Dean of Student Life – Upper School

Overview

VISION: Inspire students to achieve their dreams and reach beyond themselves to make a difference in the world.

MISSION: Hillbrook provides an extraordinary educational experience that fosters a love of learning in our students and helps them develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence to achieve their highest individual potential in school and in life. At Hillbrook, students are known, respected and valued as individuals and every day is a journey of self-discovery, imaginative thinking, creative problem solving, laughter and friendship.

CORE VALUES: Be kind. Be curious. Take risks. Be your best.

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The Position: What Will You Do & How Will We Collaborate?

The Dean of Student Life is a member of the Upper School Leadership Team and reports to the Head of Upper School. This position operates on a 12-month contract. The Dean of Student Life works closely with the Head of Upper School on all aspects of student life including: student culture, climate, curricular and co-curricular options, and discipline. In that capacity, they have broad responsibility for six core domains:

1. Oversee all student life areas such as clubs, field trips, school events, advisory, all-school meetings, and Student Council.
2. Oversee the student academic life experience including course planning process, the narrative feedback process, exhibitions of learning, and the process for managing the Mastery Learning Records.
3. Serve as the GOA Site Director.
4. Support the development of the four-year HEx block programming, creating consistency and cohesion in challenging our upper school students to grow their agency, wellness and social impact as a community.
5. Oversee the development and executions of the school’s philosophical approach to behavior and discipline and support the practical implementation of that approach.
6. Proactively foster a positive school culture in the upper school, grounded in our core values: Be Kind, Be Curious, Take Risks, and Be Your Best.

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The Hillbrook Employee: Who Are You?

Do our Core Values – Be kind. Be curious. Take risks. Be your best. – align with how you show up as an professional? Are you committed to building and bridging inclusive communities? Do you believe learning should be an active and relational process? Do you enjoy nurturing and maintaining best practices and continuity of programs, while also evolving programs in response to new information? Is equity and impact at the forefront of what you do? Are you entrepreneurial? Do you thrive in small collaborative environments? Do you seek opportunities for interdisciplinary, experiential learning? Do you believe that students are capable changemakers at any age and stage? A Hillbrook employee will emphatically say yes to each of these questions.

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Specific Duties and Responsibilities

• Actively participate in a collaborative employee culture that is committed to being at the leading edge of JK – 12th grade education.
• Lead/manage the two weekly All-school meetings and the programming for the twice-a-week advisory.
• Support Scott Center team with the implementation of Wayfinder and the HEx programming.
• Meet weekly with Grade-Level Teams, STUCO leadership and Head of Upper School
• Meet weekly with Grade-level teaching and advising teams to discuss student concerns
• Meet weekly with the Upper School Leadership team.
• Oversee student clubs and faculty advisors, including schedule and supporting with budget
• Support the development and articulate the systems that are developmentally appropriate, student growth-oriented, and school values-aligned, for responding to behavior and disciplinary concerns, including:
  • Student consequences for infractions
  • Structures to encourage student growth and learning from mistakes
  • Documentation and follow-up from and for faculty
• Work with all faculty, especially advisors and the DEI+JA team, to support consistent and equitable implementation of student structures
• Support advisors, teachers, and/or Head of Upper School in communicating with and meeting with families about serious or persistent behavioral concerns
• Stay abreast of best practices regarding student culture, discipline, and behavior and share such learning with senior leaders and faculty
• Develop vision for, and work with faculty to implement initiatives that further cultivate a positive school climate and healthy student culture
• Coordinate and support the following student life initiatives: club time, dances, on- and off-campus events
• Oversee the student academic life experience including course planning process, the narrative feedback process, exhibitions of learning.
• Serve as the GOA Site Director, managing the learning for all students engaged in GOA classes.
• Serve as thought partner and co-planner with Upper School faculty and Upper School Leadership Team on programming and structures that would contribute positively to student life
• Report to Head of Upper School

Qualifications

• Desire and ability to work in a collegial, highly collaborative environment
• Demonstrated commitment to teaching and learning in a diverse, dynamic, and progressive school community
• A commitment to anti-racism and demonstrated skill designing equitable and inclusive educational experiences and learning environments that incorporate themes of diversity and justice
• Bachelor’s degree required and Masters preferred

