Job Overview

Head of School Search Profile: Summit Christian School

Fort Myers, Florida

I. Role Purpose

The Head of School (HOS) serves as the chief spiritual, academic, and operational leader of Summit Christian School (SCS). This executive is responsible for clarifying and stewarding the school's Christ-centered mission, strengthening academic and cultural coherence, and ensuring long-term institutional sustainability. The HOS works in close partnership with the Board of Directors and the leadership of Westminster Presbyterian Church to ensure the school remains a vibrant ministry of the church.

II. Institutional Identity and Vision

Summit Christian School is a small, relational community that understands education as discipleship, not merely information transfer.

• Mission: Summit Christian School partners with families to form students who know Christ, think deeply, and serve faithfully.
• Vision Statement: Summit Christian School will be a grace-filled community where every student is truly known, deeply loved, and faithfully challenged—graduating young men and women who think clearly, believe deeply, and serve humbly.
• Core Values:
  • Gospel Centered Foundation: Faith and learning are inseparable. The gospel shapes everything – our curriculum, our character formation, and our community life.
  • Truly Known: Every student is truly known, loved deeply, and challenged to grow in a community of grace.
  • Wisdom for Life: We pursue academic depth not for test scores but to form wise thinkers who can engage with the world with discernment and skill.
• The "Shark" Identity: SCS is committed to a focused, unapologetically Christian identity that drives all curriculum, admissions, staffing, and programming decisions. The school seeks to move away from being "too many things to too many people" to ensure every student is truly known, loved, and challenged.

III. Core Leadership Responsibilities

1. Mission & Vision Leadership

• Articulate and Protect Identity: Serve as the primary champion of the school's mission, ensuring a biblical worldview is integrated authentically—not performatively—across all programs.
• Strategic Planning: Lead long-range planning that aligns school initiatives with actual institutional capacity and theological convictions.
• Church-School Bridge: Act as a visible, relational bridge between the school and Westminster Presbyterian Church, fostering unified vision and shared resources.

2. Academic & Program Leadership

• Curriculum Coherence: Ensure instructional consistency and curriculum continuity across all grade levels.
• Balanced Outcomes: Pursue academic rigor while maintaining a joyful learning environment and preparing students for real-world readiness.
• Specialized Support: Oversee the FLOURISH Program, supporting students with learning differences (Cultivate) and high-achievers (SOAR) within clearly defined parameters to ensure teacher sustainability.

3. Culture & Community Leadership

• Build Trust: Foster a culture of grace, accountability, and high expectations among faculty, specifically addressing the need for clarity and consistency.
• Spiritual Modeling: Serve as a credible spiritual leader who models authentic, Christ-honoring life for students, staff, and families.
• Relational Engagement: Maintain a "family feel" where every student is known by name and story.

4. Operational & Financial Leadership

• Systems Building: Move the school from "crisis management" to operational health by designing and implementing sustainable systems for budgeting, staffing, and communication.
• Sustainability: Strengthen enrollment strategies and donor development to ensure financial stability and the ability to offer financial aid without compromising the mission.
• Faculty Care: Prioritize systems that sustain people rather than burning them out, ensuring manageable class sizes and efficient administrative processes.

IV. Ideal Candidate Profile

Non-Negotiable Competencies

• Spiritual Alignment: A clear, Reformed Christian faith with theological alignment to Westminster Presbyterian Church.
• Visionary Identity: The capacity to articulate a focused school identity and the courage to make difficult, mission-aligned decisions.
• Relational Intelligence: A trust-building leadership style characterized by strong listening skills and high emotional intelligence.
• Visionary-Executor: The rare ability to be both a visionary who casts a clear path and an executor who builds the systems to get there.

Desired Leadership Style

• Servant-Hearted & Relational: A leader who is kind, collaborative, and accessible to the community.
• Empowering: One who empowers faculty and staff rather than micromanaging, while maintaining clear follow-through and oversight.
• Strategic & Systems-Minded: Comfortable translating high-level vision into executable operational plans.

V. Strategic Priorities for the New Head of School

The next leader will be expected to address the following within the first 1–3 years:

1. Identity Alignment: Lead the school's philosophical alignment (An Adaptive college-preparatory model with classical Christian building blocks that strengthens our student body and maintains our culture) to drive curriculum and admissions.
2. System Implementation: Build sustainable administrative and operational structures to reduce reactionary decision-making.
3. Trust Restoration: Strengthen trust among faculty, the Board, and the church through transparent communication and consistent leadership.
4. Enrollment & Student Profile: Refine the "Ideal Student Profile" to ensure admissions are aligned with the school's specific mission and capabilities.

Job Description

Head of School: Summit Christian School

Location: Fort Myers, Florida Reporting Relationship: Board of Directors

Position Overview

Summit Christian School (SCS) seeks a Christ-centered, mission-driven, and emotionally mature leader to serve as its next Head of School. As the chief spiritual, academic, and operational leader, the Head of School is responsible for executing and stewarding the school's mission, strengthening academic coherence, and ensuring long-term institutional sustainability. Summit Christian School is a vibrant ministry of Westminster Presbyterian Church. This role serves as a relational bridge between the school and church, fostering a unified vision for education as discipleship.

