Director of Middle School

Hannah Senesh Community Day School is pleased to work with DRG to conduct this search.

BACKGROUND

Hannah Senesh Community Day School is a progressive K–8 Jewish day school in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, serving approximately 225 students and their families. Our Middle School, serving approximately 110 students in grades 5–8, is supported by a dedicated faculty of 15 educators.Senesh is a school where rigorous and joyful learning, deep relationships, and meaningful Jewish life are woven together every day.

Our students are curious, kind, and confident. We are committed to educating the whole child and to developing young people who see themselves as agents of change toward a more just world. As an open Jewish community, we create a wide tent with a strong center—one in which students and families can explore Jewish life, identity, and practice while developing a deep sense of belonging and responsibility to one another.

Senesh values both tradition and possibility. We are proud of our Jewish identity and are committed to creating a vibrant, open Jewish community in which students and families can explore Jewish life, identity, and practice while engaging thoughtfully with the diversity of contemporary Jewish experience.

Our school is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools and a member of Prizmah. We continue to invest in our campus, programs, and Jewish life while building on the strong foundation of Senesh

To learn more, please visit: https://www.hannahsenesh.org/

The Position

Hannah Senesh seeks an experienced, thoughtful, and deeply relational educator to serve as its next Director of Middle School, beginning in summer 2027.

The Middle School Director is the academic, cultural, and relational leader of grades 5–8. This is a highly visible leadership role at a particularly important developmental stage in a child's life. The Director creates the conditions in which adolescents can thrive intellectually, socially, emotionally, and Jewishly.

The ideal candidate understands that excellent middle school education requires both high expectations and deep care. They know how to challenge students while supporting their development, create structures that provide adolescents with both boundaries and agency, and build a culture in which students feel known, valued, and accountable to one another.

The Director will lead a talented and committed Middle School faculty, partner closely with students and families, and collaborate across the school to create a cohesive K–8 experience. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, the Director will also contribute to the broader leadership, vision, and continued growth of Senesh.

This is an opportunity for a leader who wants to do more than manage a division—to help shape what an excellent Jewish middle school can be.

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Middle School Director reports to the Head of School and works closely with the Senior Leadership Team, faculty, students, families, and school-wide specialists and administrators.

Lead the Middle School Experience

• Provide vision and leadership for the Middle School, ensuring that its culture and program reflect Senesh’s mission, values, and educational philosophy.
• Create a warm, joyful, intellectually engaging, and appropriately structured environment responsive to the developmental needs of adolescents.
• Establish clear expectations and structures that foster belonging, responsibility, independence, leadership, and agency.
• Be a visible and trusted leader for students, faculty, and families, building a strong sense of community and Jewish pride.

Lead Teaching and Learning

• Serve as the instructional leader of the Middle School, fostering excellent, reflective, and continually improving teaching.
• Observe, coach, and evaluate faculty; identify priorities for growth; and support meaningful professional learning and collaboration.
• Ensure curricular coherence, appropriate challenge and differentiation, and alignment across subjects and grade levels.
• Support thoughtful, purposeful use of technology and AI that enhances teaching and learning and aligns with Senesh’s educational values.

Support Students and Build Strong Faculty Teams

• Lead a coordinated approach to student support, partnering with advisors, faculty, specialists, families, and the student support team to address students’ academic, social-emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs.
• Recruit, supervise, mentor, and retain talented faculty while fostering a culture of trust, collaboration, accountability, and professional growth.
• Guide advisors and grade-level teams in building strong relationships and cohesive communities.
• Navigate complex student and faculty situations with empathy, clarity,