Director

Moonstone is hiring its next Director!

The next Director will play a leading role in advancing an already great school forward, engaging committed parents, faculty, staff, and board members to create new opportunities for children to experience learning in a progressive, art-focused, early education environment. While there are things that will never change at Moonstone, the next Director will have the opportunity to define and address strategic questions to ensure Moonstone’s stakeholders are aligned around the vision and goals for Moonstone’s future.

The Director will be an experienced educator who actively embraces the mission, vision, and philosophy of the school. They will be an energetic, empathetic, culturally competent leader who delivers organizational goals by providing guidance, support, and oversight of the curriculum, teachers, assistant directors, and children. They are a resource to parents and an active leader in building community for parents, neighbors, children, teachers, and administrators.

They will prioritize in-person interactions and enjoy moving seamlessly through different activities that could including managing the budget, reading to children, changing diapers, providing feedback to teachers, responding to concerns from parents, coordinating student evaluations, and/or ensuring the physical location is fit for purpose. They model grace and professionalism and encourage others to act in a similar manner.

In partnership with the Board of Directors, the Director has overall strategic, creative, and operational responsibility for the school. This includes upholding and modeling Moonstone’s mission and values, and ensuring the financial, operational, and curricular health of the school. The Director leads a team of 20 creative and passionate teachers and administrators. The Director reports to the Board of Directors. The staff, including two assistant directors and the communications and marketing manager, report to the Director. Moonstone Preschool is located in the Bella Vista neighborhood of Philadelphia and the Director works onsite at the school. The candidate will need to live in or be willing to relocate to the Philadelphia region.

About Moonstone

Moonstone Preschool, a 501(c)(3) organization, is one of the most sought after and distinctive early educational institutions in Philadelphia. Founded in 1983 by Sandy Robin, an artist and early childhood educator, Moonstone is grounded in progressive educational philosophy that promotes learning through personal experience. The Moonstone Method is a unique arts-based approach to early education with a curriculum that promotes the variety of ways that children learn through their interaction with the arts, each other, and their teachers. The arts allow for multiple answers to every question, which teaches children to create meaning from experience and stimulates imagination. The Moonstone Method fosters a love of learning and confidence in students.

Moonstone’s holistic approach to education through the arts creates an environment that is open-ended, imaginative, and fun in which children learn through exploring. Moonstone’s curriculum uses thematic approaches to create an understanding of the diverse ways we approach everything. Through daily practice, Moonstone seeks to provide each child with a fun, loving setting that allows them to learn in the ways that they are most comfortable.
Learn more at moonstonepreschool.org

Key Responsibilities

Leadership

• Models the Moonstone way ensuring high quality outcomes within a deeply creative environment.
• Leads with vision that motivates and inspires staff, board, parents, and other stakeholders.
• Builds and maintains trust and community across multiple groups.
• Attracts, develops, coaches, and retains high-performing team members.
• Creates an environment of regular and on-going feedback, coaching, mentoring, and support for the teachers, parents, and children in service of the best outcomes for students.
• Seeks the input of others before making strategic decisions.
• Celebrates success and values the contribution of others.
• Builds a strong partnership with the Board of Directors.
• Supports the Board of Directors in their governance role by providing the information the board needs to make good decisions.
• Plans and facilitates board meetings, preschool committee meetings, and staff meetings.
• Resolves conflicts and provides mediation as needed.
• Is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment.

Early Childhood Education and Development

• Oversees the educational operations of the school and ensures the curriculum is supportive of the Moonstone Method.
• Holds and shares a deep understanding of early childhood education and development and stays abreast of current research and best practices.
• Oversees and participates in student evaluations and parent conferences.
• Creates a supportive learning environment and functions as the lead learner within the community.
• Works in coordination with assistant directors, with input from teachers, to plan and implement curriculum and programming.
• Balances the needs of the student body and the needs of individual students.
• Supports teachers in professional development, learning, and understanding of early childhood development.

Operations

• Oversees the daily operations of the school and ensures compliance with all local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
• Creates and monitors the operational budget each year.
• Ensures financial stability and growth through budgeting, monitoring expenses, and making recommendations for financial aid.
• Directs, identifies, and participates in fundraising and grant writing opportunities.
• Develops and enforces administrative policies and procedures for the school’s overall operation.
• Prepares and participates in the preschool’s annual implementation with DHS.
• Oversees admissions and enrollment process.
• Manages all human resources including maintaining written policies, equitable reinforcement of policies and rules, overseeing compensation and benefits, communication with insurance carriers and brokers, and completes annual staff performance.

Community Building     

• Brings together diverse stakeholders to build excitement and community at Moonstone.
• Facilitates authentic relationship, connection, and community amongst Moonstone’s diverse communities: board and staff, teachers and administration, seasoned and new staff, and the school and parents.
• Serves as the public representative of the organization with partners, peers, community organizations, and other stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Skills and experience to deliver on key responsibilities.
• Has or attains the required DPW qualifications for a Director (title 55/reg#3770.34).
• Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, and/or a related field.
• Five years’ experience in preschool classroom, administration and management.
• Artist and/or deep understanding and appreciation for the arts.
• Capable of successfully managing, coaching and nurturing diverse personalities to build skills and success.
• Able to exercise professional judgment with a high degree of confidentiality and ethical standards.

Compensation

The annual salary for the Director is $84,000. A generous benefit package includes health insurance (including vision and dental) for the employee, two weeks paid time off for new employees, five sick days, and enrollment in the 401k after one year of service. Children or grandchildren of employees are eligible for 50% tuition remission.

To Apply

To apply, please submit your cover letter, resumé, and a one-page personal statement of your educational philosophy to moonstonesearch@fairmountinc.com by the deadline: July 14, 2024.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
All inquiries and discussions are strictly confidential.
Access the full job profile here.

Search Firm

Fairmount Ventures is a women-owned and led consulting business committed to catalyzing social impact and equity in cities and communities by building the capacity of the nonprofit and public sectors. Our multi-disciplinary team and collaborative approach provides clients with insightful guidance and deep connection to resources as they work to advance the well-being and life prospects of their constituents. A thought partner to 500+ organizations since 1992, Fairmount leverages our unparalleled knowledge of the nonprofit, public, and higher education sectors in the Philadelphia region and beyond to benefit every client. We position the sector to grow and thrive through a continuum of related services including strategic and business planning, fundraising, board development, and executive search.
See fairmountinc.com for a complete overview of the firm.