Background

Amigos Por Vida-Friends For Life Public Charter School (APV-FFL or APV), founded over 25 years ago in an apartment building in the Gulfton area of Houston, by local parents and community leaders, has grown to become a widely respected “A” rated pre-K3 through 8th grade school. In 2006, the school received the Governor’s Excellence Award, and in 2011, a state-ofthe-art school facility was built across the street from its humble beginnings. From the 2020 to the 2025-2026 school year, Amigos Por Vida has consistently increased student enrollment to meet family and community interest, growing from 485 to 818 students (over 68% cumulative growth). APV has recently completed a campus expansion project, enabling the school to accommodate up to 1200 students and ensuring that more families will have access to its high-quality educational model.

The Gulfton community is one of the densest in Houston. It is known for its young, mobile, primarily Hispanic, and low-income population, with more than 62% of residents earning incomes at or below the federal poverty line. While the community has increased in diversity since the school’s founding, access to quality education remains of paramount importance to all Gulfton families.

Amigos Por Vida serves as a beacon in the Gulfton community, consistently delivering impressive outcomes for its underserved students (98% Hispanic, approximately 98% economically disadvantaged, and 87% classified as Limited English Proficient). APV-FFL offers a unique, dual-immersion bilingual academic program model grounded in five key principles: a rigorous education, empowering family partnerships, a safe and trusting environment, collaborative staff, and holistic development. Beyond its core academic program, APV also offers a variety of extracurricular activities to develop well-rounded students. APV-FFL is ranked in the top 20% of public schools in Texas and is considered one of the top-performing charter schools in Houston, surpassing academic standards in almost all areas and outperforming the state and region in STAAR testing since 2018. In 2025, more than 80% of 8th-grade APV graduates were accepted into magnet high schools in the Houston Independent School District. Twelve former APV-FFL students are now current employees of the organization, demonstrating the continued alumni impact on and commitment to the community.

APV-FFL’s culture is deeply rooted in community success and access. All staff members, leaders, teachers, and Board members are united in their commitment to the Gulfton community, as evidenced by the extensive wraparound services APV provides for families, including public information sessions, healthcare clinics, English language development, and continuing education.

With a strong community legacy, financial standing, student achievement results, and a recently expanded facility, Amigos Por Vida is continuing to grow its footprint in the Houston area to serve more students and families in the future.

For more information about Amigos Por Vida, visit their website.

Opportunity

APV-FFL is primed for a new Superintendent to build on the organization’s history and achievements and ensure that it continues to expand its impact and reach. The APV-FFL Board seeks an experienced, visionary, strategic, and inspirational education leader who will develop the teams, systems, and infrastructure necessary to continue to grow, scale, and expand beyond its current campus while maintaining a high-caliber academic program for students and families.

The ideal candidate is a champion for children who embraces challenges, invests in relationships, delivers results, is familiar with or can quickly immerse themselves in the local community, and will be a credible, visible leader.

The Superintendent sets the strategic direction for Amigos Por Vida, has overall responsibility for the design and implementation of the academic model, and oversees all instructional, cultural, operational, financial, and community relations of the organization in collaboration with the leadership team.

The key priorities for the Superintendent include:

• Maintaining a high-quality academic program and strong student outcomes;
• Fostering an organizational culture that is characterized by high staff morale and retention of high performers;
• Developing the infrastructure, laying the groundwork, and setting a strategy for current and future growth;
• Maintaining high standards for and continuing to develop systems/protocols to support student, staff, and campus safety;
• Driving towards complete enrollment at the flagship campus and recruiting new students for future campuses;
• Ensuring financial sustainability and seeking out new funding opportunities.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and execute an inspirational, multi-year strategic plan that continues to drive exceptional student and family outcomes and growth at the current campus, and lays the groundwork for expanding APV-FFL to new facilities and/or communities;
• Set clear academic, operational, cultural, advancement, financial, and growth goals and priorities aligned with the strategic plan and manage toward them, adapting as necessary given changes in the internal and external environment;
• Design and implement progress monitoring systems, review progress towards measures of success, and hold staff accountable for results;
• Ensure compliance with all rules, regulations, and laws governing APV-FFL’s charter.

