Job Details

Description

Job Description

POSITION: 2026-2027 Founding Elementary Principal - Fifth Ward Elementary

REPORTS TO: Head of Schools

POSITION TYPE: 12-month

START DATE: July 1, 2026

COMPENSATION: Starting at $100,000

At YES Prep, work for a mission that impacts the life trajectory of students and their families. YES Prep creates pathways to extraordinary opportunity through best-in-class development, competitive compensation and benefits, and recognition for your impact. Grow as an authentic leader and be part of a high-performing, team-oriented culture.

Some quick stats about us:

• 21,650 Students
• 2,600 Team Members
• 16 Secondary Campuses
• 12 Elementary Campuses
• 91% Students Who Qualify for Free/Reduced-Price Lunch
• 96% Hispanic & African-American Students
• 99% Students Who Are Accepted to a 4-Year University
• 85% First-Generation College Students
• Ranked in the Top 100 High Schools in the Nation, U.S. News & World Report

We serve the students of Houston, Texas, the 4th largest city across the United States. There are over 20 public-school districts and other great public charter school options within Houston's city limits serving our increasing population. We are a rapidly growing organization, committed to creating life-changing opportunities for over 23,000 students by 2025.

THE OPPORTUNITY

YES Prep needs a dynamic Elementary Principal with a robust set of experiences, to make our mission a reality. As a YES Prep employee, you will achieve jaw-dropping results, create pathways to opportunity for our students, and build transformative relationships.

To put it simply, you will strategically plan for, launch, and lead the next YES Prep Public School to realize our mission of increasing the number of students from underserved communities who graduate from college prepared to lead.

THE ROLE

When you join the YES Prep team, some of the work and responsibilities will include:

Founding Principal Work

• Recruiting, selecting, and engaging a highly qualified, committed team of teachers and non-instructional team members to launch the school;
• Recruiting, registering, and engaging students and their families to ensure full enrollment of the school;
• Working with diverse groups of stakeholders to expand community partnerships;
• Meeting all state and federal requirements for campus expansion;
• Developing campus specific systems for executing the YES Prep Elementary Model.

Strategy, Planning, and Leadership

• Managing effective school leadership team members and other team leaders on campus, utilizing individual management plans to track growth in performance;
• Developing Campus Strategic Goals that address the most pressing growth areas for the school and manage staff buy-in and periodic check-in on goal progress;
• Implementing school leadership team structure and master calendar to most effectively reach Campus Strategic Goals and academic outcomes;
• Utilizing effective communication structures for teams and school community (staff, students, and parents);
• Developing leadership "bench" to ensure solid succession plan for central school leadership;
• Understanding and overseeing immediate and long-term strategy with respect to relationships and sustainability (i.e. community development, parent engagement, budget management).

Student Achievement

• Providing instructional leadership through both coaching teacher and coaching teacher coaches;
• Managing progress towards increased student achievement, analyzing grades and assessment results to facilitate timely academic interventions;
• Driving intervention systems to meet system expectations for growth and objective achievement on STAAR, MAP, and CIRCLE tests;
• Managing progress on RTI and academic student interventions;
• Managing a high performing leadership team that leads to your campus meeting its student achievement goals of producing college-ready students.

Student Demographics and Persistence

• Monitoring student attendance, focusing on maintaining desired attendance levels and recruitment of low-income students;
• Facilitating student persistence (PK-5th grade) analysis, focusing on intervention strategies and increasing persistence for all students and sub-populations (at-risk, SPED, EB);
• Achieving student culture goals on a yearly basis as indicated on the Campus Improvement.

Staff Support, Development, and Leadership

• Facilitating the hiring process and select high-caliber, diverse teachers and staff;
• Managing high-quality professional development that leads to well-trained staff, as measured by staff survey and student achievement results;
• Developing instructional goals for the year with the leadership team and facilitate periodic goal analysis throughout the year;
• Managing appropriate progress on instructional observations and continuum process, from initial placement to end-of-year placement;
• Maintaining high retention rates of staff, avoiding regrettable teacher and staff attrition;
• Managing effective school leadership team members and other team leaders on campus, utilizing individual management plans to track growth in performance.

