January 2027 BES Fellowship for Founding School Leaders - Alabama

About the role

Jan 2027 Fellowship for Founding School Leaders - Alabama BES seeks a Fellow for our Fellowship program to serve as a founding school leader in Alabama. This BES Fellowship 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. BES welcomes applicants from any Alabama region for new public charter schools and aligned with authorizer priorities, with particular interest in leaders aiming to found schools in the Birmingham or Montgomery metropolitan areas or in rural areas of the state. For regions with significant charter presence, applicants will be required to make a strong case for how a new proposed charter school will be viable and meet the needs of the community.

Responsibilities

• Engage in over 300 hours of coursework on school design, leadership, governance, community engagement, and 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.
• In the planning year, partner with a BES coach to refine project management and leadership skills, hire founding staff, recruit students, and solidify the school vision.
• During the first two operational years, welcome the inaugural class, coach teachers, use data to drive academic success, deepen academic focus, serve a growing student population, and build leadership capacity.
• In year three of operation and beyond, opt‑in to additional BES leadership and professional development opportunities to strengthen the school and leadership bench.

Requirements

• Demonstrated ability to lead, manage, and motivate a team toward results; commitment to serve as a school leader in the proposed community for at least 10 years.
• Self‑awareness and humility: growth mindset, continuous desire to improve, eager to give, take, and implement feedback with humility in real time.
• Commitment to community: experience in the community where the school will be located, strong organizational partnerships, ability to gain and factor in community input.
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion in action: school model primarily serves students from under‑resourced communities, applies an anti‑racist lens, has success with similar populations, and is responsive to community needs.
• Commitment to excellence for all students: clear vision for the school, ability to discuss key elements in detail, holds self accountable for results, believes all students can achieve at high levels.

Qualifications

• 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.
• 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 community ties.
• Clear, compelling rationale for the proposed school location.

Pay

A $100,000 Fellowship grant during the first training year.

Benefits

• Healthcare reimbursement of up to $6,000 for an individual healthcare plan or up to $8,000 for a family plan.
• Travel and accommodations for training and during school study travel.
• Reimbursement for up to $5,000 in moving expenses.
• Reimbursements for school design expenses, design team expenses, or professional development (amount dependent on track).
• Opportunity to apply for BES start‑up fund awards and/or those provided exclusively to Fellows by partners.

Schedule

• Training year: January 2027 through December 2027 (grant disbursements end December 2027 or typically 12 months after Fellowship start).
• Planning year (Year Two): refine project management and leadership skills with a BES coach, hire founding staff, recruit students, solidify school vision.
• Operational years (Years Three and Four): launch school, welcome inaugural class, coach teachers, use data for academic success, deepen academic focus, serve growing student population, build leadership capacity.
• Year Three of operation and beyond: option to opt‑in to additional BES leadership and professional development opportunities.
• Note: The exact beginning and end dates for the Alabama Fellowship depend on local counties’ authorization timelines and candidate readiness; BES provides coaching throughout the authorization process and works to identify additional funding where possible.