Director of Teaching, Learning, and Professional Growth

Overview of Woodland School

Located just west of Stanford University, Woodland School is an independent day school that offers a joyful approach to learning in a diverse, respectful, and inclusive environment for approximately 300 students in early childhood through eighth grade. Woodland is a small school with a big heart.

Woodland School specializes in education that inspires students by nurturing each individual’s voice, intellect, and character. With an emphasis on inquiry-based and student-centered learning, children are empowered and encouraged to be active and engaged learners. Our students’ innate sense of wonder is the foundation of learning at Woodland School.

Woodland’s faculty create a school environment that is as supportive and nurturing as it is challenging, and they embody the core values of the school—integrity, curiosity, resilience, equity, respect, and stewardship. The teachers are themselves learners, constantly searching for ways to improve their practice. A robust professional development program supports the faculty by connecting them to the best practices in pedagogy, curriculum development, educational technology, and student assessment.

Woodland School is seeking a highly motivated Director of Teaching, Learning, and Professional Growth. The Director will join the school as Woodland recently completed a successful accreditation and will have an opportunity to implement various initiatives for the school as outlined in the fourth year of the strategic plan.

The Director of Teaching, Learning, and Professional Growth participates actively in the life of the school to forward best practices and innovations to enhance student learning. As a member of the Academic Administration and Leadership Teams, the Director partners to develop a curricular program in support of the school’s mission and teaching philosophy. The Director will be responsible for both horizontal coordination and vertical scope and sequence and continuous research and data collection to ensure the school remains on track with its academic goals.

The Director is also responsible for ensuring curricular implementation remains at its highest quality and will partner with Division Directors to support faculty on their informal and formal evaluation processes in support of achieving professional growth goals.

• Work with the Head of School and the faculty to articulate, implement, evaluate, and continually improve the instructional and curricular program at Woodland.
• Facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among teaching teams in a way that values individual talents and clarifies school-wide approaches to curriculum planning, documentation, assessment and technology integration.
• Communicate and support across constituencies an educational vision for the school that emphasizes collaboration, critical thinking, integrity, compassion, and creativity.
• Foster a culture of faculty growth and oversee the annual process of teacher goal setting and evaluation.
• Stay on top of current trends, research, and emerging ideas in the education landscape in order to support academic invention and transformative change.
• Guide and lead the faculty in its exploration, implementation, and assessment of modern learning approaches that improve learning outcomes.
• Facilitate a professional development program that aligns with the pedagogical goals of the school and is customized to the differentiated needs of teachers.
• Lead the implementation of a new Learning Management System (LMS) in partnership with a team of teachers and administrators, supporting training for teachers, students, and families.
• Promote a learning culture, incorporating professional development and reflective practices.
• Partner to oversee the integration of technology to enhance student learning.
• Provide the advice and professional development to help faculty members meet individual and school-wide goals and expectations.
• Lead the hiring process for faculty and ensure a high-quality induction program for new faculty.
• Assess, document, and develop curricular alignment.
• Collect, review and analyze student data to inform curricular decisions…