Managing Director of Student Supports

Overview

Excel Academy is a network of 5 schools in Massachusetts and Rhode Island that prepares students in grades 5-12 to succeed in high school and college and engage productively in their communities. The majority of our 1,700 students identify as Latinx or Hispanic and will be the first in their families to graduate from college. Families choose Excel because our students consistently outperform their peers in growth and achievement and are 5x more likely to graduate from college.

At Excel, we believe that every student—regardless of race, zip code, or economic status—deserves access to a free, high quality holistic education. During their middle school journey with us, students grow at a pace faster than most peers in their state. This is possible through a combination of high expectations, rigorous instruction, and individualized support. At our nationally ranked high school, students achieve at the highest level and are poised for success in their chosen college or career path.

About the Role

The Managing Director of Student Supports (MDSS) is a senior, network-level leader responsible for setting vision, building coherence, and strengthening how Excel Academy Charter Schools designs, delivers, and sustains student support systems across its schools. This role exists to ensure Excel\'s programmatic model—across states, grade bands, and tiers of support—is intentionally designed to support all learners, especially students with disabilities (SWDs) and multilingual learners (MLLs), in achieving their most ambitious personal goals.

The MDSS does not function as a day-to-day case manager nor compliance executor; their focus is on strategy, systems, and people. Through strong relationships, clear resources, and constant use of data, the MDSS creates the conditions for teachers and leaders to thrive. The MDSS is also a key thought partner for the broader network team, working to ensure that student supports are fully integrated into network decision-making and systems. This leader’s capacity to drive meaningful change and continuously improve will be critical as Excel prepares for future growth.

Salary

Salary: $110 - 170k, commensurate with experience.

Impact and Mission Alignment

You share a commitment to and belief in all students and the mission of Excel Academy Charter Schools, including Excel’s values and educational model. You are committed to addressing racial and economic inequity in education. You work effectively in a team environment and are open to change, problem-solving, and feedback for your own professional growth and improvement.

Preference will be given to applicants who share points of intersection with our students, such as speaking Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, or a language commonly spoken by our students and families at an advanced level, being a first-generation college graduate, or having grown up low-income.

Excel Academy Charter Schools do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, creed, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, ancestry, athletic performance, special need, proficiency in the English language or a foreign language or prior academic achievement. Applications will be reviewed as they are received and candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Responsibilities

• Establish and communicate a shared, network-wide approach to student supports, including Special Education, Multilingual Learner services, and academic and behavioral interventions.
• Ensure the vision aligns with Excel’s instructional philosophy, balancing network consistency with school-based flexibility in instruction.
• Partner with network-based academic leaders to ensure Tier 1 instruction, curriculum decisions, and professional learning are designed to be inclusive and accessible for all learners, including students with disabilities and multilingual learners.
• Collaborate across departments to reduce unnecessary separation between general education, special education, and ESL services.

• Maintain MTSS Systems, and Strengthen Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions
• Lead the network team to define what high-quality specialized instruction looks like in both self-contained and inclusive instructional settings
• Support alignment between intervention, specialized programming, and core instruction

• Create clear role expectations and decision-making boundaries for Deans of Student Supports, in partnership with principals
• Design onboarding, professional learning, and collaboration structures that help Deans of Student Supports succeed and grow
• Support school leaders in developing strategy for building-based leadership of MLL instruction and services
• Support school leaders in effectively supervising, developing, and retaining student supports staff

• Set and uphold a clear vision of excellence for student support roles across the network, including learning specialists, interventionists, and other student support staff
• Define what strong student support staffing looks like at different school levels and in different contexts
• Provide school leaders with frameworks, exemplars, and decision-making tools to design effective student support staffing models
• Allocate staff time strategically across Tier 1, 2, and 3 supports
• Balance instructional support, intervention, and case management responsibilities
• Collaborate with network finance and operations leaders to ensure student support staffing models are financially sustainable

• Collaborate with the Director of Student Support Case Management to establish clear network-level expectations and processes related to legal and regulatory compliance, high-complexity student situations, high-cost or high-risk decisions, and related service delivery and staffing models
• Directly manage the Director of Student Support Case Management to ensure case management and compliance systems are executed with fidelity
• Ensure that: case management and compliance systems are executed with fidelity; schools receive timely, high-quality support for compliance and complex student situations when needed
• Coordinate interactions with external stakeholders, including state and local education agencies, external evaluators and service providers, advocates, attorneys, and other outside professionals when necessary

• Collaborate with network leaders in finance, operations, data, and technology to ensure student support systems are reflected in core network structures
• Partner on budget modeling, staffing decisions, and resource allocation related to student supports
• Ensure data systems accurately and meaningfully represent students receiving services and support informed decision-making at all levels of the organization

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience as a senior leader in student supports, special education, or inclusive academic systems, with responsibility for setting vision, leading adults, and designing systems across multiple teams or schools.
• Proven ability to lead through influence rather than authority, including partnering with school leaders, coaching senior staff, and facilitating collaboration across roles and departments.
• Strong judgment and problem-solving skills in complex, high-stakes situations involving students, families, compliance requirements, and resource tradeoffs.
• Track record of building trust, developing leaders, and strengthening teams in environments that value collaboration, flexibility, and continuous improvement.
• Ability to work across functional areas (academics, operations, finance, data) to ensure student support priorities are integrated into broader organizational systems and decisions.
• Deep understanding of rigorous instructional practice across Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3, including how strong general education, intervention, and specialized supports work together to serve diverse learners.
• Experience supporting or overseeing special education and multilingual learner systems in alignment with state and federal requirements (direct compliance management not required, but fluency is essential).
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in education, leadership, or a related field preferred.

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