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, & Action

As noted in our Commitment to Community & Belonging, we strive to reflect the extraordinary diversity of Silicon Valley, believing that educational excellence and equity depend on the creation of a diverse and inclusive community where all students, families and employees feel a full sense of membership. To live up to our DEI Teaching Philosophy Statement, all employees contribute to developing culturally competent students and building an educational institution committed to social justice and reaching beyond. We offer a wide range of opportunities for all employees to engage in work that furthers these goals, from personal dialogues that help us understand different perspectives, to pedagogical training designed to support equitable instructional practices and build habits to disrupt bias whenever we see it. Ultimately, we hope that this work helps all of our constituents—employees, students, and families—be more aware, empathetic, globally-minded, and justice-oriented.

A highly collaborative community, we use the following norms to guide our communication with each other:

• Assume good will
• Come from your own experience
• Be more curious than certain
• Hold yourself and others capable

Our commitment to these norms makes it possible for us to partner meaningfully, disagree productively, and lean into conversations that are both challenging and generative.

Each and every day our students will be challenged to live out our Core Values – be kind, be curious, take risks, be your best – as they engage with an exceptional team of educators committed to helping each student reach their highest potential in school and in life. Our program is also guided by the core questions of the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship – “What matters to you? What are you doing about it?” Simple yet provocative, these two questions inspire all members of our community as they convey two foundational beliefs: learning must be purposeful and have enduring impact, and leveraging student interest drives both engagement and success. Hillbrook, unlike any other school, not only calls on its students to make the world a better place, but also explicitly prioritizes the skills and habits that prepare them to do so, activating and empowering students to make immediate and lasting social impact during their JK-12 years while launching them into a lifetime of social impact work.

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To Apply

Salaries are competitive. Benefits include: full medical, dental, and vision coverage; ample retirement planning with TIAA; a generous holiday schedule; religious/cultural holidays following each employee’s faith and background; access to the latest state-of-the-art educational technology; and a strong commitment to engaging and personalized professional development.

Hillbrook School is an Equal Opportunity Employer and seeks candidates from diverse backgrounds. Hillbrook School is committed to fostering and sustaining a learning community and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. This policy applies to, but is not limited to, educational policies, admission, financial aid, hiring and employment practices, use of school facilities, athletics, and other school-administered programs and activities.

The annual salary range for this role is $125,000. – $150,000. annually, dependent on years of experience. Please apply by submitting your resume/CV and letter of intent via this application form.

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The School: Who Are We?

For almost 90 years, Hillbrook School has been a junior kindergarten-8th grade independent school located on 14 acres of oak woodland in Los Gatos, CA – and in the fall of 2023, we opened the doors to the founding class of our high school. Founded in 1935, the school remains deeply connected to its historical roots as a place where children are known, learning is authentic and active, and success is measured one child at a time. Over the years, we have grown and evolved from a small boarding school serving wards of the state to one of the leading independent schools in the Bay Area, and yet our vision remains the same—to inspire children to achieve their dreams and reach beyond themselves to make a difference in the world.

We are now embarking on one of the school’s most ambitious strategic initiatives ever: the expansion to a JK-12 with the addition of a new high school in downtown San José. We are driven by a foundational belief – that our 8th graders and other students deserve an extraordinary educational experience in high school that builds upon the exceptional foundation we provide our JK-8 students. The core differentiators for our current program – the placement of choice and engagement at the center of the learning experience, integrated, real world education that challenges students to reach beyond and make a difference, and a deep commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion – will translate seamlessly into a 9-12 environment, allowing us to extend our innovative approach into a market in need of a new model of secondary school education.

Location

Hillbrook has two campuses located in Los Gatos and San José. These locations in the heart of Silicon Valley are 35 minutes south of Stanford University, 30 minutes north of Santa Cruz, and 1 hour south of San Francisco. The Bay Area is home to world-class universities, museums and restaurants, farmers markets and wineries, and outstanding outdoor opportunities for biking, hiking, surfing and more.