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Contract Aspiring Principal Coach (APC) - Aspiring Principal Program (APP)

Location: Texas

The Holdsworth Center is a non-profit organization founded and largely funded by Charles Butt, Chairman of H-E-B, a regional retail company. Our mission is to impact, over time, the quality of K-12 public education for all Texas students by supporting and developing leaders. Based in Austin, Texas, we were founded in 2017 in honor of Charles’ mother, Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt, who was an educator, a philanthropist, and a lifelong champion for social justice.

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We partner with public school districts to help them grow outstanding leaders at all levels so that staff thrive, and students excel in every classroom. At Holdsworth, we believe leadership isn’t just about titles. We make a deep investment in leaders at both the district and campus levels, including teachers who lead students in the classroom and influence and lead their colleagues.

The Holdsworth Center is seeking Contract Aspiring Principal Coaches who share a deep commitment to our mission and whose experience and vision will deepen our capacity and enhance our impact as we aim to be of service to public school districts across the state of Texas.

Purpose & Responsibilities

In Summer 2025, Holdsworth will launch new program offerings for aspiring principals (initially on a regional basis, with the first cohorts anticipated to be in the Permian Basin region of Texas and New Mexico), with the aim of enhancing the readiness and quality of certified school leaders for their first principalship.

The Contract Aspiring Principal Coach will lead and / or facilitate the effective implementation of all components of the Aspiring Principal Program, including 6 learning sessions held in either Austin or in the Permian Basin, ~15 bi-weekly coaching sessions, 2 campus visits per leader, stretch assignments, and collaboration between leaders. Alongside and in collaboration with other Contract Aspiring Principal Coaches and a program team, the Contract Aspiring Principal Coach will guide cohorts of aspiring principals through a year-long program.

Reporting to the Director of the Aspiring Principal Program, Contract Aspiring Principal Coaches will work closely with aspiring principals and site principals to ensure efficient and effective communication, high-quality program delivery, and participant success. They will work with talented, mission-driven peers in a fast-paced, dynamic environment to:

Coaching and Support

• Provide exceptional coaching and mentoring support to aspiring principals through a variety of directive and non-directive skills as necessary in biweekly sessions.
• Draw on personal experiences and academic concepts to deliver highly engaging and productively challenging coaching and support in formal and informal coaching settings.
• Develop tailored responses for individual aspiring principals based on their focus areas, their learning journey, and their unique needs.
• Continuously work to improve the coaching and facilitation skills of yourself and the team.

Campus Visits/Rotations

• Engage aspiring principals in deep reflection and preparation before visiting campuses outside their current district.
• Facilitate planning and reflection with aspiring principals before and after rotations.
• Develop relationships with rotation principals to ensure positive experiences for all parties.
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of rotations.
• Work collaboratively with the Aspiring Principal Team (Director and Lead Learning Designer of the Aspiring Principal Program) to ensure reliable logistics, operations, and communications prior to and throughout each rotation.

Peer Collaboration & Relationship Management

• Serve as one of the “faces” of our new program, building relationships with aspiring principals and increasing coherency of the overall program through on-site facilitation and delivery (initially, most facilitation will take place in the Permian Basin with groups ranging in size from ~15 to ~30).
• Develop and sustain productive relationships between site principal, rotation principal, and aspiring principal to foster the growth of the aspiring principal.
• Leverage our Learning Management System (LMS) to support leaders’ individualized learning paths, self-reflection, and facilitate collaboration between leaders to maximize impact on learning.

Learning Sessions

• Ensure the team delivers the highest possible quality learning sessions by providing excellent facilitation of specific content, on-the-spot coaching during simulation learning, and incorporating lessons learned from prior cohorts and sessions
• Collaborate with a team of faculty, presenters, facilitators and coordinators to deliver effective and engaging learning experiences that bring cohorts together, building a psychologically safe environment for aspiring principals to grow their capacity and ability to lead sustainable improvement towards excellent and equitable outcomes for students.
• Observe leaders during learning sessions to build connections to content in 1:1 coaching.
• Work collaboratively with the Aspiring Principal Team to ensure reliable logistics, operations, and communications prior to and at each session

Desirable candidates will have a range of prior experience and capabilities including:

• Strong alignment with organizational mission and values—Drive for Excellence & Equity, Be of Service, Believe in People
• Recent experience as a school principal
• Proven ability to facilitate engaging, challenging, and thought-provoking discussion among diverse audiences, manage group dynamics and use questioning techniques to identify solutions and actions rather than taking a wholly directive approach (with large audiences as well as smaller groups)
• Working knowledge of the education landscape in Texas and New Mexico, including knowledge of the context within which our participants work
• Strong project planning skills and detail orientation to effectively plan for multiple program elements at one time.
• Self-motivated individual who demonstrates initiative without waiting for direction, openness to receiving feedback from peers and Holdsworth staff, and a deep curiosity and motivation to learn coupled with a results-focused orientation.
• Experience delivering challenging and supportive coaching experiences to leaders that both helps them make progress on their own leadership goals and serves as a model of outstanding coaching practice
• Has significant experience with leading and/or participating in extensive coaching development and skill-building, which could include ICF-accredited coaching trainings
• Credibility with school leaders, faculty/experts, and our partner organizations
• Ability to work well in a team environment, establish good rapport at all levels of the organization, collaborate with other faculty and experts and work with and relate to people from diverse backgrounds.
• Demonstrated commitment to promote educational opportunities and access for all students in Texas.
• Ability to travel for events

Important dates

A typical contract for June 23, 2025-July 31, 2026, will include:

• In-person attendance at all the following APP Learning Sessions:
  • Session 1 (Campus on Lake Austin) | Check-In July 20 + Session July 21-July 24, 2025
  • Session 2 (Permian Basin) | Check-in September 12 + Session September 13-15, 2025
  • Session 3 (Permian Basin) | Check-In October 24 + Session October 25-27, 2025
  • Session 4 (Permian Basin) | Check-In January 9 + Session January 10-12, 2026
  • Session 5 (Permian Basin) | Check-In February 27 + Session February 28-March 2, 2026
  • Session 6 (Campus on Lake Austin) | Check-In July 12 + Session July 13-15, 2026
• Two in-person site visits with each of your aspiring principal leaders (Fall / Spring)
• Bi-weekly coaching of 8-10 aspiring principals (~15 sessions per leader)
• Initial onboarding will occur on or around June 25-27, 2025 at The Campus on Lake Austin. In addition, we anticipate 2 monthly meetings (1 whole group and 1 one-on-one) which will be included for ongoing training and support.

Contract Value

The contract value (depending on the number of aspiring principals coached) will range from: $60,000-70,000.