Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu, HI has engaged DovetailED to lead a search for a Middle & High School Assistant Principal for Student Life to start in the 2026-27 school year. Interested candidates should review the Opportunity Statement and submit a cover letter, resume, and list of references as a consolidated PDF to Zack Lehman, President at DovetailED Talent Sourcing, at zack@dovetailedsourcing.com, and Alison Moore, Senior Recruiter, at alison@dovetailedsourcing.com.

Mid-Pacific Institute Middle & High School Assistant Principal for Student Life Opportunity Statement Link: https://bit.ly/mid-pacific-studentlife.

SALARY RANGE: $110,000 - $128,500 Annually. Placement is commensurate with qualifications.

JOB SUMMARY

Mid-Pacific Institute seeks a dynamic, experienced school leader to serve as Assistant Principal for Student Life, a central role in shaping the student experience across grades 6–12.

This leader is responsible for cultivating a safe, caring, and joyful school culture where every student feels seen, heard, valued, and challenged to grow to their highest potential. Grounded in Mid-Pacific’s core values of ‘ohana, caring, diversity, innovation, and creativity, the Assistant Principal for Student Life ensures that school culture is not left to chance, but intentionally designed, consistently enacted, and deeply felt by all members of the community.

The Assistant Principal serves as both a cultural anchor and a strategic leader in a highly visible, student-centered leadership role. The Assistant Principal is a “warm demander”—a leader who builds trusting and authentic relationships while holding high expectations for both students and colleagues. As a leader of leaders, this role directly supervises and develops other leaders including our grade-level deans and directors of student activities. The Assistant Principal ensures coherence and quality in student support systems advisory programming, discipline protocols, and contributes to faculty supervision and instructional leadership, and performs other duties as assigned by the MS/HS Principal.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

1. Culture, Climate, and Student Experience

• Lead the development of a vibrant, inclusive, and values-driven student culture across grades 6–12
• Ensure students experience a strong sense of belonging, safety, and connection—so that school feels like a second home
• Serve as a highly visible presence across campus (e.g., start and end of day, lunch, events, chapel, assemblies, athletics, etc.)
• Communicate regularly with students and families, including through assemblies and public speaking engagements
• Partner with students to elevate student voice and engagement in shaping school culture

2. Student Support Systems

• Design, implement, and continuously improve a coherent, school-wide approach to student behavior
• Ensure clarity, consistency, and fairness in the implementation of school expectations, including key areas such as dress code and cell phone policies
• Lead the shift from reactive discipline toward proactive culture-building, restorative practices, and positive behavior systems
• Serve as a strategic thought partner to deans on complex or high-stakes student situations and manage appeals when appropriate
• Ensure systems are aligned, clearly communicated, and sustainable for faculty

3. Leadership Development

• Directly supervise, coach, and develop grade-level deans as the front line of student support and discipline
• Provide leadership and support to Directors of Student Activities, ensuring alignment between programming, Advisory, and school culture goals
• Build a high-functioning, collaborative team culture among deans, counselors, activities leaders, and student support staff
• Ensure that all members of the student life team are equipped, supported, and held accountable for their roles

4. Advisory Program Leadership

• Provide vision, structure, and coherence for the 6–12 Advisory program
• Ensure Advisory serves as a meaningful space for relationship-building, social-emotional learning, and student development
• Collaborate with Directors of Student Activities and faculty to design engaging and purposeful advisory experiences

5. Faculty Partnership and Support

• Partner with faculty to create a shared understanding of student expectations and behavior systems
• Ensure policies are consistently upheld, reducing ambiguity and alleviating unnecessary burden on teachers
• Support faculty in addressing student needs through clear systems, communication, and follow-through
• Contribute to a collaborative professional culture grounded in trust, consistency, and shared responsibility for students

6. Faculty Supervision and Instructional Leadership

• Supervise and evaluate faculty members in assigned departments, including conducting regular classroom observations and providing timely, actionable feedback
• Support teachers in creating classroom environments that reflect Mid-Pacific’s core values and promote belonging, engagement, and high expectations for all students
• Contribute to faculty professional growth through coaching, goal-setting, and evaluation processes

7. Collaboration and Strategic Leadership

• Serve as a trusted teammate and thought partner to the MS / HS Principal
• Work in close partnership with the Assistant Principal for Academics to align student life and academic experiences in service of all students
• Bring an independent perspective, sound judgment, and strategic thinking to school leadership decisions
• Lead initiatives with a high degree of autonomy, including in high-stakes or high-scrutiny situations
• Model and sustain a culture of collaboration and high regard for all colleagues
• Collaborate with on-campus and off-campus partners (e.g., counseling, health services, local police, campus security) to support student well-being

Regular and predictable attendance at work is essential.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Observes, supervises, and evaluates the Attendance Desk Manager, the Administrative Assistant to the MS/HS Assistant Principal for Student Life, MS/HS Deans, MS/HS Faculty, and MS/HS Directors of Student Activities as assigned by the MS/HS Principal.

