Job Summary
The Summer Arts and Learning Academy Director of Operations is one half of the site leadership team
and works side by side with the Summer Arts Academy Site Director to promote and support the overall
vision and mission of the Summer Arts and Learning Academy. Young Audiences believes in establishing
a co-director relationship between the Site Director and the Director of Operations at each site,
believing that shared responsibility for leadership allows the directors to focus on their personal
strengths in making decisions for the program. The Director of Operations, is primarily responsible for
the day to day operations of the site specifically overseeing student achievement, daily attendance and
data collection and reporting, climate and culture, scheduling, building and staff supervision, and
emergency procedures.
About the Summer Arts & Learning Academy:
Baltimore City Schools’ Summer Arts & Learning Academy (SALA), operated by Young Audiences/Arts for
Learning Maryland (YA), is an action-packed, full-day, five-week program that introduces students to a
wide variety of art forms—from illustration and spoken word to percussion, drama, and dance—and
gives students a chance to work alongside students from across the city and be taught by professional
artists. Daily literacy and math classes are co-taught by a teacher and professional teaching artist
allowing students to experience reading, writing, and math like never before...through the arts!
Students have the opportunity to imagine, create, and express who they are through the arts and try on
art forms they never imagined. Students travel to different arts destinations across the city, and their
work will be celebrated through a student showcase on the final day of the program. YA will host eight
Academy sites throughout the City, locations TBD. Each site will host 10-13 classrooms of 26 students
each.
Mission and Core Values:
The mission of Young Audiences elementary grade Summer Arts & Learning Academy is to provide
students with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a summer learning from the best teachers and
teaching artists our state has to offer. Through a dynamic, creative, and supportive environment,
students will explore math and literacy in a unique arts-integrated environment that prevents the
summer learning slide, allows them to develop socially and emotionally, expands their personal creative
process, and introduces them to many different art forms taught by professional artists.
We...
● believe unwaveringly that ALL students can achieve high standards in and through the arts;
● provide opportunities for students to develop powerfully articulate voices through art forms and
honor their creative processes along the way;
● create safe, brave learning environments for students to grow, make mistakes, and contribute
to the community;
● collaborate and reflect by learning from and with each other at every step of the process,
cultivating positive relationships between all ages;
● encourage the development of critical thinking, problem solving, inquiry, imagination, and
creativity, and provide multiple ways for students to demonstrate knowledge and mastery;
● learn about, honor, and leverage the cultural knowledge, experiences, and frames of reference
of our students and community to make learning more relevant and effective;
● ensure that our students are known, loved, supported, celebrated, and valued.
Essential Skills and Attributes:
● Proven success leading educational initiatives, building positive school cultures, and motivating
and supporting staff.
● Excellent personnel management experience.
● Teaching or administrative certification required.
● Strong collaboration and leadership skills
● Excellent Organizational Skills
● Punctuality and ability to meet deadlines
● Excellent and timely communication skills
● Excellent disciplinary skills
● Ability to have critical conversations and provide feedback with teachers, staff, parents and
students when necessary.
● Understanding and appreciation of arts integration
● Ability to fill in as a substitute in the classroom
Dates and Times:
To be selected for this program, directors must be able to commit to the following dates and times.
● All SALA staff will need to attend a series of professional development trainings. If this is your
first year participating in the program, you will have to attend an additional orientation. The
dates and times for these events will be shared at a later date. Details about each training are
below: All sessions are required and paid.
○ New Staff Orientation: This orientation will take place on a Saturday and is for new staff
only.
○ Regional Orientation and Cookout: This will take place on a weeknight evening.
○ One Site-Based Saturday PD: This will be held on a Saturday.
○ Content Training: This will be held on a Saturday
● Training and Professional Development Week - Wed-Fri, June 24-26 and Mon-Tues, June 29-30,
9:00 am – 4:30 pm. This is required and is paid.
● Final On-Site Prep and Planning Day
● Academy Dates: For all 5-week sites, the program will begin on July 6th and end on August 7th.
Program hours are 8:30 am (Breakfast) to 3:00 pm. Full-Day Teacher Time Commitment: 8:30
am-3:30 pm. Half-Day Teacher Time Commitment: 8:30 am-1:30 pm. Note: one Academy
location will run an additional week and end on August 14th.
● Two 1-hour planning meetings/staff meetings per week (times TBD, most likely staff meetings
on Tuesday and Thursdays at 8:00 am).
Essential Functions:
● Ensure that the philosophy and core values of the Summer Arts and Learning Academies are
central to the school culture and visible throughout the site.
● Establishes a positive and productive school climate for all staff and students.
● Supports the Summer Arts and Learning Academy Director in providing oversight of the daily
operations and implementation of the summer learning instructional program to ensure that all
students have access to unique, relevant, challenging and fun learning experience.
● Oversee all administrative aspects of the summer arts academy.
● Monitor student attendance data, prepare reports that summarize student attendance and
achievement data, evaluate student progress, conduct weekly meetings/training with staff and
monitors the overall operation of the program.
● Ensure that parents/guardians of absent students are called daily to promote high rates of daily
attendance.
● Ensure all artists/teachers submit written weekly instructional outlines for all classes
● Ensure arts integration/co-teaching planning occurs and keep records of time spent
● Attend required training and meetings as directed by Young Audiences
● Work cross-functionally with Young Audiences and Baltimore City Schools stakeholders to
ensure smooth operation of the site including teaching and learning (Office of Extended
Learning, Office of Specialized Services, Extended School Year Office and Office of Fine Arts),
food and nutrition, transportation, student support and safety, and communications.
● Complete at least one hour lesson observations of each artist or artist/teacher pair (10 total
observations). Provide written feedback to artist and teacher and a copy to Young Audiences.
● Respond to inquiries from parents and the community in a timely and professional manner with
consultation from Young Audiences and the Office of Teaching and Learning at Baltimore City
Public Schools.
● Supports Summer Arts Academy Director in providing supervision and oversight of all site based
staff, including teachers, teaching artists, teaching artist assistants, interns, Youthworks, and
contract staff.
● Models and requires that all staff engage in practices that promote high performance, ethical
behavior, collegiality and teamwork.
● Creates and implements (in collaboration with co-director and student support specialist) a
behavior management system and other policies and procedures for the site.
● Plan, coordinate and implement field trips in collaboration with Summer Arts Academy Site
Director and YA staff.
● Collaborate with and provide support for various partnerships and external stakeholders.
● Submit verbal and written reports as required.
● Oversee purchasing of site based supplies as needed.
● Supervise all site based admin staff including Interns, and Youthworks.
● Oversee parent/guardian involvement workshops.
● Serve as substitute in classrooms when needed.
● All other duties as assigned.
To apply:
For consideration, apply online at
https://www.yamd.org/programs/summer-arts-academy/work-with-us/
