Executive Head of School

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Angeletti Group invites nominations and applications for the position of Executive Head of School for the School of the Blessed Sacrament (SBS). The school seeks an engaging, strategic and inspirational leader to build upon its venerable history of providing a rigorous education, rooted in the Catholic faith, to young children. Reporting directly to the Manhattan Regional Superintendent of Schools and accountable to the Regional School Board, s/he will be responsible for external relations, fundraising, financial management, recruitment, and enrollment, as well as setting the overall vision and strategy for the school.

The School of the Blessed Sacrament, which merged with the Sacred Heart of Jesus School in 2019, has two campuses located on the upper west side of Manhattan. It educates students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Operating under the Archdiocese of New York, the school is committed to educating the hearts and minds of its students while empowering them to embrace challenges in a loving, faith-filled environment.

THE SCHOOL OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

Founded in 1903, the School of the Blessed Sacrament, located on the upper west side in Manhattan, is a prekindergarten through eighth grade Catholic elementary school with an enrollment of just over 400 students. In 2019, SBS merged with the Sacred Heart of Jesus School (founded in 1896), marking the opening of its two-campus, one-school model. Together, the schools have been providing an academically rigorous education, rooted in the Catholic faith, to thousands of students for more than a century. The schools share rich histories and traditions, and are deeply committed to diversity, educational excellence, and the fostering of strong moral and ethical values, spiritual development, and responsibility for one’s community. The Lower School serves student in pre-K through third grade. It offers a variety of learning spaces, such as a sensory gym, library, and resource center in which children can explore, learn, create, and grow together. The Upper School serves students in 4th through 8th grades. This campus includes areas that facilitate dialogue and collaboration among older students, such as the new state-of-the-art STEM center. Both the lower and upper schools’ curricula and physical environments are designed to facilitate individualized learning that meets all of their students’ needs. It is the school’s mission to educate the heart and mind and to empower the children to embrace challenges in a loving, faithfilled environment. SBS achieves this mission by celebrating diversity and encouraging love of God, neighbor, and self.

THE EXECUTIVE HEAD OF SCHOOL

The Executive Head of School is the chief executive officer of the School of the Blessed Sacrament. S/he must have a deep commitment to, and keen appreciation for, the values and traditions of Catholic doctrine and moral teachings. The successful candidate must be a strategic and visionary thinker with a transparent, collaborative leadership style. S/he must be an articulate and inspiring communicator, a successful fundraiser, an entrepreneurial recruiter, an innovative enrollment manager, and a seasoned, responsible financial manager. The Executive Head of School is the chief spokesperson for the school, providing visible, personal leadership to the school community and promoting the school to all external constituencies. The successful candidate should have a strong record of intellectual and administrative accomplishments, a broad understanding of educational administrative leadership, and a proven track record of guiding institutions to new levels of success.

Both the heads of SBS’s Lower and Upper Schools will report directly to this position. The primary responsibilities of these individuals are focused on the internal, day-to-day operations of their schools’ academic programming, faculty oversight, and student interactions.

AREAS OF EMPHASIS FOR THE EXECUTIVE HEAD OF THE SCHOOL
The next Executive Head of School for the School of Blessed Sacrament must be a strategic and visionary leader who will embrace the character, values, and traditions of the SBS community and the Catholic faith and carry them forward in new and exciting ways. Specifically, the Executive Head of School will:
• Serve as the CEO, providing strategic direction and oversight of the school’s academics, spirituality, fiscal health, advancement efforts, enrollment management, and physical plant and administrative operations.
• Ensure the Catholic mission of the school is developed, articulated, and promoted among stakeholders, including the heads of the Upper and Lower Schools, faculty, parents, and admissions and advancement offices.
• Develop an advisory board that will focus on strengthening institutional advancement, recruitment, and enrollment.
• Collaborate with volunteer leadership to develop strategic relationships that will result in increased philanthropic support.
• Cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of current and prospective alumni and parent donors, and create strategic action plans for top prospects with the intent of deepening relationships on behalf of the school, leading to increased comprehensive giving, including annual, capital, and deferred gifts.
• Enhance the school’s enrollment management process and significantly bolster recruitment efforts.
• Strengthen the school’s external relations through programming, affinity groups, vibrant community relations, and constituent outreach to effectively message SBS’s brand, values, and reputation for excellence across current and prospective stakeholders.
• Manage long-term planning for the school’s institutional advancement, enrollment management, facilities, and finance functions.
• Serve as the primary liaison between the school and the Board of Trustees.
• Direct the process by which the school arrives at its statements of vision, mission, and philosophy, and implement the process by which these are periodically reviewed, assessed, and updated.
• Ensure the fiscal health and viability of the school through sound financial stewardship and management.
• Prepare the annual school budget in collaboration with the finance committee and the heads of the Upper and Lower Schools, and supervise its implementation.
• Direct and oversee capital improvement projects as well as the purchase of technologies and equipment.