Head of Student Support Services

SUMMARY

The International Schools Group (ISG) is a not-for-profit, future-focused school district in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Our five schools are co-educational day schools delivering Kindergarten 1 to Grade 12 in the American program and Foundation Stage 1 through Year 13 in the British program to expatriate children and some students from the host country. Students enroll in either an American or British curriculum education that encompasses these higher-level programs: Advanced Placement (AP) Capstone Diploma and/or International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) at American School Dhahran, ISG Dammam, and ISG Jubail and (I)GCSE and A levels at British School Dhahran.

History

Founded in 1962 and now in its 62nd year, ISG was originally established to serve the needs of expatriate families working for the U.S. Consulate in Dhahran.

From its initial enrollment of six students to its present status as a district of five schools with approximately 3,000 students, ISG has earned a reputation for providing the highest quality American and British education. Today, over 50 nationalities make up the ISG community.

Governance

The district is governed by a Board of Trustees, supported by school councils, a partnership with the U.S. Consulate General Dhahran and is licensed by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education.

Accreditation

Our schools are accredited by the Middle States Association Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS), British Schools of the Middle East (BSME), British Schools Overseas (BSO) and the International Baccalaureate (IB).

Our Mission, Core Values, and Strategic Goals

We inspire innovation and compassionate action.

Respect, acceptance, integrity, responsibility … with a commitment to act.

ISG is committed to three strategic improvement goals: 1) Wellbeing and Belonging 2) High Quality Learning and 3) Professional Excellence. These goals will evolve through our current accreditation self-study and we are looking forward to our new pillars of strategic priorities.

ISG Learns

Our schools are guided by our district mission, vision, learning principles and assessment beliefs. Our shared focus is further complemented by the diversity of our community and core divisional curricula as we work in partnership with the community to educate tomorrow's future leaders. ISG maintains an emphasis on progressive teaching and learning. Curriculum and learning programs at ISG are evaluated and reviewed consistently, through the lens of current research and are reflective of the current research and best practices. This ensures that our programs support high quality learning and are being implemented in the most effective way in the classroom in order to support student learning, enhance program outcomes and learning targets in our unique learning environment.

The 2023-2024 ISG Learning Report showcases academic success, college acceptances and professional development at ISG.

HEAD OF STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THE 2026-27 SCHOOL YEAR

Incoming ISG Assistant Superintendent, Michelle Alzamora, seeks a highly qualified and experienced student support services professional with proven leadership experience to join ISG on August 1, 2026, to serve as the Head of Student Support Services.

The Head of Student Support Services will join leadership teams that include the schoolwide central office team as well as campus leadership learning teams. The direct responsibilities for this head position would include learning support, multilingual learning, counseling, and child protection education. ISG is committed to the collaborative support of all learners and the safety and protection of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

The Head of Student Support Services plays a crucial role in collaborating with the schoolwide leadership as well as leading the teams of educators and counselors to support the support services for students. This position will lead the development, refinement, and implementation of strategy, approaches, and models for these services across the five ISG campuses. Reporting directly to the Assistant Superintendent, the successful candidate will be responsible for leadership and partnership in supporting these teams.

For more information on ISG, please see the website: http://www.isg.edu.sa/

JOB DUTIES

The ideal candidate is a highly experienced educational professional with proven international experience in providing leadership and expertise in the development, implementation, and management of a Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) for students.

Leadership and Representation

• In collaboration with schoolwide leadership and campus educators, provide schoolwide leadership to these teams.
• Lead in the continued development, refinement, enhancement, and implementation of a comprehensive and coherent K-12 / FS1 to Year 13 Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) program aligned with ISG’s Mission, Core Values, Strategic priorities, and goals.
• Lead in the continued development, refinement, enhancement and implementation of a comprehensive multilingual learning program.
• Leadership in ongoing assessment and evaluation of progress and reporting on student services.
• Represent ISG’s student support services program within the community as well at conferences, seminars and broader events.
• Serve on senior leadership team.

Program Development, Management and Reporting

• In collaboration with student support services partners (school leadership, admissions, counselors, language, learning and classroom teachers):
• Develop, implement, and actively maintain a database information for students receiving support services for management of caseload and ongoing support.
• Assess, revise, and implement a best practices approach to monitoring student progress and reporting for students in our learning and language support programs.
• Assess, revise, and implement the most appropriate learning plan model for student learning at ISG.
• Develop and implement an enhanced and enriched student journey (for students receiving services) from assessment, admission and enrollment through services placement, delivery, and monitoring.
• Coordinate assessment accommodations with College Board, ACT and the IBO for students with learning differences.
• Develop, implement, and maintain the student support services program budget in collaboration with the ISG DFO.
• Create, implement, and share program status reports on regularly scheduled intervals or as requested.

