Head of School
Search being conducted by DovetailED Talent Sourcing
$450,000 - $600,000
Job Description
The IDEAL School of Manhattan | Head of School Opportunity
About the School - Pioneering What's Possible
The IDEAL School of Manhattan is founded on the proposition that a school can be both deeply inclusive and academically purposeful, and that students across a broad spectrum of abilities and learning profiles are stronger when they learn together. That belief is evident throughout the school, in classrooms shaped by individualized instruction, in the relationships between educators and students, and in a community that understands difference as an essential part of learning, belonging, and individual identity. As IDEAL enters its third decade, the school continues to stand alone in the independent school landscape not because inclusion is one element of its program, but because it defines the school’s identity. The opportunity for the next Head of School is to honor that pioneering vision while bringing the clarity, trust, academic strength, financial stability, and institutional leadership needed to carry it confidently into its next chapter.
Position Overview
The IDEAL School of Manhattan seeks an experienced and visionary inclusive education leader with a proven track record of success as its next Head of School. The Head of School serves as IDEAL’s chief executive, academic leader, and strategic architect, responsible for advancing the mission, stewarding institutional health, and shaping the educational experience across the full student journey. Reporting to the Board of Trustees and working in close partnership with senior administrators, faculty, staff, families, and the broader community, IDEAL’s next Head of School will set a clear vision for the future while preserving the values that make IDEAL distinctive.
This is an opportunity for a leader who truly believes that inclusion and academic excellence are part of the same educational promise, who understands the realities of inclusive classroom teaching from firsthand experience, and who values the expertise of the school’s devoted educators while creating the conditions for that expertise to grow. The next Head will be called to cultivate trust, promote programmatic coherence, support faculty and student retention, broaden enrollment, and lead with the business and financial discipline necessary to sustain IDEAL’s mission for the long term.