Ramaz Opportunity Statement 2014 (Text Version)

Ramaz School New York, New York Head of School, October 2014 The School: The Ramaz School, founded in 1937, is a co-educational Modern Orthodox Day School located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, serving students in preschool through grade twelve (www.ramaz.org). With 1,132 students, Ramaz employs 306 faculty and staff and operates with a yearly budget of $40million, allocating $6.2 M for financial assistance for the upcoming school year. The school is passionately committed to modern, centrist, Orthodox Jewish practice and philosophy. It welcomes all students who are committed to its philosophy and mission and who can thrive in the practice of Torah and mitzvot and within the demands of a rigorous dual curriculum.

Ramaz’s faculty and staff is comprised of individuals of diverse Jewish and other religious or non-religious backgrounds, and a strong culture of respect for and acceptance of diversity permeates. Ramaz is a school that has an enviable sense of community and pride. Numerous current parents are Ramaz graduates and some families are enjoying a third generation of Ramaz attendance.

Ramaz's most distinctive attribute is that it is both a yeshiva and a top independent school. Its Judaic core is compelling and non-negotiable, as it is the reason for its existence. At the same time, the school provides a very strong academic program which offers a general studies education that can compete with the most rigorous mainstream independent schools. This is also an essential part of its mission. Ramaz parents are uniform in their desire to secure the best academic program for their children in both areas of the curriculum. This is a school community of high expectations. Faculty members are highly educated: for example, of the 80 upper school faculty members, 15 have Ph.D.’s, 15 have rabbinical ordination, and 37 have master’s degrees.

The Ramaz commitment to academic excellence is matched by its passion for promoting and nurturing the emotional and spiritual development of its students. Ramaz offers a warm, welcoming learning environment. Menschlichkeit, chesed, community engagement, and excitement about learning are cornerstones of a Ramaz education.

This large and successful school seeks an exceptional, experienced, energetic school leader to serve as Head of School. The school’s mission, which has remained wonderfully constant during its near 78 year history, must be enthusiastically embraced by a new Head of School, enabling the successful candidate to serve this dynamic community as a genuine leader.

The Mission: As a co-educational Modern Orthodox Day School, Ramaz strives to educate students toward the following goals:  A commitment to menschlichkeit, reflecting fineness of character, respect for others, integrity, and the centrality of chesed in all its manifestations.  A commitment to Torah, mitzvot, Ahavat Yisrael, and love and support for the State of Israel.  A commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, to intellectual rigor, to scholarship, and a life-long love of learning.  Loyalty and gratitude to the United States of America, and the democratic traditions and values of our country.  A sense of responsibility for the Jewish people and all humankind.

The Ramaz mission is well known, relevant, vibrant and supported throughout the school community.

School Structure and Organization: Ramaz was initially led by its founder, Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein, the rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun (KJ), and then by his successor, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, the current senior rabbi at KJ. In 2006, based on a NYSAIS recommendation, the spiritual leadership of KJ and the educational leadership of Ramaz were separated, and the first Head of School was appointed.

The Head of School is the School’s chief educational and executive officer, reporting directly to the Charter Trustees. With KJ seeking new rabbinic leadership, the new Head of School has the opportunity to continue the close collaboration and cooperation between Ramaz and KJ and to further influence the relationship and partnerships between the two institutions.

Ramaz is organized in three divisions, each led by a head who provides day-to-day oversight and is supported by a divisional administrative team. The divisions are: Early Childhood/Lower School, serving 490 students age 3 through grade 4; Middle School serving 242 students in grades 5-8; and Upper School (grades 9-12) with 400 students. Approximately 50% of the Upper School student population advances from the Middle School, with the balance enrolling from throughout the tri-state area. The Upper School typically graduates classes of over 100 students, all of whom attend four-year colleges. At least half of the senior class spends a gap year in Israel. Each of these three divisions is housed in separate buildings, with the Early Childhood/Lower School situated across the street from the Middle School and the Upper School seven blocks away.

