The Headmaster College is a leadership formation program launched in August 2016. The program includes a year-long residency in a Texas or Arizona school and is designed to cultivate the next generation of Great Hearts school leaders.
Great Hearts is the national leader in classical education, serving more than 14,000 K-12 students at 28 public charter schools in Arizona and Texas, with waitlists that exceed enrollment. Our mission is to provide American students the finest education and moral formation available anywhere in the world. Our academies are staffed by exemplary teachers and are founded upon the classical ideals of truth, beauty and goodness. Developing strong leaders for our schools is essential, as the Headmaster sets the academic, cultural tone of the academy and hires and attends to the growth of the faculty.
Headmasters-in-residence will experience integrative projects and study, executive coaching and directly-related fieldwork at one of our current schools. The program will provide a durable foundation for Headmastership and subsequent professional development, as Headmasters will use the year as a touchstone for what it means to shape an exceptional Great Hearts academy.
Participants will:
Apprenticeship
Customized Executive Coaching
Course of Study
Headmasters-in-residence are compensated with salary and benefits by the Great Hearts academy where they are employed. Upon successful completion of the residency program, graduates will be considered for school leadership openings and appointed to them as the graduate readiness matches the school need.
The application window for the 2019-20 cohort is now closed. Questions about 2020-21 admissions should be sent to hhayes@greatheartsamerica.org
The program is a year-long residency with cohorts in Arizona and Texas. Participants in these cohorts of up to 12 enrollees will engage in integrative projects, executive coaching and relevant fieldwork. Preference will be given to applicants with experience teaching at a Great Hearts school.
If you are from a school outside of Great Hearts and would be interested in participating in a virtual Headmaster College, please let us know here.
Great Hearts will recruit and develop outstanding leaders to serve as the next generation of Headmasters, Assistant Headmasters, and Deans within our growing network of academies. The model is designed to emulate the residency process which doctors complete, such that our emerging leaders (internal and external) have the support and direction needed to develop into excellent and confident school leaders. Our goal is to recruit up to 12 enrollees in the program.
The Great Hearts Headmaster College is a one-year, intense training program that consists of three program components: the apprenticeship portion takes place during school hours, executive coaching occurs weekly, and the course-of-study portion includes weekly evening classes and two site-based retreats. Orientation takes place in August, and the program concludes in mid-June.
The program will primarily take place in Phoenix, Arizona, with most of our enrollees apprenticing at our older and established academies in this region. However, for those interested in apprenticing at one of our Texas academies in San Antonio or Irving, we provide teleconferencing for weekly courses, monthly seminars, and retreats, with periodic travel to Arizona for full-cohort activities.
Yes, Headmaster College participants receive a full salary and benefits during the year of the program from the academy where they are employed during their residency year.
A number of key assessments and evaluations will be deployed throughout the Headmaster-in-Residence’s tenure. After successful completion of the program in May, the enrollee’s assigned executive coach and the veteran headmaster at the enrollee’s apprenticeship campus will consult with Great Hearts leadership to recommend a participant for a full-time headmaster or assistant headmaster position during the 2017-18 school year. Robert Wagner, Vice President of Academy Operations, makes the final appointments. Graduates of the Headmaster College are expected to commit at least two additional academic years of work within Great Hearts.
Yes. Graduates from the Headmaster College will receive ongoing professional development opportunities. In fact, many elements of the weekly coursework will be available for all new full-time headmasters to attend. The full-time headmaster’s direct supervisor, the Vice President of Academies, coaches new headmasters; full-time assistant headmasters and deans receive coaching from their school’s headmaster. Most importantly, headmastership will admit the graduate into the collegium of Great Hearts headmasters, who meet regularly (formally and informally) and have proven to be invaluable in their support and guidance of one another.
Please direct questions to Helen Hayes at hhayes@greatheartsaz.org.
