If you’re accustomed to large urban school districts such as our authorizer (San Diego Unified School District) it may appear that all school districts are large.  In fact, approximately 20% of school districts in CA have under 1,000 students.  At approximately 1,500 students in grades K-8, AEA is larger than about one fifth of all school districts in the state.  It may be helpful to understand the following AEA leadership structure if we think of AEA as a public charter school district:

Board of Trustees: 3-7 members who are sworn to uphold the fiduciary and legal compliance of AEA and set long-term strategic direction for the organization as implemented through the Superintendent.  The Board hires and evaluates the Superintendent.  Board members are volunteers.  There are currently seven members on the AEA Board. Click here to learn about our Board.

Superintendent: serving as the organization’s CEO, the Superintendent is the public face of the organization and insures the effective implementation of programs and systems in all areas including: finances, operations, human resources, legal compliance, educational programs, external relations, authorizer relations, political advocacy, business partnerships and other duties as assigned by the Board.  The Superintendent reports to the Board of Trustees and directly supervises the Principals as well as various program directors serving both AEA schools.

Principals: serving as the educational and school community leads for their respective schools, the Principals are the faces of their schools and deeply embedded in day-to-day operations, especially where related to students, teachers, parents and the entire learning process.  Principals collaborate in the hiring process with the Superintendent and are responsible for hiring, developing, supporting and evaluating all teaching and most non-teaching staff on their respective campuses.

Other Leaders: as an organization AEA strives to empower various leaders within grade levels, departments, etc. on both campuses.  There are a number of such teams of leaders committed to meaningful work in both schools, often directly in coordination with the Principals.  We also have directors and coordinators in areas that impact both schools, such as Human Resources, Finance and Operations, Language, etc. who play a key role in AEA’s effectiveness and service to students and families.  These leaders often collaborate with Principals as well as the Superintendent.

It is important to note that this leadership structure exists primarily to allow our teachers and support staff to do the most important work of all: teach our students.  I like to imagine an inverted funnel with the Board and Superintendent at the bottom, then the Principals above them, followed by teachers and then our 1,500 students at the top.