Executive Assistant and Communications Manager

Location: Washington, DC
Department: Administration
Employment Type: Full-time | 12-month position
FLSA Status: Exempt
Reports to: Executive Director
Salary Range: $60,000 – $80,000 (commensurate with experience and qualifications)
Application Deadline: Open until filled

About Breakthrough Montessori Public Charter School

Breakthrough Montessori Public Charter School's mission is to provide diverse families of Washington DC a public Montessori education designed to enable children to develop within themselves the power to shape their lives and the world around them.

Our vision is for students to have the competence and courage to individually excel, and collectively build a just society.

Breakthrough Montessori Public Charter School was founded in early 2016 in Washington, DC and currently serves 385 students from Pre-K 3 through grade 6. At Breakthrough Montessori PCS, we believe in the unbounded potential of all children; students of all races, classes, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, and backgrounds deserve a personalized education. Our school is grounded in an institutional commitment to development, prevention, and community. We support human development through a strict application of the time-tested Montessori instructional model. We support prevention through early learning, support, and intervention, enabling us to quickly and effectively address learning challenges. Finally, we support the community through an intensive approach to family engagement. 

Breakthrough Montessori PCS is committed to equity in all areas of our school's work. We believe in the unbounded potential of all children. Therefore, we are a supportive environment that seeks to employ a diverse staff reflective of all genders, races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, and backgrounds. 

Breakthrough Montessori PCS is a coaching school; all team members receive and give coaching to support professional growth. 

Position Summary:

The Executive Assistant and Communications Manager serves as a direct support to the leadership team, specifically the Executive Director. Due to the nature of this role, the position requires a high degree of confidentiality, professionalism, maturity, sound judgment, and attention to detail. The individual in this role must be able to produce high-quality written communications for a variety of audiences, including but not limited to families, board members, foundations, donors, and community partners.

At its core, this role exists to ensure that the Executive Director and leadership team are well-supported, organized, and positioned to operate as a stable and highly integrated team. The Executive Assistant and Communications Manager is also a strong project manager who enjoys implementing strategic initiatives that strengthen and elevate a mission-driven public brand. As Breakthrough reaches its 10-year milestone, the school is at an exciting point of reflection and growth. Like many charter organizations, the school’s first decade focused heavily on growth and expansion. Now, after successfully completing its 10-year charter review with the PCSB and expanding to serve students from age 3 through age 12, Breakthrough is entering a new chapter focused on strengthening systems, refining its brand, and deepening the strategies that have proven successful over the past decade.

This role will play an important part in supporting and advancing that work — both internally and externally — through thoughtful communication, strategic organization, and relationship-centered leadership support.

While Montessori training is not required, the role does require strong customer service skills, emotional intelligence, excellent communication abilities, discretion, and a willingness to learn about Montessori education within the public charter school context. This is not a junior position; well suited for a mid-career professional who may seek to be a senior administrator like later in their career.

Core Purpose of the Role

• Work with the Executive Director to develop and implement a communications plan that sets goals and expected outcomes; identifies target audiences; establishes a schedule of communications; and identifies platforms for communication. Develop a communications plan from an equity lens, ensuring all family members have access to information in their preferred language and format.
• Manage routine school communications (newsletters, text messages, social media, etc.) For example, draft monthly parent newsletters, “Coffee with Leadership” presentation materials, and Board meeting materials.
• Conduct regular outreach to families to notify them of school updates.
• Attend OSSE and PCSB webinars, meetings, or training on behalf of the Executive Director when scheduling conflicts arise, and provide timely summaries and follow-up action items.
• Draft grant applications, reports, and supporting materials for the Executive Director’s review and finalization.
• Support the school’s outreach and enrollment strategy through coordinated communication efforts, including website management, social media engagement, and promotional communications that strengthen the school’s brand and visibility.
• Ensure cross-functional initiatives have clear ownership, organized project management, and consistent follow-through across departments and teams.
• Serve as a liaison and primary point of contact for parent organizations and family engagement initiatives, including coordination of events and the family engagement calendar.
• Provide general administrative and operational support, including coordinating logistics and communications for student field trips, moving-up ceremonies, and other school-wide events and activities.
• Lead and manage special projects, such as staff onboarding initiatives, anniversary celebrations, and milestone events like the school’s 10-year gala. These projects may not recur annually but require strong organization, strategic planning, attention to detail, and effective time management to ensure successful execution.
• Collect feedback from the Breakthrough family community through an annual family engagement survey as well as other focus groups, listening sessions, and opportunities for dialogue. Share and discuss results with Breakthrough staff.

Required Competencies & Attributes

• High emotional intelligence and professional judgment since the position is a direct extension of the Executive Director.

• Strong systems thinking and organizational design skills

• Administrative experience in schools or mission-driven organizations preferred.
  
• Ability to de-escalate conflict calmly and effectively
  
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
  
• Ability to manage complexity without creating dependency
  
• Creative thinking and problem solving skills
• Fluency in a language other than English a plus

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required;
  
• Montessori training or familiarity preferred
  
• Experience in school administration, operations, or organizational management preferred
  
• Experience working with diverse communities and stakeholders; and a strong commitment to strengthening education to fight inequity.
  
  

Working Conditions

This is a full-time, 12-month leadership position that requires regular collaboration with school leaders, staff, families, and external partners. The role includes frequent participation in meetings, cross-departmental coordination, and occasional attendance at evening or weekend family and community events.

The typical workday is 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and there could be days to work from 10-6pm; however, flexibility is required to support school events, urgent matters, and key organizational initiatives outside of standard business hours. Some school events - like open houses - may occur on weekends.

Due to the nature of the role and its close working relationship with the Executive Director and leadership team, this position is classified as a non-union role.

Benefits: 

• We provide employees with a robust leave policy that includes:
• Paid personal time off
• Paid family leave (in addition to DC paid family leave)
• Paid bereavement leave
• Paid leave for the observation of a religious holiday 
• Breakthrough invests heavily in the professional development (PD) of our faculty through:
• An individual professional development budget of $250/year to pursue additional PD opportunities;
• Conference participation and
• A Continuing Education grant program that provides grantees up to $20,000 to complete Montessori teacher training, an advanced degree or other license. 

Other benefits include:

• Health, dental, vision (Carefirst Blue Cross)
• Retirement (Vanguard Retirement)
• AFLAC
• Long-term disability

Visit our website at www.breakthroughmontessori.org for information on Breakthrough Montessori PCS, including more on employee benefits and our company culture. 

Breakthrough Montessori PCS is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.