Job Description

TO APPLY: apply directly on LinkedIn and send your resume and cover letter to hkamal@tarbiyahacademy.org

Tarbiyah Academy is seeking a visionary, relational, and systems-oriented Head of Middle School to lead Grades 6–8. As a mission-driven Islamic school grounded in the International Baccalaureate framework, we are committed to developing confident, principled young people during one of the most formative stages of their lives.

About the Role

The Head of Middle School is responsible for academic excellence, faculty leadership, student culture, and family partnership within the division. This role requires a leader who understands the developmental complexity of adolescence and can build a culture that is structured, nurturing, spiritually grounded, and intellectually rigorous.

The Head of Middle School must be a leader of people, not only programs. This role requires high emotional intelligence, patience, and steadiness. The ideal candidate demonstrates strong self-awareness and emotional regulation, navigates conflict among adolescents and adults with wisdom and composure, sets clear expectations while maintaining empathy and fairness, and builds a culture of trust, accountability, and belonging.

As a leader in an Islamic institution, the Head of Middle School embodies and cultivates a spiritually grounded culture with a commitment to ongoing tazkiyah—intentional self-reflection and spiritual growth. The Head of Middle School understands that effective leadership requires continuous inward work to sustain clarity, humility, humility, and resilience.

This leader must be deeply committed to a holistic Islamic education, one that integrates academic rigor, character formation, spiritual development, and identity-building within a coherent Islamic worldview.

The Head of Middle School reports directly to the CEO and serves as a member of the Pedagogical Leadership Team (PLT). This role works in close collaboration with the IB Coordinator, Learning Specialist, School Counselor, AQI Coordinator, Business Manager, and other school leaders to ensure coherence, alignment, and excellence.

Responsibilities

Instructional Leadership & Academic Excellence

• Lead implementation of a rigorous, inquiry-based academic program aligned with the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Tarbiyah Academy’s Islamic worldview
• Support subject teams in high-quality unit design, assessment alignment, and interdisciplinary learning
• Conduct classroom observations and provide instructional coaching
• Monitor student achievement data and guide faculty in responsive instructional planning
• Establish and track middle school academic goals aligned with school priorities

The Head of Middle School collaborates closely with the IB Coordinator on matters related to instructional alignment, faculty evaluation processes, school calendar planning, and the development of the master schedule to ensure coherence across divisions.

Faculty Leadership & Team Development

• Hire, onboard, and support middle school faculty
• Lead faculty evaluation, growth conversations, and professional development planning in collaboration with school leadership
• Foster a collaborative, high-accountability adult culture
• Facilitate divisional meetings focused on instruction, student support, and alignment
• Support leadership development within the middle school team

Student Culture & Community Life

• Design and lead a strong middle school culture grounded in dignity, discipline, belonging, and responsibility
• Oversee student behavior systems and restorative practices
• Address student discipline and complex student cases with clarity and care
• Partner closely with the School Counselor and Learning Specialist to support academic, social-emotional, and behavioral interventions
• Oversee the Coordinator of Middle School Life & Community Projects, ensuring that student leadership opportunities, service learning, and community initiatives align with the school’s mission

Family Partnership & Communication

• Serve as the primary leader for middle school parent communication
• Address parent concerns with professionalism and transparency
• Support families in understanding adolescent development, IB expectations, and the school’s holistic Islamic approach
• Host parent information sessions and forums as needed

Collaboration & Schoolwide Alignment

• Serve as an active member of the Pedagogical Leadership Team
• Collaborate with the IB Coordinator on instructional alignment, faculty evaluation structures, master scheduling, and school calendar development
• Work closely with the AQI Coordinator to ensure Islamic studies and character development are meaningfully integrated into middle school life
• Partner with the Events Coordinator to plan and execute middle school–specific events as well as whole-school events
• Contribute to schoolwide strategic planning and institutional growth

Who You Are

• You are deeply aligned with the mission of an Islamic educational institution
• You believe in a holistic vision embedded in an Islamic world view
• You understand the developmental needs of early adolescents
• You are a strong instructional leader who is present in classrooms
• You are organized, decisive, and systems-oriented
• You are warm, firm, and consistent in your leadership
• You thrive in collaborative, mission-driven environments

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelors degree in Education, Educational Leadership, or related field
• Minimum 5 years of leadership experience

Preferred

• Master’s degree in Education, Educational Leadership, or related field
• Experience in IB Middle Years Programme (MYP)
• Experience in independent Islamic schools
• Experience working with middle school students

Why Tarbiyah Academy

Tarbiyah Academy is a growing Islamic school committed to academic rigor, spiritual development, and whole-child education. We are an incredibly relational and collaborative community. Our leadership culture emphasizes continuous reflection and a commitment to purifying our niyyah (intention) as we carry forward this work together.

We believe that excellence is not only measured in outcomes, but in integrity, humility, and the sincerity with which we serve our students and families. The Head of Middle School plays a pivotal role in shaping students during one of the most transformative periods of their lives while contributing meaningfully to a leadership team that is intentional, reflective, and spiritually anchored.

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