Associate Executive Director

Job Description: Associate Executive Director

About Acton Academy Calgary Central

Acton Academy Calgary Central is a learner-driven, Socratic, mastery-based independent school in Calgary. We opened in September 2025 with Alberta Education approval and hold CRA charitable status. Today we serve preschool, kindergarten, and early elementary learners in our current building.

Our model rests on a simple belief: children are highly capable. Learners set meaningful goals, take ownership of their learning, and build on their unique strengths, with guides who ask questions rather than give answers.

We are now preparing for our next stage of growth: a second site for our preschool in 2027-28, and a proposed charter school opening in 2028-29.

About the Role

The Associate Executive Director leads admissions, family engagement, people operations, and compliance preparation, and builds the systems behind them. Over the next 18 months, you will also lead three major projects: opening a second preschool site, preparing to launch a charter school, and building our Teacher Training Institute.

This is a new senior role reporting to the Executive Director. You will work closely with our Director of Operations, who leads finance, payroll, billing, procurement, facilities, risk management, and continuous improvement. Our Executive Director will be on leave for about a year starting March 2027. During that time you will lead with a high degree of independence, with the Executive Director weighing in on occasional strategic decisions.

This role is designed as a path to increased leadership as we grow. There are two possible routes: Superintendent of our charter school, if the charter is approved, or Head of School of our independent school as it scales. The Superintendent route requires Alberta leadership certification, under the Leadership Quality Standard, and superintendent leadership certification, both in place before the school opens in September 2028.

At 18 months, success looks like this:

• Admissions, family engagement, HR, and compliance run on documented systems, not on one person's memory
• A licensed second preschool site opened in September 2027 and growing from 20 toward 30 to 40 spots
• Enrolment at or near capacity at both sites (totalling roughly 60-70 spots)
• The Teacher Training Institute ready for full launch in spring 2028, with a clear revenue model; initially piloted in summer 2027
• Charter readiness on track for September 2028, if approved, with family and staff recruitment underway

Phase 1: From your start to February 2027

Learn the school alongside the Executive Director, take over day-to-day leadership before her leave begins in March, and build systems and processes for admissions, family engagement, HR, and compliance

Phase 2: February to June 2027

Prepare to open our second preschool site, including staff and family recruitment and building readiness; build the Teacher Training Institute strategy

Phase 3: July to December 2027

Open the second site, build the Institute for full launch in spring 2028, and prepare for the charter school through building readiness, staff hiring, and family recruitment

Phase 4: January to August 2028

Launch the Institute, complete charter readiness, finish leadership and superintendent leadership certification if on the Superintendent route, and prepare to step into the Superintendent or Head of School role

Throughout all four phases, you will support fundraising led by the Executive Director.

Lead Admissions, Families, People, and Compliance

About half your time will go to the core of the school today. Much of this work is hands-on. Your job is to do it well and build systems so it runs reliably without you holding every detail.

• Enrolment and admissions: respond to inquiries, lead tours and shadow days, follow up with families through enrolment, and manage applications, waitlists, and re-enrolment.
• Family engagement: plan parent evenings, facilitate workshops, onboard new families, and co-create our session newsletters.
• Compliance preparation: keep a compliance calendar and prepare Alberta Education reports, child care licensing documents, and grant claims for review and sign-off.
• People operations: lead HR, including recruitment, onboarding, employment agreements, staff scheduling and coverage, certification and police check tracking, and the substitute list.
• Marketing: oversee both strategy and implementation of social media, website updates, traditional marketing, digital marketing.
• Team: supervise our administrative, principal, and teachers support staff.

Build Systems and Processes

Across all of this work, you will help the school run more efficiently and effectively as it grows.

• Map, document, and improve our core processes, from inquiry to enrollment, hiring to onboarding, and the compliance calendar.
• Choose and set up tools that make the work easier, and train staff to use them well.

Lead Research and Evaluation

We want to evaluate the effectiveness of this model, including research and evaluation, both with external partners and for continuous improvement efforts internally. You will lead our research and evaluation work, and partner with the Director of Operations for internal key performance indicator measurement and efforts.

• Design how we evaluate our model, including how we measure learner growth, agency, and ownership over time.
• Gather and analyze feedback and data from learners, families, and guides, and turn findings into improvements.
• Build research partnerships with universities and education organizations.
• Share results with our board, funders, Alberta Education, and the wider education community.
• Use what we learn to strengthen the Teacher Training Institute and the design of our future schools.