Campus Health

• Maintaining strong school culture that meets high YES Prep standards;
• Evaluating and achieving strong student and family satisfaction, as measured in periodic student and family surveys;
• Facilitating management of discipline systems and Social Emotional Programming to maintain safe and positive school culture;
• Analyzing student discipline incidents and rates to adjust intervention strategies.

Financial Health

• Submitting an annual budget based on program needs, estimated enrollment, staffing, and other fiscal needs, implementing programs within budget limits, maintaining fiscal control, and accurately and responsibly reporting all fiscal information;
• Clearly and convincingly describing decisions based on the core purpose, core values, and vision;
• Managing budget managers on campus;
• Managing the use of the campus plant and grounds to ensure a clean, orderly, and safe environment.

Professional Growth and Development

• Identifying areas for own personal/professional growth;
• Participating in meetings, workshops, seminars, and conferences to enhance knowledge/skills, address areas for personal/professional growth, and further develop school goals and staff;
• Applying knowledge and insights gained through professional development. Sharing this knowledge with staff, campus, and district leaders as appropriate;
• Staying well informed about current trends in area(s) of expertise and providing leadership in incorporating such trends into everyday practices.

• Additional duties as assigned.

THE PERSON

We seek staff with a multitude of backgrounds, talents, interests, and ideas. Certain traits consistently shine through our most successful employees: passion for the mission, drive for results, care for students, and resilience. Other traits needed and desired for this role are:

THE MUST HAVES

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB)
• 5+ years of K-12 experience as teacher or leader
• At least 2 years in a Director level, Dean level, Assistant Principal, or Principal role, with at least one of those years in an elementary school with demonstrated performance at a high level
• Demonstrated management experience - managing leaders or a team of leaders
• Not currently on a growth/improvement plan
• Must be willing to go to any assigned YES Prep campus in the greater Houston area
• Must be willing to commit to YES Prep for at least 3 years
• Ability to work outside of normal hours and on weekends

THE MUST HAVE BELIEFS

• Belief in and commitment to the mission and core values of YES Prep Public Schools
• Desire to disrupt systemic status quos in education
• Willingness to go above and beyond to disrupt said status quos
• Passion to develop resiliency through a relentless pursuit of jaw-dropping results
• Conviction that high expectations + high accountability = high performance and high growth

THE NICE TO HAVES

• Graduate degree in Elementary Education, Educational Leadership, or related field from an accredited institution
• One year of school experience as a principal
• Experience on a founding school team
• Bilingual in Spanish

THE PERKS

• Compensation - This position is an exempt, salaried position; offers commensurate with experience.

• Health and Supplemental Insurance - A $0 monthly medical option or a $24 monthly option that includes $50 YES Prep Paid Health Savings Account contribution, in addition to a variety of supplemental benefits including Dental, Vision, Disability, Life, etc. Employees must work 20+ hours a week to be eligible for a full spectrum of benefits, and 10 hours a week minimum for medical benefits.

• Retirement Plans - Participation in Teacher Retirement System of Texas and an optional 457b Retirement Plan.

• Paid Time Off - Employees working 20+ hours a week receive 15 days of Paid Time Off in addition to the system closures during the Academic Calendar.

• Paid Leave Programming - In the event you need to be out due to medical needs (including maternity and paternity leave), YES Prep offers paid leave, paid out at 100%, based on eligibility and tenure.

• Professional Development - YES Prep values longevity and performance over time. We invest in developing leaders through high-quality programs, effective coaching, and ongoing professional development.

• Award Winning Culture - The strong cultures of our campuses and Home Office are just one of many reasons we were named Houston's Best Place To Work in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2025.We won the 2012 Broad Prize for Excellence in Urban Education and were a 2016 finalist as well.

YES Prep is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or parenthood.