SCHOOL SAFETY

• Participate in the development of a safe and healthy workplace.
• Comply with the instructions given for their own safety and health and that of others, in adhering to safe work procedures.
• Take reasonable care to ensure their own safety and health and that of others.
• Report any injury, hazard or illness immediately to their Supervisor and Human Resources.
• Not place others at risk by any act or omission, not willfully or recklessly interfere with safety equipment.
• Act as a role model by demonstrating safe work behaviors.
• Identify, assess if necessary, and control hazards within the area of responsibility.
• Ensure that equipment/supplies are properly maintained.
• Maintain relevant knowledge of safety laws.
• Mandatory reporting of sexual abuse to law enforcement or child protective services, and Human Resources. Sexual abuse includes child molestation, any actual or alleged illegal or otherwise wrongful sexual conduct with a minor, and serial sexual misconduct, any actual or alleged illegal or otherwise wrongful sexual conduct with more than one victim; and committed by or alleged to have been committed by any perpetrator who is not a student of an included entity.
• Develop safe work procedures and ensure adherence to procedures.
• Ensure compliance of safety policies and procedures.
• Communicate safety issues with employees.
• Ensure that employees are provided with information, instruction, training and supervision that they need to work safely.
• Ensure that employees are aware of and abide by all relevant safety procedures.
• Encourage early reporting of incidents and forward information to Manager and Human Resources immediately.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES

• Demonstrating Professional Body of Knowledge: A professional demonstrates an understanding of practice area knowledge and appreciates learning more about this practice area and beyond.
• Professional as a Learner: A professional engages in career-long professional learning and ongoing critical reflection to identify opportunities for improving leadership, mentoring, and collaboration. The inherent nature of a professional staff member is a keen, lifelong passion for learning, and a deep curiosity and wonder about people, events, and places.
• Fostering Effective Relationships: A professional builds positive working relationships with colleagues, other departments, and the community.
• Establishing an Inclusive Environment: A professional creates a safe, caring environment that is inclusive of and engaging for others.
• Professional as a Leader: A professional seeks leadership opportunities.

QUALIFICATIONS and EXPERIENCE

• Master’s degree required (education or related field strongly preferred)
• Minimum of five (5) years of teaching experience required
• Minimum of two (2) years experience in school administration required
• Superior organizational, interpersonal, and written / verbal communication skills required
• Ability to manage multiple immediate, medium and long term projects required
• Proficiency with educational technology and systems required
• Prior experience as an assistant principal, principal, or equivalent school leadership role strongly preferred
• Prior experience in faculty supervision and evaluation strongly preferred
• Prior experience in student life, student support systems, and school culture leadership strongly preferred

PROFESSIONAL ATTRIBUTES

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• Relational Leadership: Builds trust with students, faculty, and families; fosters a strong sense of community
• Warm Demander Mindset: Balances care and connection with high expectations and accountability
• Systems Thinking: Designs and implements structures that are coherent, scalable, and sustainable
• Leadership of Leaders: Effectively develops, supports, and holds accountable other adults in leadership roles
• Visibility and Presence: Is highly engaged in daily student life events and activities and known throughout the community
• Communication and Public Presence: Strong public speaker who can inspire and connect with diverse audiences
• Judgment and Autonomy: Handles complex situations with discretion, confidence, and fairness while avoiding unnecessary escalation
• Commitment to Equity and Inclusion: Actively advances a diverse, inclusive, and culturally responsive school environment

WORK SCHEDULE

This is a full-time, 12-month position that includes responsibilities during the summer and scheduled school breaks. This position requires a minimum 40-hour workweek during regular work hours, Monday through Friday, 7:30 am - 4:00 pm. However, these hours may vary depending on departmental needs, deadlines, or school events. Flexibility to work outside of regular business hours is required.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

Our campus consists of multiple buildings on 44 hilly acres that requires frequent walking including uphill and stairs. The individual is required to talk and hear, often required to sit and use their hands and fingers, to handle or feel and to manipulate keys on a keyboard. The employee may be required to stand, walk, lift and carry approximately 10-15 pounds, reach with arms and hands, climb or balance, and to stoop, bend, kneel, crouch or crawl. Requires close vision.

MENTAL DEMANDS

On a daily basis, the employee must frequently problem solve, make decisions, supervise staff, interpret data, organize, write, plan, and clearly communicate.

EQUIPMENT USE

Telephone, Computer – frequently

Copier, Projector – occasionally

WORKING CONDITIONS

Indoor – frequently

Outdoor, Loud Noise, Cold Temperatures, Hot Temperatures – occasionally

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

Mid-Pacific Institute provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, marital status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.