What is a Head of School, anyway?

We often hear comments from stakeholders that suggest that there is some confusion about the nature and role of the Head of School. This is hardly surprising, since the job of a Head of School is somewhat amorphous. To quote Potter Stewart, we all know it when we see it, but nonetheless, it is useful to to clarify certain basic principles (and not principals) regarding the issue.

First, the Head of School is not a principal. The school principal develops curriculum, supervises teachers, visits classrooms, works with students, meets with parents, and monitors all aspects of the school's educational program. Because the principal reports to the Head, the Head needs some amount of background in education in order to supervise the principal. However, it is the principal, and not the Head of School, that is most directly involved in developing, managing and supervising the school's educational program. The principal must be the educational expert. For example, when parents have an issue with a teacher (hopefully that never happens at Kadima), the parents should, at least in the first instance, go to the principal, and not to the Head of School. Similarly, if a student has an issue at school the first stop after the teacher is to go to the principal, and not to the Head of School. One of Kadima's challenges in recent years has been the blurring of this role, and the Board is intent upon correcting this in the future. We hope to have both a Head of School and principal on board in the future.

Second, the Head is not a business manager or Director of Finance. Throughout this process, several people have expressed that what Kadima really needs is a person who will "run the school more like a business." But this misses the point. The school has a Director of Finance--Arnold Rudnick--and he's capable of handling the business aspects of the school. While the Head must understand basic financial issues and be able to understand a balance sheet and income statement, as well as managing a budget, the Head need not be a financial wizard in order to be successful.

If the Head is not a principal and not a financial person what is the Head of School?

Most importantly, the Head of School serves as the school's public face. The Head of School must be charismatic and inspirational; the best Head of School succeeds by effectively convincing parents that they should entrust their children's educations to the school and also similarly convincing the community that they should financially support the school. Ultimately, it boils down to leadership: the Head--and the school--will only succeed if the Head is an effective, charismatic and compelling leader who can build community commitment to the school.

But leadership alone is not enough. To build commitment to a school, the Head of School must also deliver results. Hence, the Head of School must also be the guarantor of the school's educational product. It is not enough for the Head simply to sell the school and make the case for the school. The Head and the school will both fail unless the Head also ensures that the school is, in fact, fulfilling the goals promised to the parents and community. In this capacity, the Head must be an effective manager; the Head must hire the right people and properly supervise them (but not do their jobs for them) in order to ensure that the school is operating effectively.

It is a hard job. But it is absolutely critical to the school's success. And that's why the Committee, along with the Board, is working so hard to get this right.

Shabbat Shalom.

The Qualities We Seek.

At last night's Board meeting, the Board of Trustees spent time analyzing what it believes Kadima needs in a new Head of School. We had a great discussion as we considered what we wanted Kadima to become under its new Head of School and what skills and characteristics we'd ultimately want from a new Head of School.

We all agreed what we want Kadima to continue its present successes and have the new Head of School ensure that Kadima is a sustainable, effective, visionary, and preeminent center of Jewish education. We want Kadima to be a locus of the Jewish community; a place where people not only know that their kids are receiving the best in secular and Jewish education, but a place where they can be part of a nurturing and committed Jewish community.

We hope to hire a Head that will build upon our history, continue it, and advance it.

The Board also talked about the following characteristics and talents of the new Head of School:

• Charisma, Communications, and General Leadership. We want a Head of School that will inspire our stakeholders and encourage our community to send their children to Kadima. We need a Head that will continue the legacy of trust, inspiration, and belief that has allowed Kadima to exist for nearly 40 years. We want a Head of School that will be an embodiment of a Kadima education; an individual who will present an image of bold and confident leadership to the public, as well as demonstrating the menschlekeit that is emblematic of Kadima.
• Educational Leadership. We want a Head of School that will serve as the guarantor of the Educational philosophy and educational results expected and desired of a Kadima education. While the Head of School will not handle the details of educational management--a principal will ultimately do that--the Head will oversee the educational product and make sure that it comports to the vision the Head is charismatically presenting to our community.
  
