School Athletics and Recreation Director

SCHOOL ATHLETICS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR (Full-Time Position) 

THE POSITION

St. Helena Montessori School (SHMS) seeks an energetic and creative School Athletics and Recreation Director to be part of a dynamic team of dedicated educators at our Montessori school located on a beautiful 20-acre campus in Napa Valley. This Athletics and Recreation Director position encompasses responsibilities at the school level, in addition to program-specific duties. These include the following:
 

All School: Serving as the SHMS Athletic Director and manager of our school’s membership with the North Bay Catholic Schools League (NBCSL), you will be responsible for:  

• Sending out registration paperwork to eligible school families in a timely fashion 
• Creating teams for each sport in which SHMS participates (basketball, volleyball, and track)
• Procuring coaches for each team and working with them to create practice schedules, in addition to training them to be successful in a coaching capacity
• Communicating with the NBCSL league about SHMS gym use and any and all issues that may arise during the season
• Ensuring that the NBCSL rules and handbook guidelines are observed and enforced at all practices and games with students, coaches, and parents 
• Acting as a liaison to different sports leagues and federations – including NBCSL, California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), and other local and regional student athlete organizations  – and exploring additional opportunities for student athletes to compete
• Managing disbursement and collection of team uniforms
• Attending staff and team meetings as needed
• Monitoring use and care of equipment, materials, and facilities and ensure that the school has the proper supplies and inventory for all sports
• Planning and coordinating an after-school sports camp program (if desired)
   

Adolescent Program (Ages 13-17): As the Recreation Director for the Adolescent Program, you will be responsible for

• Managing daily physical education, recreation activities, and fitness instruction for the Adolescent Program students
• Coordinating individual and team sport activities for students using knowledge of sports techniques physical capabilities of students
• Working with other small private schools to organize and field sports teams for the high school students (soccer, tennis, swimming, etc.)
• Organizing, leading, instructing, and refereeing indoor and outdoor games
• Developing and managing a sports conditioning program after school for small groups of students
• Creating a sports program for our small high school
• Teaching a health and basic biology course 
   

Elementary Program (Ages 6-12): For the younger students during recess, you would be responsible for coordinating structured physical education, recreation activities, and fitness instruction for the Elementary students (approximately 45 minutes to one hour daily).

DESIRED EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

The ideal candidate will possess the following:

- Bachelor’s degree in physical education, exercise science, or kinesiology required

- Experience in coordinating/coaching required 

- Experience with middle and high school students a plus 

- Demonstrated expertise in and love for athletics and knowledge of multiple sports

- Excitement around creating and overseeing physical education and recreation activities for youth 

- Ability to communicate effectively with students, parents, school administrators, and other staff members 

- Strong people management and organization skills

- Exceptional work ethic, sportsmanship, and character

- Interest in working with small groups of students and using a variety of different methods of instruction to achieve learning objectives

- Desire to be a positive role model for students

- Ability to work evenings and weekends for practices, games, and outings (as needed)
 

COMPENSATION

This position is full-time with full medical and dental benefits and retirement benefits after one year of employment. St. Helena Montessori offers a competitive, negotiable salary commensurate with experience and qualifications. Two weeks of paid vacation are part of the compensation package.
 

ABOUT ST. HELENA MONTESSORI AND THE MONTESSORI METHOD

St. Helena Montessori provides the Napa Valley community with a Montessori school that offers a complete developmental program for children from 18 months through 12th grade. The school follows Dr. Maria Montessori’s philosophy of education as an “aid to life” – viewing the child as a being whose physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual parts are interrelated and whose educational environment must respect that unity.
 

Montessori understood the life of the child as a developmental continuum, each stage of which has its basis in the preceding period and which, in turn, is a preparation for the next plane of development. Dr. Montessori also understood the dignity of each child as a unique creation of God – one that has a supernatural destiny and is worthy of great respect. Thus, St. Helena Montessori offers an educational program which has its roots in the Catholic tradition and which promotes family values, cultural appreciation, and love of country. Our school supports the traditional position that “parents are the primary educators of their children” and seeks an ongoing communication and collaboration with the parents of children enrolled in the school. 

St. Helena Montessori was founded in 1981 by Mrs. Elena Heil and Mrs. Olga McAdam, who taught the first Montessori Primary Class. In 1985, the school expanded to include a Montessori Elementary Class. In 1989, it was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation, and a Board of Directors became the governing body of the school. In 2008, an Adolescent Program was added. The Adolescent Program maintains a farm on the school’s 20-acre campus, which became the permanent home to the entire school in the fall of 2013. In November of 2016, our school launched a Toddler Program for children as young as 18 months. In 2020, the high school was added.
 

There are currently roughly 240 total students enrolled at St. Helena Montessori School.

ABOUT THE ADOLESCENT PROGRAM 

The St. Helena Montessori Adolescent Program for children aged 12 to 18 years (51 children currently enrolled for the 2023-2024 school year) is based on the recognition of the special characteristics of adolescence. Adolescence is a time of great social development, an age of critical thinking and re-evaluation, and a period of self-concern and self-assessment. It is a transition from childhood to adulthood with the corresponding physical, mental, and sexual maturation. Adolescence is like an odyssey, an arduous yet exciting adventure, where the adolescent begins to find his or her place in the world.
 

Dr. Montessori recommended that adolescents spend time in the country on the land. This would provide an opportunity to study civilization through its origin in agriculture. She suggested a farm which they would learn to manage and open a shop where the sale of produce would incorporate the fundamental mechanics of society, production and exchange, upon which economic life is based. The Adolescent Program offers direct access to the land on our farm. We offer rich and extensive opportunities to study the sciences through direct work and experimentation, humanities through “place-based pedagogy,” and mathematics through both “hands-on” and standard text experiences. Studies are rigorous yet real. 
 

To learn more about the Adolescent Program, please review the brochure here and view the video here.

 

NEXT STEPS

To be considered for this position, please submit your resume and a letter detailing your interest in this position to Regina Bailey at regina@sthms.org.