
3. be familiar with school law and Michigan State Statutes

Other key responsibilities include the following:

• Manage the implementation of the proven Connections Academy curriculum and school operation protocols;
• Exhibit high quality communication with all school staff, students and families and ensure that teachers exhibit and maintain a high level of professionalism, instructional support and customer service;
• Ensure the academic success of individual students by utilizing all levels of academic support available and by maintaining a high level of communication with parents to deliver program information and address individual student needs;
• Work directly with the School Leader to manage relationships with the Michigan Department of Education, stay current on the state’s policies, procedures and legislation, including specific count day and audit procedures, etc., and accurately submit all required reports and paperwork in a timely manner;
• Work with the School Leader and school staff as well as other stakeholders to create, implement, manage, and monitor the School Improvement Plan and support the School Leader in meeting all MICIP requirements;
• Work with Pearson Virtual Schools (PVS) and the School Leader to coordinate marketing, enrollment, curriculum, human resource, and training resources;
• Work with department principals regularly as a Community of Practice to complete data analysis and documentation and use data regularly to assess the progress towards meeting department and school-wide goals and in monitoring continuous school improvement using MICIP;
• Set up clear systems and structures to identify and provide additional support to at risk students based on student academic data that are below proficiency level;
• Seek out professional learning opportunities and collaborate with special education administrators and other support staff to become familiar with different types of disabilities and effective instructional practices that will help ensure student success and build understanding at the department level that each student’s unique needs, regardless of their disability category must be addressed;
• Coach school teams to hold conversations with each other that incorporate the use of student learning performance as a driver for instruction;
• Develop, monitor, and mai