• Management Capacity and Skill. We want a Head of School that can effectively build, oversee and manage the entire school operation; an executive that can also raise the means necessary to keep the school sustainable.
• Board Mentoring and Stewardship. The Board wants a Head of School that will work closely with the Board and the stakeholders to develop and refine Kadima's vision and Mission.
  

If you know of anyone who meets these qualifications, be sure to let us know at kadimaheadsearch@gmail.com.

It was a great meeting.

A Blog for the HOS Search Committee

Welcome!

Kadima Hebrew Academy's Head of School Search Committee now has a blog. This blog will be the central location for all things related to Kadima Hebrew Academy's search for a new Head of School.


After ten years under the able leadership of Dr. Barbara Gereboff, Kadima is looking for a new leader for its school. Look to this blog for updates and communiques regarding our efforts. It is also place to provide comments regarding our efforts as we go through this process.


As many of you know, we have assembled a terrific and broad Search Committee. The Committee members include:


Jack Sholkoff, Chair. Jack has served on Kadima’s Board of Trustees for seven years and am currently serving my fifth year as Executive Vice President. My son attends sixth grade in the middle school.

Rabbi Richard Camras. Rabbi Camras is the Rabbi of Shomrei Torah Synagogue and is a teacher, educator, and leader in the Jewish community. Rabbi Camras’ daughter is in the sixth grade at Kadima Heschel West Middle School.

Shawn Evenhaim. Shawn is the President of Kadima. He has served tirelessly in leading the school for the past several years, and in particular, was instrumental in providing the school with its permanent home. His oldest son is a recent Kadima graduate. He also currently has a son in the middle school and a son in the elementary school.

Brett Grauman. Brett is a member of the Board of Trustees and currently serves as our Treasurer. He has a son in Kadima’s pre-school and a daughter in second grade.

Leora Raikin. Leora’s son is in the fourth grade at Kadima and she has been actively involved in recruiting and volunteering for Kadima.

Mari Siegel. Ms. Siegel teaches social studies in the middle school and has taught at Kadima for thirty years.

Natalie Spiewak. Natalie is the President of Kadima’s parent teacher organization (PTO) and a member of our Board. She has a son in kindergarten and a daughter in third grade.

Mark Teitelbaum. Mark has served on the Kadima Executive Board for the past 5 years and currently is Executive Vice-President. He also served for many years on the Executive Committee of Heschel Day School (Northridge), and served on the Search Committee that found and engaged Heschel’s present Head of School. He is also a founder of New Community Jewish High School and a parent of a Kadima graduate.

Rabbi Stewart Vogel. Rabbi Vogel is the Senior Rabbi at Temple Aliyah and President of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California. He has extensive experience and training as an educator, administrator and teacher. His four children have attended Kadima and his youngest son is in the seventh grade.

Howard Wang. Howard is the founding director of Sierra Canyon School, one of the premier secular private schools in the United States. Howard has been a leader in private school education for more than three decades.

Elana Zimmerman. Elana is the immediate past president of New Community Jewish High School. Both of her daughters graduated from Kadima.

The Committee has met and has discussed the merits of using a Search Consultant or going it alone, since we have several members who have significant contacts within the education community. We have also had a detailed discussion concerning the type of leader we believe will best serve Kadima in the post-Gereboff era, and are also working closely with the Board of Trustees in this area. We are seeking input from a variety of sources--parents, teachers, community leaders and other experts as we move forward with the search process.

We are also conducting a brief internet survey regarding the tasks that our stakeholders believe are most important for the next Head of School. The survey results are coming in, and they are interesting, as they reveal that different stakeholders--board members, parents, teachers--have different perspectives on what the major priorities are. It will be the Search Committee's job to synthesize this information as we move forward with the search.

We've been pleased with the survey tool--Zoomerang--which allows us to conduct surveys quickly and inexpensively. We may use this material again as we seek to get as much input as we can from our various constituencies.

Stay tuned to this blog for more information and more reports as we move forward toward finding a new leader for Kadima Hebrew Academy. And you can always send an email to kadimaheadsearch@gmail.com with your confidential comments.

And please forgive the formatting errors, we are still learning how to blog!