Director of Student Belonging

Description

Exciting Opportunity at Francis Parker School in San Diego, California 

Francis Parker School is seeking an enthusiastic, dedicated, and passionate educator who shares its core values: Students First, Academic Excellence, Global Perspective, Strength of Character, Inclusive Community, and No Limit to Better. Collegial and collaborative, Parker faculty create a learning environment that is dynamic and engaging. Parker faculty are content and pedagogical experts who invest in professional growth generously supported by the School. Importantly, Parker’s unswerving commitment to being a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community creates a culture of respect for all.  

If Parker’s values and school culture resonate with you, we encourage you to consider this opportunity.

About Francis Parker School:

Parker is a coeducational independent day school in San Diego, California with 1,330 students in Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12. Founded in 1912, the school’s mission is “to create and inspire a diverse community of independent thinkers whose academic excellence, global perspective, and strength of character prepare them to make a meaningful difference in the world.” Parker has two campuses: one in Mission Hills (Lower School, Junior Kindergarten - Grade 5) and a second in Linda Vista (Middle and Upper School, Grades 6 - 12).

Job Description:

The Director of Student Belonging plays a critical role in reinforcing Parker's commitment to ensuring that diversity is not only present but celebrated and meaningfully integrated into the bedrock of Parker’s institutional ethos. This work involves fostering meaningful partnerships with the school's internal and external stakeholders, enhancing competency across divisions, and supporting affinity groups to strengthen community connections.

Reporting to the Head of Integration for Belonging, the Director is the primary student-facing leader within Parker's distributed belonging structure. This is a deeply relational role: the Director works directly with divisional leaders across all three divisions, to support student identity development, affinity groups and student leadership, bridging the gap between the classroom and lived student experience.

The Director of Student Belonging will be a dynamic and resilient leader with deep expertise in DEIB practices and a proven ability to inspire and unite diverse stakeholders. They will possess exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, enabling them to navigate complex conversations, build trust, and foster meaningful connections across the JK–12 community. Strategic and empathetic, the ideal candidate will balance leadership with hands-on engagement. This leader will also be collaborative, approachable, and thoughtful, creating safe spaces for dialogue while advocating for and supporting all students.

Requirements

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

Student Support, Identity, and Belonging

• Bridge the gap between DEIB education and practice by creating spaces for student empowerment, identity support, bias-related incidents, and meaningful participation in civil discourse

• Partner with deans, advisors, and student support teams to ensure students experiencing belonging challenges receive holistic, coordinated care

• Reinforce Parker’s commitment to ensuring that belonging is not only present but celebrated and meaningfully integrated as the bedrock of Parker’s institutional ethos. 

Affinity Groups and Student Leadership

• Oversee and support student affinity groups across all three divisions, ensuring spaces are healthy, purposeful, and well-resourced

• Facilitate student participation in local, regional, and national belonging-focused conferences and leadership programs, including but not limited to NAIS SDLC, and Regional Student Diversity Summits

• Create opportunities for dialogue, collaboration, and community building among students from different affinity communities

Belonging Programming and Cultural Celebration

• Facilitate efforts to recognize and celebrate cultural heritage events, religious observances, identity-based initiatives and identity-affirming assemblies within the school calendar

• Partner with divisional leaders to integrate belonging programming into advisory, community meeting blocks, and the school calendar in ways that are developmentally appropriate and intellectually safe, and ensure belonging programming is visible, and well-communicated 

Restorative Justice and Civil Discourse

• Apply restorative justice practices to student conflict and community harm — facilitating restorative conversations, community circles, and follow-up accountability processes in partnership with divisional deans and student support leaders

• Build student capacity for civil discourse: equipping students with the skills, frameworks, and facilitated practice needed to engage respectfully across difference, navigate difficult conversations, and participate in constructive disagreement

• Support divisional leaders and faculty in implementing restorative approaches in their own spaces, serving as a coach and thought partner on restorative practice

• Develop and maintain clear, consistent protocols for responding to bias-related incidents involving students, in partnership with the Head of Integration for Belonging and divisional leadership

E.E Ford Foundation Framework for Schools

• Support the active rollout and implementation of the E.E. Ford Foundation Framework for Schools across all divisions, partnering with the Head of Integration for Belonging to align student-facing programming with the framework’s principles

• Apply the E.E. Ford Framework as a guiding lens for affinity group programming, civil discourse facilitation, professional development content, and student support practices

• Help build student familiarity with the framework through facilitated learning experiences and integrated programming

Data, Assessment, and Reporting

• Use qualitative and quantitative data to identify areas of strength and opportunity, foster a culture of accountability, and facilitate progress toward DEIB goals, including data on student demographics

• Track student participation, engagement, and satisfaction data across affinity groups and belonging programming, using data to inform program design and report on outcomes

• Report regularly to the Head of Integration for Belonging on program progress, emerging student needs, and areas requiring institutional attention or response

 Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in a related field preferred

• Minimum of 4 years of leadership in DEIB-related roles, with experience in PreK–12 settings, classroom teaching experience, and having formally supervised employees or student groups

• Demonstrated experience leading or supporting affinity groups, identity-based student programming, or culturally responsive youth development

• Experience applying restorative justice or restorative practice frameworks in educational or community settings

• Experience with civil discourse facilitation — supporting students and adults in engaging respectfully and constructively across difference

• Familiarity with the E.E. Ford Foundation Framework for Schools, or a demonstrated commitment to learning and actively applying it

• Proven ability to lead change initiatives, develop strategic plans, and inspire community-wide collaboration

• Expertise in translating research on equity and belonging into actionable and sustainable practices within schools

• Independent school experience preferred but not required

Salary and Benefits:

Parker is committed to attracting and retaining the highest quality faculty and staff through a substantial compensation plan, including competitive salary, TIAA retirement benefits, and full medical/dental coverage. 

Salary Range: $100,000 - $125,000 per year, based on experience.

Non-Discrimination:

Francis Parker School values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty, and staff from different backgrounds.  All employment decisions are made without regard to unlawful considerations of race, color, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state, or local law.

Application Process:

To be considered, interested candidates must submit the following:

• Online employment application. 
• Cover Letter
• Resume

Your application will be considered incomplete if you do not include all required information, including completion of the Employment History, Education, and References sections of the online application, required attachments, and responses to all application questions.