Founding School Leader Fellow (Alabama)

About the role

The BES Fellowship for Founding School Leaders - Alabama offers highly motivated leaders committed to transforming education the rigorous, multi-year training needed 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.
• 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.

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 at least 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

• Commitment to excellence for all students

Benefits

• This is a contract role with a $100,000 grant during the first year of the program (the Fellowship training year)
• Health reimbursements available
• Travel and accommodations for training and during school study travel
• Reimbursement for up to $5,000 in moving expenses
• Up to $3,500 reimbursed for school design expenses for Build Fellows
• The opportunity to apply for BES start-up fund awards and/or those provided exclusively to Fellows by our partners

Pay

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

Schedule

Start Date: Oct. 5, 2026