BES Fellowship for Founding School Leaders - Georgia

About the role

The BES Fellowship for Founding School Leaders - Georgia (outside of Atlanta) offers a rigorous, multi-year training program for highly motivated leaders committed to transforming education. This fellowship provides Fellows with the necessary skills and support to design, found, and lead a high-achieving school that meets the unique needs of its community.

Responsibilities

• Engage in over 300 hours of coursework on school design, leadership, governance, and community engagement, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Conduct in-depth studies of effective schools across the nation and complete residencies at high-performing schools.
• Develop a charter application and establish a founding board.
• Partner with a BES coach to refine project management and leadership skills, hire founding staff, recruit students, and solidify school vision.
• Put vision into action, welcome inaugural class, coach teachers, and use data to drive academic success.
• Deepen academic focus, serve growing student population, and build leadership capacity for future growth.
• Opt-in to additional leadership and professional development opportunities from BES.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s or Professional degree preferred
• Minimum 8 years of professional experience, with instructional or instructional leadership experience required
• At least 2 years managing and supervising adults in a PreK-12 setting required, 2 years of school leadership experience preferred
• Commitment to serving as a school leader in the proposed community for at least 10 years required
• Ability to establish and activate local connections to support school enrollment
• Strong preference for candidates with 2-3 years of experience living or working in the proposed school region, especially those with strong ties to the community
• A clear, compelling rationale for the proposed school location

Qualifications

• Self awareness and humility: Growth mindset and continuous improvement with a willingness to give, take, and implement feedback.
• Commitment to community: Experience in the community and strong organizational partnerships, ability to articulate community input.
• Diversity, equity and inclusion in action: Model for under-served communities, anti-racist approach, responsiveness to community needs.
• Commitment to excellence for all students: Clear vision, accountability for results, belief in high student achievement.

Benefits

• $100,000 grant during the first year of the program (the Fellowship training year)
• Health reimbursements
• Travel and accommodations for training and during school study travel
• Moving expenses reimbursement up to $5,000
• School design expenses reimbursement up to $3,500 for Build Fellows
• Opportunity to apply for BES start-up fund awards and/or partner-provided awards

Pay

This is a contract role with a $100,000 grant during the first year of the program (the Fellowship training year).

Schedule

The BES Fellowship training year runs from August 2026 through July 2027, during which time BES Fellows will receive disbursements from their $100,000 grant. While grant disbursements will end in July 2027, the authorization process in certain regions can sometimes extend beyond that time. BES Fellows will continue to receive coaching and guidance from BES through this phase to help them navigate the entirety of the authorization process. In addition, BES will work with Fellows affected by this timeline to identify additional funding opportunities for Fellows, wherever possible.