Dean of Students

• Culture and Climate
• Lower Campus Montgomery Public Schools
• 3.

5 Bessemer, AL Job Details Full-time 20 hours ago Qualifications School experience Relationship building (classroom management strategies) Bachelor's degree Working with students Data interpretation Relationship management Working with families Elementary school teaching experience Experience working with elementary school students Data-driven decision making Experience working with families with children Parent-teacher conferences (communication methods) Full Job Description

EMPOWER SCHOOLS OF ALABAMA

Dean of Student Culture and Climate

•

Lower Campus Position Title:

Dean of Student Culture and Climate Campus:

Lower Campus

• Grades K-4

Reports To:

Lower Campus Principal Employment Status:

Full-Time Work Schedule:

11-Month Position

POSITION SUMMARY

The Dean of Student Culture and Climate is a key member of the Lower Campus leadership team responsible for creating and sustaining a safe, joyful, structured, inclusive, and student-centered learning environment. The Dean leads the implementation of schoolwide systems related to student behavior, social-emotional learning, attendance, student leadership, restorative practices, the Empower House System, and overall school culture. The Dean works closely with the Principal, teachers, student support staff, families, and scholars to establish clear expectations, respond consistently to student needs, strengthen relationships, and ensure classrooms remain focused on teaching and learning. At the Lower Campus, this role requires a strong understanding of the developmental needs of elementary-aged children. The Dean must be able to distinguish between developmentally appropriate behaviors and behaviors requiring additional intervention while maintaining high expectations for all scholars. The Dean should be highly visible throughout the school day and bring energy, consistency, creativity, and enthusiasm to building a school community where scholars and staff feel a strong sense of belonging.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

School Culture and Climate The Dean will: Support the Principal in developing and maintaining a positive, safe, structured, and joyful school culture. Establish, teach, model, and reinforce clear schoolwide expectations for student behavior. Maintain a highly visible presence during arrival, dismissal, transitions, lunch, recess, assemblies, and other high-traffic periods. Develop schoolwide traditions, celebrations, incentives, and experiences that build school pride and belonging. Regularly assess school climate and identify opportunities to strengthen the student, staff, and family experience. Model respectful, professional, positive, and student-centered interactions at all times. Ensure that culture-building efforts are intentionally connected to Empower's mission of developing scholars who excel academically and advocate for themselves and their communities.

STUDENT BEHAVIOR AND DISCIPLINE

The Dean will: Lead the day-to-day implementation of the school's student behavior and discipline systems. Respond promptly to behavioral referrals and significant student incidents. Conduct student conferences and investigations when necessary and maintain appropriate documentation. Ensure disciplinary responses are consistent, equitable, age-appropriate, and aligned with school and district policies. Use restorative practices, reflection, reteaching, relationship-building, and logical consequences whenever appropriate. Develop re-entry plans for scholars returning from suspension or other significant disciplinary consequences. Monitor behavior data to identify patterns by scholar, classroom, grade level, location, time of day, and type of incident. Work with teachers to reduce repeated classroom removals by strengthening proactive classroom management and intervention strategies. Communicate significant behavioral concerns and disciplinary actions to parents/guardians in a timely and professional manner.

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING AND HOUSE SYSTEM

The Dean will: Support schoolwide social-emotional learning practices that strengthen self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and a sense of belonging. Partner with the Mental Health and Student Services team to support scholars requiring additional social-emotional or behavioral interventions. Help develop targeted interventions and support plans for scholars with recurring behavioral or social-emotional concerns. Participate in MTSS meetings and ensure behavioral and social-emotional interventions are appropriately documented and monitored. Support Community Circles, restorative practices, and other opportunities that strengthen relationships, student voice, and school community. Lead and support the Lower Campus House System—Altruismo, Amistad, Isibindi, and Reveur—as a strategy for building belonging, leadership, character, teamwork, and school pride. Coordinate House activities, celebrations, competitions, recognition, and opportunities for scholars to demonstrate leadership, service, positive behavior, academic effort, and strong attendance. Collaborate with staff and student leaders to ensure the House System remains engaging, inclusive, and aligned with Empower's culture and mission. Promote the shared identity of "Four Houses. One Empower."

TEACHER AND STAFF SUPPORT

The Dean will: Coach and support teachers in developing strong classroom culture and effective behavior-management practices. Provide real-time support to teachers experiencing significant classroom culture or behavioral challenges. Conduct classroom walkthroughs focused on culture, routines, scholar engagement, and behavioral expectations. Provide actionable feedback to teachers regarding classroom culture and management. Help ensure schoolwide routines and expectations are implemented consistently across classrooms. Facilitate professional development related to student behavior, classroom management, restorative practices, de-escalation, social-emotional learning, and school culture as assigned by the Principal. Reinforce the expectation that behavior management is a shared responsibility and that classroom-level interventions should occur before administrative referral when appropriate.

ATTENDANCE AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

The Dean will: Partner with the Principal and Student Services team to improve student attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism. Review attendance and tardiness data regularly to identify scholars requiring intervention. Participate in parent attendance conferences and student attendance interventions as assigned. Help develop attendance incentives and celebrations that encourage scholars to attend school consistently and on time. Work with families and staff to identify barriers that may be affecting student attendance or engagement.

FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

The Dean will: Develop positive, solution-oriented relationships with families. Communicate with parents regarding behavioral concerns, interventions, consequences, and student progress. Conduct parent conferences related to student behavior and school expectations. Ensure families understand school policies and behavioral expectations. Approach difficult conversations with professionalism, empathy, clarity, and consistency. Partner with families to develop strategies that support student success at school. Engage families in school culture, House activities, celebrations, and other community-building opportunities when appropriate.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP AND BELONGING

The Dean will: Create meaningful opportunities for scholar voice and leadership. Help scholars develop skills in self-advocacy, conflict resolution, decision-making, responsibility, teamwork, and leadership. Provide age-appropriate opportunities for scholars to lead and contribute to their school community. Promote a culture in which scholars feel known, valued, supported, and connected. Celebrate scholar growth, positive choices, leadership, academic effort, attendance, service, and contributions to the school community.

SAFETY AND OPERATIONS

The Dean will: Support safe and efficient arrival and dismissal procedures. Assist with bus behavior concerns and transportation-related student discipline. Supervise scholars during designated times and respond to safety concerns immediately. Support emergency procedures, drills, crisis response, and school safety protocols. Work collaboratively with campus leadership and operations staff to maintain orderly student movement throughout the building. Perform other duties necessary to support safe and effective campus operations.

DATA AND ACCOUNTABILITY

The Dean is expected to use data to continuously improve school culture. This includes regularly reviewing discipline referrals and incidents, classroom removals, suspensions, repeat behavioral concerns, attendance and chronic absenteeism, tardiness, behavioral intervention data, and student, staff, and family climate feedback. The Dean will provide the Principal with regular updates regarding trends, concerns, interventions, school culture initiatives, and recommended next steps.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. Experience working with elementary-aged students. Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships with scholars, families, and staff. Knowledge of effective classroom-management and student-behavior practices. Strong communication, problem-solving, organization, and conflict-resolution skills. Ability to remain calm, professional, and student-centered during challenging situations. Ability to analyze data and use it to make decisions. Commitment to high expectations for all scholars.

Preferred:

Master's degree in Education, Educational Leadership, Counseling, Social Work, or a related field. Alabama educator certification or eligibility for certification. Three or more years of successful teaching or school-based student support experience. Experience with MTSS, restorative practices, social-emotional learning, student leadership programs, and behavioral interventions. Previous teacher-leadership, dean, instructional leadership, or school administrative experience.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND DISPOSITIONS

The successful candidate should demonstrate: A genuine love for children and belief in their ability to grow. High expectations balanced with patience and developmental understanding. Strong relationship-building skills. Creativity and enthusiasm for building school traditions and student experiences. Cultural responsiveness and respect for scholars and families. Consistency and fairness. Emotional maturity and sound judgment. Strong follow-through and attention to detail. Ability to have difficult conversations while preserving relationships. Ability to coach adults as well as support children. A solutions-oriented mindset. Willingness to be visible, active, and engaged throughout the school day. A commitment to protecting instructional time and ensuring that teachers can teach and scholars can learn.

SUCCESS IN THIS ROLE A

successful Dean of Student Culture and Climate will help create a Lower Campus where scholars understand expectations, teachers feel supported, families experience consistent communication, behavioral concerns are addressed proactively, and scholars are given opportunities to learn, lead, belong, and grow. Success will be reflected in stronger scholar belonging, consistent implementation of schoolwide expectations, improved attendance, fewer repeated behavioral incidents, reduced loss of instructional time, increased student leadership opportunities, meaningful engagement in the House System, and a school environment that is safe, joyful, orderly, and focused on learning.

Behavioral/Cognitive Assessment:

As part of the application process at Empower Schools of Alabama we ask all candidates to take several brief assessments after the submission of a resume or completion of an online application. For the first assessment, you will click on this LINK. Please enter your contact information. Upon completion of the first assessment, you will receive a link for the second assessment at the provided email address. The link will come from . In the first assessment, There are no right or wrong answers The assessment takes about 5 minutes to complete You should take on a laptop or desktop Make sure that you are in Google Chrome with a stable internet connection Once you complete the first assessment, you will immediately receive a link to the 2nd assessment. Unlike the prior assessment, this is a timed test. Please consider the following There are 50 questions You will have 12 minutes to complete Questions will include three types of questions: numerical, verbal, and spatial-reasoning Please complete the assessment on a laptop or desktop Make sure that you are in Google Chrome with a stable internet connection Ensure that you are in a quiet place where you will not be distracted or disturbed Be in a competitive state of mind. Equal Opportunity Employment Empower Schools of Alabama considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, marital status, veteran or military status, the presence of a medical condition, disability, or any other legally protected status. Non-Discrimination Statement In its efforts to promote nondiscrimination and as required by law, Empower Schools of Alabama does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sex, disability, age, or any other basis prohibited by law, in providing education services, activities, and programs.