Organizational Management and Culture

• Lead, develop, coach, and retain a high-performing team that delivers transformational educational outcomes for students, and high satisfaction and retention of staff, scholars, and families; model servant leadership;
• Foster a collaborative culture grounded in high expectations for students, embracing differences, and partnership with families;
• Ensure staff are supported and held accountable for modeling APV-FFL’s values and contributing to a healthy organizational culture;
• Cultivate and nurture authentic relationships with staff, students, and families.

External Partnership, Engagement, and Sustainability 

• Externally champion the vision, mission, goals, and values of APV-FFL, including speaking publicly and communicating widely about the work and accomplishments of the organization;
• Create and execute strategies to reach full student enrollment at the flagship campus and drive student recruitment and enrollment for future campuses;
• Build and expand local partnerships with key community leaders, government officials, philanthropic organizations, and other community-based organizations to support students and families;
• Interact regularly with the charter authorizer to ensure compliance and long-term sustainability; In collaboration with the Board of Directors and Finance Team, ensure that APV-FFL has a strong long-term financial plan; manage the organizational budget of approximately $9 MM while increasing funding opportunities over time.

Partnership with the Board of Directors 

• Continue to develop an engaged and active Board in close partnership with the Board Chair;
• Regularly update, communicate, and strategize with the Board of Directors by transparently sharing issues, risks, opportunities, priorities, outcomes, policy review, board directives, personnel matters, and fiscal matters related to the strategic plan, as well as organizational and political context; provide both responsive and proactive communication that engenders trust;
• Receive and incorporate Board feedback on performance annually;
• Perform other duties as are prescribed from time to time by the Board.

Qualifications

The ideal Superintendent candidate will bring the following experiences, skills, and mindsets/values:

Required Experience

• At least 10 years of professional experience in leadership positions with increasing responsibility, including successful management of a team of adults in a public charter school, district school system, or education not-for-profit organization with ambitious organizational, fiscal, and student achievement goals;
• Experience teaching and leading at a high-performing charter or district elementary or middle school with a student population similar to the community APV serves;
• Experience successfully building, managing, developing, and supporting high-performing teams;
• Experience leading, investing, and motivating stakeholders in a shared vision for an organization, and defining strategies to operationalize that vision;
• A bachelor’s degree or higher in education, school administration, business, or a related field from an accredited college or university; a Master’s degree is highly preferred;
• Holds or meets the requirements to obtain a Superintendent certificate as set forth by the Texas Education Agency, or has the ability to commit to obtaining a certificate.

Preferred Experience

• Experience creating, improving, and scaling organizational systems and infrastructure;
• Successful experience leading an organization, school, or network to grow and expand responsibly;
• Experience building and stewarding external partnerships and serving as the external face of an organization;
• Fundraising/development experience; 
• Experience managing a large organizational budget equal to or greater than $5 MM;
• Experience successfully working with boards;
• Connection to and/or understanding of the Houston (or Texas) educational landscape.

Skills

• Ability to create a strategic plan with clear metrics for success, and lead a team to execute the plan;
• Demonstrated ability to create a positive work environment defined by a culture of high expectations, collective responsibility, collaboration with families, and embracing differences;
• Strong financial management and stewardship skills;
• Superior relationship management skills; the ability to engage and inspire a variety of stakeholders;
• The ability to communicate clearly internally and externally; bilingual in Spanish preferred.

Mindset/Values

• Alignment with APV-FFL’s mission and academic approach, and an appreciation for the organization’s history and legacy;
• Belief in the importance of engaging with and investing in students, families, and the Gulfton community;
• A deep-seated commitment to leading with authenticity, integrity, and transparency;
• Evidence of well-developed emotional intelligence, humility, growth mindset, and receptiveness to feedback.

Compensation and Application

The salary range for this position is $150,000 – $190,000, commensurate with experience. The Superintendent is also eligible for a performance-based bonus of up to 10% of their annual salary, based on goals determined by the Board of Directors.

Amigos Por Vida understands that there are many paths to acquiring experience and that lived experience can provide important skills and abilities. Therefore, we welcome candidates from diverse and non-traditional backgrounds for this role, including those who have demonstrated transferable skills to carry out the major duties outlined in this job description.

Amigos Por Vida – Friends for Life Charter School is an equal opportunity employer. Amigos Por Vida does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Initial Application Deadline: November 3, 2025

Posted On: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Compensation: $150,000-$190,000