The Bard Early Colleges (BEC) are founded on the belief that, for many young people, college can and should start at an earlier age. Bard Early College’s simple idea - to begin serious college study in place of the traditional 11th and 12th grades, at no cost to students or families - has had an extraordinary impact on young people and on education innovation and equity in America.
The Bard Early Colleges offer a truly unique home for young people’s intellectual ambition: as both tuition-free, branch campuses of Bard College and public high schools, they award a high school diploma and a Bard College Associate in Arts degree (and 60 transferable credits) by the end of the 12th grade. Students are taught by college faculty in undergraduate, seminar classes, all deeply rooted in the liberal arts and sciences, in Bard College’s commitment to excellence in teaching, and in Bard’s mission as a private college in the public interest.
Now entering its third decade, the Bard Early College network enrolls over 3,700 young people in campuses in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and Hudson, New York; Newark, New Jersey; New Orleans, Louisiana; Cleveland, Ohio; Baltimore, Maryland; and in Washington, D.C.
Bard invites applications for dynamic leaders who will join the administrative team as the Principal of Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) Baltimore for the [contact details available in the full listing] academic year.
The position will start in August 2026
Position Objective and Duties
The Principal is the early college’s academic and administrative leader. The Principal is responsible for:
- ensuring that the school meets Bard’s high standards of undergraduate academic rigor and student achievement;
- facilitating smooth and effective collaboration with the school system partner and Bard regarding all aspects of school management;
- hiring, supporting, and supervising the faculty teaching high school and college courses across the curriculum;
- fostering a campus culture of intellectual engagement, individual responsibility, and creativity;
- managing the school staff; and
- overseeing the school’s financial management and daily business operations.
The Principal reports to the school system partner and to Bard College, specifically through the Dean of the Early Colleges. The Principal is expected to meet regularly with other BHSEC leadership teams.
Compensation: The salary will be determined by a number of factors, based on the Baltimore City Public Schools salary scale. Please refer to the following page for further details on Compensation and Benefits for this position.
The Salary range: is approximately: $119,000 -$200,000 determined by a number of factors, as noted above
Union Affiliation: Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU)
Start Date: August 2026
Location: 2801 N. Dukeland Street, Baltimore, MD 21216
The Principal must lead a campus that is both a public high school as well as a degree-granting undergraduate branch campus of Bard College. As such, the Principal's professional and academic experience should span both secondary and postsecondary teaching and administration, and, where relevant, scholarship. The successful candidate will excel at working in a community that is broadly diverse with regard to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, nationality, sexual orientation and religion.
The successful candidate for the position will possess the following characteristics and qualifications:
- Doctorate in a liberal arts and sciences discipline (corresponding to the fields available for study within the Bard College curriculum)
- Scholarship and engagement in that field of study since attainment of doctoral degree
- Relevant teaching experience, preferably with both college and high school-aged students
- Relevant leadership experience
- Very strong organizational and management skills
- Very strong interpersonal and communication skills
- Experience in and commitment to working with adolescents
- Administrator certification required
- Additionally, candidates will be subject to necessary qualifications and review in accordance with the local school district’s principal selection process.
