Grammar School Principal

Delaware Valley Classical School — Grammar School Principal

Position Success Profile

Reports To: Head of School

Direct Reports: Grammar School Faculty (K–6)

Key Partners: Upper School Principal, Cross-Divisional Faculty, Admissions, Families

Enrollment: ~225 students, K–12 | 32-Year Heritage | New Castle, Delaware

I. Why This Role Exists 

Delaware Valley Classical School is a K–12 classical Christian school of about 225 students in New Castle, Delaware, with a 32-year heritage. The Westminster Confession and Catechisms summarize the school's doctrine, though its families come from Presbyterian, Baptist, Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, and non-denominational churches. In the grammar school, students learn phonics, grammar, history, and math facts through song and motion, write in cursive, begin Latin in 3rd grade, practice public speaking, and spend a phone-free day with limited technology. Older students disciple the younger ones, and singing is taught as preparation for worship, which is how each school day begins.

The Grammar School Principal leads kindergarten through 6th grade. The current principal is retiring after a long tenure at the school, and her successor will inherit an experienced, stable faculty that includes several alumni. The next principal will guide the grammar school through its current season of curricular work, coach teachers in classical pedagogy, and help families understand how a classical education forms their children's souls and deepens their love for Christ.

II. Core Outcomes 

The Grammar School Principal exists to produce these six results. They are the fruit by which this role will be evaluated.

• Pedagogical Excellence & Faculty Formation. Every grammar school teacher is observed, coached, and growing. Classical pedagogy is practiced with increasing consistency across grades, including age-appropriate Socratic discussion, and teachers newer to classical education are brought fully up to speed. Classrooms reflect a culture of depth over coverage: teachers feel free to linger with a text rather than race through material.

• Curriculum Stewardship & Renewal. The grammar school's curricular renewal is carried through with rigor. The Principal masters each program first and trains teachers in person, completes an honest evaluation of the mathematics curriculum adopted four years ago, and strengthens the K–6 scope and sequence in Latin, reading, and writing so students arrive in 7th grade ready for the texts ahead of them.

• Academic Effectiveness & Measurable Growth. DVCS has a clear, mission-consistent framework for using CLT data to evaluate curricular and pedagogical effectiveness, as its recent ACCS re-accreditation called for, without ever teaching to the test. The gap students experience moving from 6th-grade mathematics into pre-algebra measurably narrows.

• Student Formation & Classroom Culture. Discipline is soul-shaping, consistent, and handled at the right level. Teachers are equipped to act as the lead shepherds of their classrooms, a clear standard defines which matters stay in the classroom and which move to the office, and administration strengthens teacher authority rather than undermining it. Students are encouraged, corrected when necessary, and known.

• Parent Partnership & Education. Families know their children are cared for, academically and spiritually. Narrative reports are timely and substantive, concerns are addressed in real time, and parent education nights help families who like what they see understand why DVCS teaches the way it does. Grammar school re-enrollment remains strong.

• Mission Continuity & Trusted Leadership. The grammar school's mission-rich culture of worship, song, and shared vision is guarded and passed on to every new colleague. The Principal grows into a trusted second-in-command to whom the Head of School can confidently delegate the grammar school, freeing the Head to focus on the broader development of the school.

III. Role Context

Key Partnerships

• The Head of School is the primary accountability relationship, with a standing weekly meeting and frequent touch points in year one, built on trusted delegation with coaching and course correction as needed

• Grammar school faculty are the heart of the role; the Principal shapes the grammar school through presence, observation, coaching, and professional development, including the team-taught 5th/6th grade model

• The Upper School Principal and cross-divisional faculty partner with the Principal on the 6th-to-7th grade transition, especially in mathematics, and shared teachers in Latin, humanities, and music serve both divisions

• Parents and families are served through narrative reporting, parent education nights, real-time response to concerns, and a daily presence on the front steps at morning drop-off

Decision Rights (Own / Recommend / Inform)

• Own: Day-to-day grammar school operations; classroom observation, coaching, and teacher feedback; in-person training on adopted curricula; routine student discipline and equipping teachers to handle classroom issues; admissions testing and communication of results; grammar school parent communication and parent education programming

• Recommend: Curriculum adoption or change (including the mathematics evaluation); grammar school faculty hiring, in partnership with a closely involved Head of School; suspension and non-re-enrollment decisions; schedule and time-allocation changes; the CLT evaluation framework; designation of lead teachers

• Inform: Head of School promptly on faculty concerns or accommodation requests, and on any discipline, parent, or staff situation with the potential to become a broader cultural issue

Compensation: Competitive salary + benefits

To Apply: Send resume and cover letter to Penny Jenson, pjenson@arcadiaed.com