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What does a school director do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

A school director oversees educational programs, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. They typically gather and analyze data, review reports, monitor faculty staff's performance and the progress of all teaching methods, and resolve issues should any arise. They usually work together with the teaching staff to research and develop educational curricula and programs, participate in hiring educators, and supervise staff. Moreover, a school director leads and encourages the workforce to reach goals while implementing the school's policies and regulations, developing new ones when necessary.

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School director responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real school director resumes:

  • Lead project management team in development/execution of conferences and enduring CME -accredite programs.
  • Improve student performance on district and statewide achievement tests in language arts literacy, mathematics, and science.
  • Launch several new programs: pre-K, physical education, drama, and reading.
  • Plan, organize, and administer a school for home teach students in grades kindergarten through high school.
  • Create math curriculum, develop teacher/room/subject/student schedules.
  • Supervise, develop and implement preschool and kindergarten before and after school program.
  • Reconcile special activity bank accounts and run reports using QuickBooks and upload into SharePoint.
  • Create and implement first region-wide initiative providing single-point-of-contact which improve quality of early childhood education.
  • Establish and maintain relationships with colleges, community organizations, and other schools to coordinate educational services.
  • Provide ACLS mock codes throughout the hospital on a monthly basis.
  • Conduct spontaneous mock codes, ensuring all clinical staff are competent in rapid patient response and ACLS protocols.
  • Rework current academic support instructional team to target tier interventions base on RTI teaching and assessment model.
  • Plan & implement school wide RTI program utilizing all available hands on deck for best small group support for students.
  • Participate in building decision making, discipline procedures, MTSS, and PLC implementation for school improvement.
  • Conduct volunteer orientations and periodical trainings (prepare presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint).

School director skills and personality traits

We calculated that 15% of School Directors are proficient in Professional Development, K-12, and Curriculum Development. They’re also known for soft skills such as Decision-making skills, Leadership skills, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of School Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Professional Development, 15%

    Facilitate Professional Development workshops on various topics such as implementation of data, student attendance awareness and school wide developments.

  • K-12, 7%

    Provided language classes, interpretation, and tutoring services in over 63 languages to corporations, K-12 private schools and individuals.

  • Curriculum Development, 6%

    Developed and facilitated the practical nursing curriculum development and revision.

  • Social Work, 6%

    Collaborate with team of social workers and psychologists to develop individualized treatment plans for students.

  • Kids, 5%

    Hired as Director when school enrollment was at 34 kids.

  • Math, 5%

    Created math curriculum, developed teacher/room/subject/student schedules.

"professional development," "k-12," and "curriculum development" are among the most common skills that school directors use at work. You can find even more school director responsibilities below, including:

Decision-making skills. The most essential soft skill for a school director to carry out their responsibilities is decision-making skills. This skill is important for the role because "because principals are responsible for students, staff, and the overall operation of the school, they consider many factors when making decisions." Additionally, a school director resume shows how their duties depend on decision-making skills: "guided and assisted resolutions of professional development issues from a college-wide perspective. "

Leadership skills. Another essential skill to perform school director duties is leadership skills. School directors responsibilities require that "principals set educational goals and establish policies and procedures for the school." School directors also use leadership skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "facilitated or implemented plcs of instructional leadership, response to intervention, literacy, mathematics, and school culture/climate and discipline. "

Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for school directors to perform their duties. For an example of how school director responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "principals work with teachers, parents, and superintendents and must develop positive working relationships with them." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a school director: "counseled students in improving academic performance, health and interpersonal relations. ".

Problem-solving skills. A big part of what school directors do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to school director responsibilities because "teachers, students, and other staff report problems to the principal." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical school director tasks: "address student academic and social concerns working with teachers /parents/students, including social dynamics/conflict resolution. "

Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a school director to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what school directors relies on this skill, since "principals must communicate effectively with students, teachers, and parents." How this skill relates to school director duties can be seen in an example from a school director resume snippet: "increased student retention rate to highest level in school history through increased communication among stakeholders. "

See the full list of school director skills

The three companies that hire the most school directors are:

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Compare different school directors

School director vs. Assistant principal

An assistant principal is responsible for carrying out administrative support tasks in a school or similar establishment. Most of the duties involve producing reports and evaluations, attending meetings, overseeing daily school operations, monitoring classes and faculty performances, implementing school policies and regulations, and coordinating with the principal, school board, and other members of the institution. Furthermore, an assistant principal participates in devising plans and strategies to improve the school curriculum and organize various activities that will help students develop their skills and potential.

