Transcend Education
PARTNER, SCHOOL DESIGN SERVICES
Start Date: Immediate
Role Type: Full time
Title: Partner, School Design Services
Location/ Travel: Flexible; willingness to travel approximately twice monthly for coaching and supporting schools (~1-3 days/trip). ~30-35% Travel.
Who We Are:
Transcend’s mission is to support communities to create and spread extraordinary, equitable learning environments. Founded in 2015, Transcend has partnered with over 200 schools and 50 systems which collectively serve nearly 500,000 students in 30 states across the country. As a research and development (R&D) hub for the education field, Transcend provides schools and systems with research-backed, community-driven models and capacity so they can make significant leaps to reimagine the future of education. Transcend is a nonprofit that operates with a fully remote, nationwide team.
For more information, visit our website; follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter; or check out this recent podcast featuring our two co-founders on Class Disrupted.
The Opportunity:
In increasingly large numbers, communities across the nation are recognizing the limitations and profound inequities of the 100+ year-old, one-size-fits-all industrial design of school. The compounding crises of the past year have revealed the need for reinvention toward extraordinary, equitable learning environments that enable all young people to thrive. In part as a result of this momentum, Transcend is partnering with more communities than ever to support their work to redesign school.
The Partner, School Design Services role will guide school design teams, in partnership with their learning communities, to design, build, and spread innovative school models. Specifically, Partners on our School Design Services team coach and support school design teams to:
Reimagine and create new school model designs grounded in their unique community’s context and aspirations.
Build the conditions for innovation in their school communities (including the capacity to do ongoing, practical R&D in their context).
Create the networks and partnerships schools need for their innovation efforts to take root and thrive.
Working in teams, Partners use various methods to achieve these aims, including facilitation of in-person and virtual workshops, 1:1 coaching (virtual and in-person), hands on instructional and new model design work, resource creation and sharing, and forging connections to support the work. Below are snapshots of three projects we are working on today; and we are hiring Partners for each of them.
We Are Current Hiring for the Following Projects:
Whole Child: Model Design + Spread
The Whole Child work is rooted in the understanding that children’s academic success is inextricably linked to their overall well-being, and in the belief that we can—and must—attend to the development of the whole child while also achieving excellence in academics. Listen to project lead, Sarah, on her work at Transcend!
Rural Schools Collaborative
The Rural Schools Collaborative is an exciting opportunity to work with historically underserved districts in rural communities. Through this 9 month experience, we aspire to provide deep and transformative learning experiences, design support, coaching, research-driven tools, and inspiration to 8-12 rural communities embarking on school design journeys. Listen to project lead, Taina, share more about her work!
Partners will support schools to:
Facilitate schools’ “Design Journeys” to articulate their unique community-driven purpose and vision, and new school designs in service of that vision
Support schools to craft new school blueprints that articulate their new model designs
Run pilots to learn and iterate on their new model designs/ blueprints
Identify and implement new student experiences aligned with the schools’ vision
Strengthen the conditions needed for innovation and enduring, transformative change
Codify and spread effective, innovative school models and model components
Who You Are:
You are a former or current school leader, master facilitator, instructional designer, and coach who believes deeply that we must redesign school as we know it, to truly achieve the outcomes we know all students deserve, and to prepare all young people to thrive now and into the future. You are relationship-driven in your work and energized by coaching others to achieve excellent outcomes for students. You are able to build relationships quickly and thoughtfully and recognize the importance of elevating a whole community’s voice in the redesign process. You are excited about partnering with school and community stakeholders to bring ambitious new school designs to life.
In this role, you will get to:
Coach: Advance the school team’s conditions for change, and build capacity in others to bring new school designs to life
Create Content: Develop the teams’ capacity to design and build school schedules, curriculum, instructional practices, PD, etc., in alignment with their school blueprints, research, and best practice
Facilitate rigorous research and development (R&D): Help teams pilot their innovations throughout the year: from setting up effective pilot structures, implementing pilots, and summarizing their learning to inform their overall design and next steps
Lead Strategic Implementation of New School Designs: Guide and support schools in building and adapting the school elements needed to bring their designs to life
And in doing so, leverage your:
Commitment to Transcend’s mission of transforming education, with a passion for creating innovative school models that generate unprecedented results for all students
Strong and demonstrated commitment to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion. You design, coach, and facilitate with an equity lens
Skillful relationship building and communication skills, working with a diverse range of stakeholders, including school partners, teammates, funders, research partners, etc
Stewardship of a healthy team culture, and eagerness to share and learn from your teammates
Eagerness to live into Transcend’s core values and support others to do the same
Significant experience leading in schools, preferably with direct experience with design, innovation, 21st century skills, change management and/or “next generation” school models
Entrepreneurial hunger to build, learn, and lead in a lean and at times ambiguous context
Perks and Benefits:
Transcend is committed to providing our colleagues with a competitive benefits package. Transcend offers medical, dental and vision coverage options, org-wide holidays, paid time off, paid parental leave, professional development opportunities, and fully remote work. We're also proud of our values-grounded, equity-focused, and fun (!) work environment, incredible colleagues, and a dedication to our purposeful work and to one another.
Join Us!
Transcend is an equal opportunity employer. We are building a diverse team, and we encourage candidates from historically under-represented groups to apply.