Back to jobs
New

Principal 2026-2027

Foundation Academy

Schedule:
Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:15pm

Salary:
$125,000-$144,480

What is the opportunity?
This innovative school is dedicated to developing independent, empathetic, and high-achieving scholars through exceptional instruction, enrichment, and a culture of belonging. That’s where you come in. As Principal, you’ll set the vision for excellence, build and develop a high-performing team, and ensure every scholar reaches their fullest potential. If you’re a strategic instructional leader who inspires adults, drives results, and leads with equity—your next chapter starts here.. Grow with us!

What’s in it for you?

  • Smartphone and fully paid wireless plan through T-Mobile
  • Windows-based laptop
  • Paid Time Off (PTO) and paid school breaks aligned with the academic calendar.
  • Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance coverage for you and your family.
  • Pension Plan participation through the New Jersey Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF).
  • 403(b) Retirement Plan with employer contribution options.
  • Free financial wellness advising through our Financial Advisor Service
  • Optional short or long-term disability benefits through Aflac
  • Ongoing Professional Development and access to coaching and leadership opportunities
  • Supportive, Mission-Driven Culture centered on collaboration, respect, and purpose

What will you be doing?

  • Serve as the school’s instructional leader, modeling excellent teaching practices and maintaining a visible presence in classrooms.
  • Conduct frequent classroom observations and provide real-time, actionable feedback to strengthen instruction and scholar outcomes.
  • Ensure rigorous implementation of curriculum, assessments, and data-driven instruction across all classrooms.
  • Lead weekly professional development sessions and data meetings that drive continuous instructional improvement.
  • Analyze scholar achievement data to inform coaching, intervention, and school-wide academic strategies.
  • Promote interdisciplinary literacy and critical thinking across content areas to prepare scholars for college and career success.
  • Build and sustain a joyful, structured, and inclusive school culture where scholars are known, valued, and held to high expectations.
  • Lead restorative and proactive practices to promote scholar engagement and minimize disciplinary incidents.
  • Recruit, hire, and develop a diverse, mission-aligned team of teachers and staff.
  • Provide individualized coaching, evaluations, and growth pathways that foster professional excellence and leadership development.
  • Cultivate a collaborative, accountable staff culture grounded in equity, reflection, and shared purpose.
  • Partner with families as co-educators, fostering consistent communication and collaboration around scholar progress.
  • Plan and lead family engagement events and school ceremonies that celebrate scholar achievement and community connection.
  • Collaborate with community organizations to expand enrichment, wellness, and leadership opportunities for scholars.
  • Oversee daily school operations—including scheduling, budgeting, and compliance with state and federal regulations.
  • Develop and execute a strategic vision that aligns academic, cultural, and operational priorities with organizational goals.
  • Lead scholar recruitment, retention, and engagement strategies to sustain a thriving school community.
  • Model Foundation Academies’ mission and values in every decision, ensuring equity, excellence, and joy remain at the heart of school leadership.

What do we require from you?

  • Principal CE must be obtained within 60 days of employment
  • Must enroll in Leader 2 Leader within 30 days of obtaining CE
  • At least 5 years of exceptional teaching experience with demonstrated scholar achievement.
  • 2+ years working in an urban education setting preferred
  • Must have a track record of measurable success and achievement
  • You are committed to living out our mission
  • Welcomes the challenge to grow, learn, and improve in a collaborative environment
  • Committed to our mission of preparing all scholars for college and embodying our core values
  • Committed to serving our scholar population in an anti-discriminatory learning environment

Want to join our FAmily?
We are Foundation Academies: Trenton, New Jersey’s largest and highest-ranking K-12 free public charter school serving more than 1,000 scholars across three schools on two campuses. Our mission is to ensure that all of our scholars secure the academic knowledge and skills to prepare them for the nation’s finest colleges, and to instill in them the core values of caring, respect, responsibility, and honesty. We admit scholars by lottery, irrespective of gender, race, household income, or academic ability. Our team of experienced and mission-driven urban educators values growth mindsets, lifelong learners, and individuals who believe that every child deserves an excellent education. We hold ourselves, our scholars, and our city to high standards because that’s what our families deserve. We are conveniently located a quick car ride to downtown Princeton, a 45-minute SEPTA ride to Philly’s Center City, and a hop on the NJ Transit Express to New York City.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:
Foundation Academies is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best available persons in every job. Foundation Academies prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, creed, gender, gender identity, religion, marital status, registered domestic partner status, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sex, genetic information, sexual orientation, military and veteran status, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state, or local laws. All such discrimination is unlawful and prohibited by Foundation Academies. It is also our policy to comply with all applicable state and federal laws respecting consideration of unemployment status in making hiring decisions.

 

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at Foundation Academies? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Foundation Academies’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.