Position: Interim Managing Director of Schools 

Reports to: CEO of AppleTree Institute and AppleTree Schools

Supervises: Principals, Director of Student Support Services, and Program Manager of Special Initiatives 

Schedule: July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 

Status: Temporary, Full Time, exempt employee 

Location: Washington, DC

Compensation: $150,000 - $175,000 

The AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation seeks an Interim Managing Director of Schools to lead with clarity, consistency and strong execution, ensuring our instructional systems are implemented with fidelity and continue to drive results for students. This leader will build on the successes of AppleTree Schools, providing steady, high-quality leadership through the 2026-2027 school year while partnering with the Board and CEO to position the organization for its next chapter. A permanent Managing Director will be in place to begin in June 2027, ensuring a thoughtful and seamless leadership transition. 

The mission of AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School is to provide young children with the social, emotional, and cognitive foundations that will enable them to succeed in school. Serving three- and four-year-olds across Washington, DC, AppleTree delivers evidence-based, play-based learning through a network of 11 preschools. These campuses are more than schools. They are engines of impact, bringing to life AppleTree’s proven instructional model, Every Child Ready. Success is measured by the strength and consistency of implementation and the outcomes it drives for children. This role is central to scaling that impact, ensuring excellence in execution across schools, and advancing a model that delivers results at scale. 

Scope of the Position

During their tenure, the Interim Managing Director is responsible for overseeing day-to-day school operations, internal capacity building, and programs. The Interim Managing Director is the ultimate decision-maker in schools on operational decisions, including consulting with senior staff in thoughtful consideration of the institutional memory and knowledge they hold, and seeking input from the CEO on any decisions with larger policy implications for AppleTree Schools. The Interim Managing Director will work closely with the CEO and the senior leadership team to support and facilitate effective oversight and direction setting, and is responsible for the execution, performance, and day-to-day leadership of AppleTree’s school network.

This role leads principals in delivering strong, consistent results across campuses, including school culture, family experience, enrollment, staffing, and instructional implementation. Consistently present in school classrooms, the Managing Director directly supervises principals and leads performance management systems that drive accountability and continuous improvement. This role assesses strategic staffing models that ensure high-quality implementation of AppleTree’s instructional model while meeting all regulatory, compliance, and operational requirements. 

Specific Priorities:

During the interim period, several priority areas will require the Interim Managing Director’s attention:

1. Champion AppleTree’s mission, vision, and Every Child Ready model, ensuring that all school leaders deeply understand and faithfully implement our evidence-based approach
2. Directly supervise Principals as the primary drivers of school performance, instructional quality, and culture, setting a clear standard for excellence and alignment
3. Establish and reinforce clear expectations of high-quality execution of core school systems, including instructional routines, culture systems, operational practices, and performance management systems aligned to AppleTree priorities, with a strong emphasis on implementation fidelity and student outcomes
4. Hold Principals accountable for results, including instructional quality, student outcomes, staff culture, and fidelity to the Every Child Ready model
5. Identify and address performance or alignment gaps early and decisively, including making clear, timely recommendations regarding leadership changes when necessary
6. Design, implement, and continuously refine staffing models that support strong instruction, effective team structures, and compliance with all regulatory requirements
7. Establish and monitor clear systems for family engagement, using data on enrollment, attendance, and re-enrollment as leading indicators of school quality, academic excellence, and community trust
8. Lead the resolution of escalated family concerns with urgency, empathy, and professionalism, reinforcing AppleTree’s values and commitment to families
9. Foster staff morale through the transition and build staff readiness and excitement to partner with a new leader, and to retain staff 

Specific Responsibilities:

• Principal Leadership: Overall responsibility for development, coaching, accountability, and retention of Principals. This includes specific responsibility for working collaboratively with the leadership team to ensure a positive work environment and being an active presence in the day-to-day effective management  of the schools by being a visible, active, and supportive presence in classrooms, with  staff, students, and families, and at  community-wide events
• School Performance, Execution and Improvement: Own end-to-end school performance across all campuses, ensuring strong, equitable outcomes aligned to AppleTree’s mission, Every Child Ready (ECR) model, and DC accountability frameworks, including ASPIRE. Monitor and analyze key performance indicators through accountability-aligned dashboards, ensuring that data are actively used to inform decisions at both the network-wide and school levels
• Family and Community: Champion a culture where families are valued as essential partners in children’s learning, ensuring all schools reflect AppleTree’s commitment to respect, inclusion, and strong relationships
• Executive Team Collaboration: Facilitate relationship building between school staff and broader AppleTree staff

Qualifications

• A deep commitment to AppleTree’s mission, with a belief that all children, especially those historically underserved, can achieve at high levels when provided with intentional, evidence-based instruction
• A proven instructional and operational leader with at least 7 years of experience leading schools, including direct supervision, coaching, and development of Principals
• A track record of delivering strong, measurable results, achieved through disciplined execution, clear expectations, and unwavering accountability for performance data
• Expertise in building and managing high-functioning school systems, including operations, compliance, and staffing models that support excellent instruction and meet all regulatory requirements

Nice to have: 

• A deep understanding of early childhood development and high-quality PreK environments, with a commitment to ensuring that research-based practices are implemented with fidelity in every classroom
• A deep familiarity with the Washington, DC public charter landscape, including frameworks such as ASPIRE and regulatory expectations through OSSE, with the ability to navigate complexity while maintaining a focus on outcomes

Work Environment

AppleTree offices and schools are based within Washington, DC. The Interim Managing Director works primarily from the AppleTree offices and the DC schools.  

Application Process

AppleTree is conducting this search in partnership with Good Insight, a national executive search firm serving the nonprofit sector. Interested applicants should upload a PDF resume and a detailed cover letter to www.good-insight.org/careers. 

Resume reviews begin immediately. For best consideration, please apply by mid-June. Early applications are encouraged due to the pace of the search. Please direct confidential inquiries to Ana Chapa at AppleTree@good-insight.org. 

Equal Employment Opportunity

AppleTree Institute is an equal opportunity employer.