Mission Statement

Nagoya International School (NIS), with internationally accredited educational programs primarily serving English speaking students, enables all students to think critically, pursue lifelong learning, and contribute to their communities through an innovative, challenging curriculum, utilizing the unique resources of our community.

School Community

NIS is a private, coeducational day school founded in 1964 offering instruction to students from preschool through grade 12. The current senior class represents the first graduating cohort of IB DP candidates. An integrated, interdisciplinary, standards-based curriculum provides students with a strong educational foundation that leads to college preparatory courses in the high school. The language of instruction is English. Graduates earn a standard U.S. high school diploma, and additionally, have the option to obtain the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma.

Total enrollment is 340, with approximately 160 in grades 6-12. NIS serves students whose parents work in the international business community, as well as host-country nationals and other long-term foreign residents of Nagoya. Over 26 nationalities are represented, with the largest number coming from the U.S. and Japan. There are 40 full-time teachers from 6 different countries. All faculty members are certified in their respective countries and approximately 60% hold Masters degrees.

NIS is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), is authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) to offer the IB Diploma Program and has gained candidate status to begin implementing the IB Primary Years Program (PYP). Additionally, NIS is a member of the East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools (EARCOS), Japan Council of International Schools (JCIS), and The Commission on International and Transregional Accreditation (CITA).

Facilities

NIS is located in a rural area within the city-limits of Nagoya, Japan, a large urban city with a population of over 4 million. The school boasts a renovated campus, sports field and fitness center and upgraded information technology. Current facilities include: 23 classrooms, a 17,000+ volume library, two science laboratories, a gymnasium, art and music facilities, and a computer tech lab.

Position

The Secondary Principal is a key member of the NIS administrative team, who oversees all day-to-day operations of the middle and high school, and who reports directly to the Headmaster.

S/he will have overall responsibility for:

• managing all aspects of the secondary school in accordance with the policies and guidelines established by the Board;
• providing educational leadership and vision for the long-term educational benefit of the student population;
• overseeing and supporting all middle and high school athletics and co-curricular activities;
• maintaining a positive climate in the school, and creating a common commitment to excellence;
• providing instructional leadership, team building, and supervision and evaluation of teachers;
• ensuring that teaching inspires and motivates students to attain standards of excellence in academic and extra-curricular activities;
• developing and implementing a cohesive curricular plan for middle school, high school, and the IBDP, as well as coordination of schedules;
• working collaboratively with the Elementary Principal to ensure continuity of programs throughout the school;
• contributing to maintaining NIS’s accreditation status with WASC;
• assisting the Headmaster in recruiting highly-qualified faculty and staff.

Qualifications

NIS is proud of its achievements and is seeking to appoint a well-qualified, dynamic and forward-looking leader who will build on the many strengths of the school and lead it forward into the next phase of its development. We are looking for an individual who is willing to make a commitment to the school for the next 3-5 years.

The successful candidate will be an educator who, with regard to all or most of the following, is able to demonstrate:

• minimum of a Master’s degree preferably in Educational Leadership or Curriculum Development;
• excellent proven leadership and administration skills gained in an educational environment;
• commitment to international education and successful experience as an administrator of a secondary school in an international or multi-cultural community;
• experience working with the IB DP, knowledge of the IB MYP and/or sound knowledge of other international curricula.
• strong team leadership and exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to extend the collaboration and partnership between staff, students, parents and the wider community;
• native or near native proficiency in English;
• cross-cultural openness and understanding.

Terms and Conditions

The salary, benefits and terms of contract will be commensurate with the qualifications and experience sought in the candidate. The candidate should be available to start work on 1 August 2010.

Application Procedures

Interested candidates should send an application no later than October 31, 2009. (The review of files will begin as soon as applications are received). Candidates should note that, in the event an outstanding applicant is identified early in the search process, NIS reserves the right to make an appointment before the deadline mentioned above and to bring the search to a close. For this reason interested candidates are encouraged to apply at the earliest possible time.

Candidates should e-mail the information requested below as a single document in PDF format directly to the address listed below. Any photographs or scanned documents should be at low resolution, keeping the document size under 3 MB if at all possible.

• letter of application, explaining your strengths as a candidate and why you are interested in the Secondary Principal position at the Nagoya International School
• current résumé not to exceed two pages, addressing the required qualifications
• one to two page statement outlining educational philosophy and leadership style
• one-page list of references with phone numbers and e-mail addresses. This should include the current Head at your school, plus others as desired.
• three to five letters of reference (scanned at low resolution) that may already be in your possession.

Please send to:
Rob Risch, Ed.D.
Headmaster
Nagoya International School
headmaster@nis.ac.jp