Ramaz is led by a central administrative team, comprising the Head of School, the Assistant Head of School, the head of each academic division, as well as the Chief Financial Officer, the Director of Institutional Advancement, and the Director of Operations. This team of highly experienced school professionals, as well as the Directors of Admissions and Communications,

brings a strong set of complementary skills to the management of a multi-dimensional organization.

Ramaz has two boards that provide effective lay leadership: the Board, which is akin in many ways to a Board of Visitors, and the Charter Trustees, a group of seventeen individuals who serve as the governing Board. There is a concerted effort to share information in an open and transparent manner with the greater community. The Board and the Charter Trustees are committed to supporting and appropriately partnering with Ramaz’s professional leadership and have been thoughtful about Board leadership transitions in order to ensure continuity as the school welcomes a new Head of School.

Recent Initiatives: After much planning and anticipation, a multi-year renovation of the Lower School facility will be completed in the next 3 - 4 months. This renovation will result in a state-of-the-art, modern facility that is optimized for contemporary learning methods. Additionally, the new facilities were designed to expand the capacity of the Lower School student population by one section per grade, enabling a more robust and consistent flow of students through Ramaz’s middle and upper schools, and significant economies of scale. This project was funded by a capital campaign that currently exceeds $80 million in pledged funds.

A recent review of administrative structure led to the formation of a central administration.

This reorganized central administration has resulted in significant improvement in the functionality of the School. The addition of professionals new to Ramaz, along with the veteran heads of the Upper School, Middle School and Institutional Advancement, has created an environment of teamwork and collaboration. Of particular note is the roll-out of a more focused and relevant professional development framework, which has earned rave reviews by the faculty.

In 2014, Ramaz undertook its ten-year accreditation review by NYSAIS. The Committee’s review was very complimentary to the School and identified many strengths, as well as a few areas in which the School could continue to build. Work has begun to address those recommendations.

Leadership Needs: In virtually every way, the new Head of School will be stepping into a school community of amazing strengths—a school community that is described by many within as “a place with a heart.” Ramaz thrives on examining itself and strives to ensure it is offering the best education and educational environment for its students. The new Head of School will have the luxury of focusing on building relationships, getting to know the community and its culture, and becoming known. This is a school community that will appreciate a leader who will learn its

history and its culture and who will be confident in tapping the wealth of knowledge and abilities of those within it.

Ramaz School seeks an experienced, energetic, charismatic and enthusiastic leader as its next Head of School. The ideal candidate will be an individual who has a successful track record of leadership, who embodies and embraces the Ramaz mission, and who is passionate about the uniqueness of Ramaz in the Jewish educational world.

Ramaz seeks a leader who is:  Warm and friendly to all who enter the Ramaz building, especially children  An adept, articulate communicator  Strategic and visionary with demonstrated success in building consensus, achieving goals and embracing change  Strong enough to make the tough decisions but open-minded enough to listen well  Invigorated by connecting with others  An effective team player and team builder  Highly educated and who will participate in the intellectual discourse inherent in this community  Enthusiastic and able to participate in key fundraising activities vital for the future of the school  Successful at building strong relationships and leading effectively through strong people skillsand who will utilize these abilities to: o Be accessible and visible to constituents in all three divisions o Manage and lead the school’s administration to serve the school and each of its divisions as strong leaders and as a cohesive leadership team o Partner effectively with the Charter Trustees to ensure a unified vision for the school and successful achievement of identified goals o Be a strong presence in the greater Ramaz community, recognizing and embracing the role of Ramaz’s chief ambassador beyond the walls of the school buildings o Encourage others to invest in Ramaz, its students, and its future.

The opportunity to lead Ramaz is an opportunity to lead a successful, vibrant school and school community. It is a position for an individual of boundless energy whose enthusiasm for leading this wonderful, sophisticated, complex school will be apparent to all.

For Consideration: Please send electronically:  Resume  Educational Philosophy/Personal Statement