The annual salary of assistant principals is $5,044 higher than the average salary of school directors.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between school directors and assistant principals are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like professional development, curriculum development, and math.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a school director are more likely to require skills like "k-12," "social work," "kids," and "develop strong relationships." On the other hand, a job as an assistant principal requires skills like "instructional program," "professional growth," "student learning," and "data analysis." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Assistant principals earn the highest salaries when working in the government industry, with an average yearly salary of $72,714. On the other hand, school directors are paid more in the education industry with an average salary of $62,751.On average, assistant principals reach higher levels of education than school directors. Assistant principals are 21.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

School director vs. Vice principal

A vice-principal works as an assistant educational administrator whose primary responsibility is to assist the school's principal with daily school administrative tasks, such as certifying and hiring teachers and school staff. In addition to these tasks, a vice-principal conducts parent interviews and serves as mentors and counselors to students. The qualifications to become a vice principal include possessing strong leadership, decision-making, and organizational skills and obtaining a master's or doctoral degree in education.

A career as a vice principal brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a school director. In fact, vice principals salary is $20,201 higher than the salary of school directors per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both school directors and vice principals have skills such as "professional development," "k-12," and "curriculum development. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that school director responsibilities requires skills like "social work," "kids," "math," and "public schools." But a vice principal might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "vice-principal," "instructional program," "classroom observations," and "instructional strategies."

Vice principals earn a higher average salary than school directors. But vice principals earn the highest pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $79,677. Additionally, school directors earn the highest salaries in the education with average pay of $62,751 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Vice principals tend to reach higher levels of education than school directors. In fact, they're 12.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

School director vs. Principal

A principal is responsible for maintaining the orderliness of the school premises and supervising school operations, enforcing strict safety standards, and reiterating regulatory procedures. Principals' duties also include managing and monitoring school budget and expenses, improving security plans, conducting regular meetings and sharing updates with teachers and other school personnel, creating reports for school funding, and setting academic goals for everyone's compliance. A principal must administer excellent leadership, communication, and decision-making skills to handle major administrative tasks in maintaining the school's growth.

On average scale, principals bring in higher salaries than school directors. In fact, they earn a $43,156 higher salary per year.By looking over several school directors and principals resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "professional development," "k-12," and "curriculum development." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, school directors are more likely to have skills like "social work," "kids," "math," and "develop strong relationships." But a principal is more likely to have skills like "crm," "project management," "excellent presentation," and "financial services."

Principals make a very good living in the professional industry with an average annual salary of $130,964. On the other hand, school directors are paid the highest salary in the education industry, with average annual pay of $62,751.principals typically earn similar educational levels compared to school directors. Specifically, they're 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 3.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

School director vs. Superintendent

Superintendents oversee the administration of schools in a specific school district. They manage the educational programs of each school and create strategic decisions to ensure that the students are learning important subjects. They also supervise school administrators or principals and are responsible for hiring and guiding them. Superintendents should be familiar with their constituents and must always be ready to listen to their needs. It is important that superintendents are good decision-makers and communicators. They are expected to lead their respective districts in achieving their vision. Superintendents drive the team towards their goals and create strategic steps to ensure success.

Superintendents average a higher salary than the annual salary of school directors. The difference is about $13,895 per year.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A school director uses "k-12," "curriculum development," "social work," and "kids." Superintendents are more likely to have duties that require skills in "osha," "quality standards," "construction management," and "logistics. "superintendents enjoy the best pay in the construction industry, with an average salary of $85,679. For comparison, school directors earn the highest salary in the education industry.The average resume of superintendents showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to school directors. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 14.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.4%.

Types of school director

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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