Education and Professional Development

• Work collaboratively with the Director of Teaching and Learning to create, identify, develop and deliver student support educational programming, resources and professional development opportunities to school leadership, classroom teachers, student support services, team members, caregivers and parents on best practices to support neuro and linguistically diverse learners.

Student Support Services Team Member Support and Supervision

• In collaboration with school leadership team members, recruit, screen, hire and evaluate qualified student support services staff.
• Regularly organize and facilitate student support services team member meetings at varying levels of support, ie..classroom, campus, or schoolwide.
• Support multidisciplinary teams and teachers with the implementation and monitoring of evidence-based behavioral and learning interventions for refinement of approaches and strategies that benefit students.

Child Protection

• Demonstrate a commitment to the safety and security of children and young people (child protection).
• Collaborate with the District Child Protection Officer (CPO) on processes and procedures.
• Identify and implement educational and professional development programs to support child protection.
• Ensure annual completion of child protection training for all ISG employees, volunteers, trip chaperones, and members of the Board of Trustees.
• Maintain accurate training records and provide regular compliance reports to leadership.
• Coordinate resources and follow-up to support full participation and adherence to ISG safeguarding policies.

Other

Perform other duties as assigned by the ISG Assistant Superintendent.

QUALIFICATIONS AND KNOWLEDGE

The ideal candidate will have:

• Master’s degree in Special Education, Educational Leadership, Educational Psychology or related field.
• School Administrator Certification or Licensure.
• Formal training and demonstrated expertise of Universal Learning by Design and the design and implementation of MTSS.
• Awareness of, familiarity with, and knowledge to support ISG’s adopted standards, beliefs, graduate profile, learning principles, assessment beliefs, and school improvement goals.
• Advanced knowledge of curriculum and instruction to support diverse learners, including multilingual learners and students with disabilities, with emphasis on Tier 1 inclusive practices and differentiated instruction.
• Deep understanding of best practices in safeguarding and child protection within international school contexts.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

The ideal candidate will have:

Experience

• Minimum of five years leadership experience in student support services at the district or multi-school level in an international context.
• Proven success in leading the development, refinement, and implementation of MTSS frameworks, including progress monitoring, intervention design, and program evaluation.
• Previous experience with leading change initiatives collaboratively and successfully implementing timely and effective learning for all students.
• Demonstrated experience designing and overseeing multilingual learning programs and inclusive education practices across K–12.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, and evaluating student support personnel, including counselors, learning support, and language specialists.
• Proven ability to design, deliver, and evaluate professional development for diverse stakeholders.
• Strong expertise in child protection and safeguarding policy development, implementation, and staff training.

Skills

• Values and builds relationships across the district to support a positive school culture.
• Strong awareness and understanding of child protection and a commitment to ensure the safety of students.
• Designing and delivering professional development for learning and for team facilitation skills.
• Collection, analysis and use of student data for decision-making and plans for implementation.
• Disposition for equity and fairness to support all school campuses.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including writing and presenting.
• Ability to build and deepen positive, long-standing stakeholder relationships through transparent behaviour.
• Ability to communicate tactfully, constructively, and appropriately to audiences and stakeholders of all levels.
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills in problem solving and designing new approaches and strategies.
• Ability to demonstrate effective time management with the ability to prioritise workload, work under pressure, delivery quality work and meet deadlines.
• Positive attitude and engagement towards continuous self-improvement and school improvement.
• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to and cultural awareness of all stakeholders along with the ability to adapt leadership approach to meet needs.
• Ability to demonstrate professional maturity and discretion to handle a range of situations while maintaining the highest level of confidentiality.
• Ability to commit to and model ISG’s guiding principles.
• Ability to work in a self-directed and proactive manner while ensuring collaboration as needed to support school needs and goals.
• Proven ability to use a range of technology for organization, development, planning, and implementation.
• Ability to collaborate in a focused team environment to collaborate on plans for implementation, assess progress, and meet common goals.
• Ability to take initiative and use sound judgement.
• Ability to anticipate stakeholder needs and demonstrate responsiveness to requests for action/assistance in a self-directed way.
• Ability to maintain professional composure in challenging situations or in facing unfavourable information.
• Ability to deliver unfavourable information while maintaining compassion and healthy relationships.
• Ability to resolve conflict constructively and collaboratively.
• Ability to demonstrate effective decision-making using data analysis and through gathering feedback.
• Ability to deliver proactive progress updates on outstanding work, anticipate next steps, and take action in a self-directed way.
• Ability to demonstrate teamwork by proactively sharing information and collaborating constructively for best outcomes by creating the best solutions.