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Appointed - Kelly Kramer
May 7, 2014
Oct 1, 2014
Colegio Internacional de Caracas
Caracas, Venezuela
seeks a
Superintendent
- effective July 2015 -
The Colegio Internacional de Caracas (CIC), located in Caracas, Venezuela, is seeking a Superintendent to start in July, for the 2015-16 school year. CIC is a well established (with a history back to 1896), AdvancED (SACS) accredited (re-accredited 2008 and scheduled for renewal in October 2014), Pre-Nursery through Grade Twelve school of just over 200 students. The student body is about 30% Venezuelan and the rest are from other countries. English is the language of instruction with a very high percentage of ELL students. CIC has been offering the IB Diploma program since 1985 and the IB MYP since October 2002. The physical plant is attractive with a new artificial turf hockey/soccer field.
The departing Superintendent has been at CIC since 1991 and has served as the Superintendent since 2009. She will be moving on at the end of the 2014-15 school year. The administrative structure includes an Elementary School Principal, a Secondary School Principal and a Business Manager. There are department heads as well as IBDP and IBMYP coordinators. At the elementary level there are Team Leaders for Pre-School, Primary and Intermediate grades. CIC has considered the implementation of the IB PYP program to their IB World School programs.
The school is a non-profit, parent owned association with a board comprised of parents elected on an annual basis. The Superintendent reports directly to the Board. There is an excellent working relationship between the Board and the Superintendent. The initial contract will be for a minimum of two years but a longer term initial contract is possible and preferred, as the Board wants to hire a person who will be at the school over the long term.
Candidates wishing to learn more about Colegio Internacional de Caracas and take a virtual tour should visit the CIC website at www.cic-caracas.org
Strengths to Preserve at CIC:
- The warm, friendly, family oriented atmosphere that drives the teachers and administrators to help every child to succeed
- Maintaining the strength of a very high quality academic curriculum and activity program
- Strong sense of community
- Focus on the whole-child
- The international character of the school
- Respect for teachers as professionals and support for teacher developed initiatives
- Maintenance of the friendly, collaborative culture that exists between teachers and administration
Critical Issue:
The culture of CIC is very positive, the educational program is very good and well supported, the faculty is outstanding and the physical plant is excellent in meeting program needs. There are no major deficiencies other than the need to increase student enrollment.
Core Values:
CIC has a well-established set of Core Values including Caring and Valuing every student, Arts as central to education, International and Global education through the IB programs and the Model United Nations events, and Service to Others. CIC maintains a very significant service outreach program to orphanages and to the local community, and has hosted the South American Model United Nations (SAMUN) for over 25 years.
Preferred Qualifications:
Applicants should have, at the minimum, a Master’s Degree and at least five (5) years administrative experience, preferably at the Superintendent (Director) level in an international school in a developing country.
Other, preferred qualifications include considerable experience at the high school level and with the IB program. The candidate must be proficient in the Spanish language.
Given the critical issue facing CIC, knowledge of and experience in marketing to increase enrollment will be important, as well as experience in overseeing the business aspects of managing the school’s resources.
Compensation Package
The compensation package is very attractive and will be commensurate with the candidate’s experience and skills.
Procedures for Filing Application
The CIC Board of Directors has appointed Search Associates as consultant in its search for a new Director with Ralph Jahr and Jim Ambrose being the lead consultants. The deadline for applications for the position is October 1, 2014. Candidates are asked to submit a letter of interest and the requested materials listed below as early as possible as the Search Committee reserves the right to close the selection process at any time if the right candidate is found.
The review of files will begin as soon as applications are received. Finalists will be selected by the Search Committee and 2 or 3 finalists will be selected as early in the process as possible. Finalist candidates together with their spouse (if applicable) will be invited to Caracas to meet with the Search Committee and the Board for final interviews and to visit the school campus and meet with faculty, parents, students, and non-teaching staff. The new Superintendent will be selected immediately after the conclusion of the site visits and final interviews. The new Superintendent will begin in July 2015.
Candidates should send the information listed below as a single pdf file attached to an email:
- A letter of application, explaining your strengths as a candidate and why you are interested in the Superintendent position of Colegio Internacional de Caracas.
- A statement describing your management and educational philosophy, not to exceed two pages.
- A current résumé not to exceed two pages.
- A one-page list of references with current addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.
- A maximum of three letters of reference (scanned at low resolution) that may already be in your possession.
Total document size should be kept to less than four (4) MB if possible. Applications should be sent to rjahr@searchassociates.com and jambrose@searchassociates.com Additional information about CIC can be found on the school’s web site at www.cic-caracas.org.
Ralph Jahr Tel: 609-759-0431 USA – Eastern Time Zone
Skype – ralph.h.jahr Email: RJahr@searchassociates.com
James Ambrose Tel: 775-267-3122 – USA - Pacific Time Zone
Skype – jimambrose Email: JAmbrose@searchassociates.com
Comments from the Consultant: from 2008
CIC operates not only in an ideal climate (low 70s to mid-80s and low humidity, year round, at 3,000 to 4,000 feet altitude), but more importantly with an excellent faculty, student and parental climate as well, reflecting the emphasis placed on the affective domain that complements the school’s continuing high academic standards. As noted above, there is one, over-riding critical concern – the need to increase enrollment.
A major construction project was completed last year that enhanced both the security of the campus and its beauty. Teachers are provided excellent accommodations and continue support during their stay in Venezuela.
CIC also completed IBDP and IBMYP re-accreditation and reauthorizations respectively. The AdvancED re-accreditation visit is scheduled for October 2014. (Professional Development and campus infrastructure have been the major focus of development over the years, with significant improvement in both.)