Lead the Preschool Expansion for 2027-28

We plan to move our preschool to a nearby second site in September 2027 and grow it from 20 to 30 or 40 spots. Our current building will then serve Grades 1 to 5. You will lead the opening, from licensing and staffing to opening day, while our Director of Operations leads the site search and lease.

• Work alongside our Director of Operations to make sure procurement, set-up, and building readiness are complete for move-in.
• Lead the child care licensing application and work directly with our licensing officer.
• Recruit, hire, and onboard preschool staff.
• Recruit families to fill the new spots.
• Build the systems and routines needed to run two sites well.

Prepare for a Charter School Opening in 2028-29

We have applied to open a charter school and expect a decision in December 2026. If we are approved, you will lead readiness work with support from our co-founders over the following 18 months, with the path of becoming the charter school's Superintendent when it opens.

• Build and manage the launch plan across facilities, staffing, enrolment, and compliance.
• Work alongside our Director of Operations on procurement and building readiness for opening day.
• Lead family outreach and recruitment.
• Lead staff recruitment and hiring.
• Support grant applications and early fundraising.
• Learn our learner-driven model in depth, including time in our studios, to prepare to lead the charter school's educational program.

Build our Teacher Training Institute

The Teacher Training Institute is a new program, run as a revenue-generating social enterprise. It builds on two trainings we have begun, a Montessori teacher training program and Acton guide training focused on the Socratic method, both currently led by our Lead Guide. You will be the builder of the Institute, working as a team with our Lead Guide, who will help shape its ideas and content and support or lead the training itself.

• In 2027, build the Institute's strategy and strengthen our current staff onboarding as an early pilot.
• Work with our Lead Guide to bring the Montessori and Acton training together into one coherent program.
• Build the program's structure, including curriculum outline, schedule, admissions, pricing, and the trainee experience.
• Prepare the Institute for full launch in spring 2028, and grow it into a recognized program with a sustainable revenue model by 2028-29.
• Develop the Institute as a pipeline of trained guides for our current school, the second site, and the charter school.

Support Fundraising

As a registered charity entering a period of growth, we need a fundraising program that matches our ambitions. Our Executive Director will shift her focus to fundraising once you start, and you will be a close partner in building it.

• Prepare grant applications and manage reporting to funders.
• Help build the fundraising plan for the school, the second site, the charter school, and the Teacher Training Institute.
• Keep fundraising moving during the Executive Director's leave, including grant deadlines and funder reporting.
• Run our donation and receipting processes, in partnership with our Director of Operations.

Who You Are

Required

• An Alberta permanent professional teaching certificate or eligibility to obtain it
• Alberta leadership certification under the Leadership Quality Standard, or eligibility to obtain it, and the ability to complete superintendent leadership certification before September 2028 for the Superintendent route
• At least 3 years of educational leadership experience in an Alberta school system or equivalent, including hiring and managing staff
• A track record of launching or scaling something: a new school, site, program, or organization
• Strong with numbers, including budgets, spreadsheets, and financial tracking
• Clear, warm writing and communication with families and staff
• Highly organized, and able to see what's coming and act without being asked
• Comfortable working independently for extended stretches
• A genuine belief in learner-driven education and in children as highly capable
• A clear police information check with vulnerable sector search

Preferred

• Experience designing or delivering teacher training or adult education
• Montessori training or experience
• Experience with Alberta Education compliance or child care licensing
• Experience in independent or learner-driven schools
• Experience in admissions, enrolment, or sales

Key Terms of Employment

• Reports directly to the Executive Director (or Direction of Operations in her absence).
• Competitive salary and benefits package commensurate with experience and qualifications, including RRSP contributions.
• Adheres to Alberta labour laws and standards for early childhood education.
• Tuition discount for children.

How to Apply
If you are ready to inspire and guide young learners on their educational journey, we invite you to apply. Please review the below links to learn more about this nontraditional model and submit your cover letter and resume via email to [email protected].

For additional information about Acton Academy Calgary Central:

• Visit our website at ActonCentral.org
• Listen to this interview about the Acton Academy model: Spotify: Podcast Interview between Jordan Peterson and Zach Lahn
• Read or listen to this book about the Acton Academy model: Courage to Grow by Laura Sandefer

Pay: From $90,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental care
• Extended health care
• On-site parking
• Paid time off
• RRSP match

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Calgary, AB T2E 6Y6