Institutional Identity

• Mission: To partner with families to form students who know Christ, think deeply, and serve faithfully.
• Vision: To be a grace-filled community where every student is truly known, deeply loved, and faithfully challenged–graduating young men and women who think clearly, believe deeply, and serve humbly.
• Core Values:

○ Gospel Centered Foundation: Faith and learning are inseparable. The gospel shapes everything – our curriculum, our character formation, and our community life.

○ Truly Known: Every student is truly known, loved deeply, and challenged to grow in a community of grace.

○ Wisdom for Life: We pursue academic depth not for test scores but to form wise thinkers who can engage with the world with discernment and skill.

• Ideal Graduate Profile (Summit Sharks Are:)

○ Spiritually Grounded: Summit graduates possess a personal understanding of the gospel and find their identity in being image-bearers of God, not in performance or approval. They read scripture independently, articulate their faith naturally, and practice authentic prayer and worship. They exhibit character marked by integrity, perseverance, and humility, making choices aligned with their convictions even under pressure.

○ Academically Equipped: Summit graduates think critically through a biblical lens, evaluating ideas and cultural thoughtfulness rather than passively. They

demonstrate strong foundations in literacy, mathematics, and reasoning, and they 9065 Ligon Court, Fort Myers, FL, 33908 | www.summitswfl.org | 239-482-7007

communicate clearly in both writing and speech. They understand the narrative arc of scripture and integrate that framework across disciplines.

○ Lifelong Learners: Summit graduates have learned how to learn. They approach unfamiliar material with curiosity and confidence, ask for help when needed, and cultivate independent study habits. They are not dependent on a teacher to spoon-feed content–they own their intellectual path.

○ Relationally Mature: Summit graduates thrive in community. They collaborate well, serve others practically, and navigate conflict with grace, honesty, and forgiveness. They have been genuinely known and loved at Summit, and they extend that posture to others as they engage in the world.

Core Leadership Responsibilities

1. Spiritual & Mission Leadership

• Articulate and Protect Identity: Serve as the primary champion of the school's mission, ensuring a biblical worldview is integrated authentically—not performatively—across all programs.
• Strategic Planning: Lead long-range planning that aligns school initiatives with actual institutional capacity and theological convictions.
• Church-School Bridge: Act as a visible, relational bridge between the school and Westminster Presbyterian Church, fostering unified vision and shared resources.

1. Academic & Programmatic Oversight

• Curriculum Coherence: Ensure instructional consistency and curriculum continuity across all grade levels.
• Balanced Outcomes: Pursue academic rigor while maintaining a joyful learning environment and preparing students for real-world readiness.
• Specialized Support: Oversee the FLOURISH Program, supporting students with learning differences (Cultivate) and high-achievers (SOAR) within clearly defined parameters to ensure teacher sustainability.

1. Operational & Financial Stewardship

• Systems Building: Guide the school from short-term problem solving toward consistent operational health through sustainable systems for budgeting, staffing, and communication.
• Sustainability: Strengthen enrollment strategies and donor development to ensure financial stability and the ability to offer financial aid without compromising the mission.

9065 Ligon Court, Fort Myers, FL, 33908 | www.summitswfl.org | 239-482-7007

• Faculty Care: Prioritize systems that foster a healthy and sustainable work environment, including manageable class sizes, responsibilities, and efficient administrative processes.

1. Culture & Community Building

• Build Trust: Foster a culture of grace, accountability, and high expectations among faculty, specifically addressing the need for clarity and consistency.
• Spiritual Modeling: Serve as a credible spiritual leader who models an authentic, Christ-honoring life for students, staff, and families.
• Relational Engagement: Maintain a "family feel" where every student is known by name and story.

Strategic Priorities (Years 1–3)

The incoming Head of School will be expected to focus on:

1. Identity Alignment: Lead the school's philosophical alignment (An Adaptive college-preparatory model with classical Christian building blocks that strengthen our student body and maintain our culture) to drive curriculum and admissions.
2. System Implementation: Build sustainable administrative and operational structures to reduce reactionary decision-making.
3. Trust Building: Continue strengthening trust among faculty, the Board, and the church through transparent communication and consistent leadership.
4. Enrollment & Student Profile: Refine the "Ideal Student Profile" to ensure admissions are aligned with the school's specific mission and capabilities.

Ideal Candidate Profile

Non-Negotiable Competencies:

• Spiritual Alignment: A clear, Reformed Christian faith with theological alignment and membership to Westminster Presbyterian Church.
• Visionary Identity: The capacity to articulate a focused school identity and the courage to make difficult, mission-aligned decisions.
• Relational Intelligence: A trust-building leadership style characterized by strong listening skills and high emotional intelligence.
• Visionary-Executor: The rare ability to be both a visionary who casts a clear path and an executor who builds the systems to get there.

9065 Ligon Court, Fort Myers, FL, 33908 | www.summitswfl.org | 239-482-7007

Desired Leadership Style:

• Servant-Hearted & Relational: A leader who is kind, collaborative, and accessible to the community.
• Empowering: Ability to empower faculty and staff through a collaborative and trust-based leadership approach.
• Strategic & Systems-Minded: Comfortable translating high-level vision into executable operational plans.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Graduate degree required; Advanced degree in education, leadership, or theology preferred.
• Proven leadership experience in a Christian school or comparable ministry setting. ● Experience with strategic planning and systems-minded operations.
• Ability to empower faculty and staff through collaborative leadership rather than micromanagement.
• Ordained (or ordainable) Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is a plus.

Summit Christian School is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, employment practices, or other school-administered programs.