District and School Administrators
The Howard County Public School System is committed to recruiting highly qualified and dynamic candidates for all school-based administrator positions.
The Application Process
Applicant pools for some positions will open briefly in the fall of 2024 to identify candidates for vacancies that may occur during the 2024-2025 school year. Applicant pools for all school administrator positions will open by early winter to identify candidates for vacancies that may occur during the 2025-2026 school year and beyond.
Note: The Howard County Public School System will be transitioning all recruitment to a new applicant tracking system in early 2025, so applicants only interested in positions for 2025-2026 should not apply at this time.
Please review the posted job announcements and information below to ensure submission of a complete application. Incomplete applications may not be considered.
A completed application includes the following:
- All current and prior employment experience in education is documented on the application form. Please list each position held separately.
- An updated resume is uploaded demonstrating your most significant experiences and accomplishments.
- Responses to the required supplemental application questions are uploaded. The supplemental application questions are critical to determining the extent to which applicants meet the minimum and preferred qualifications for the position.
- All current educator certificate(s) or license(s) must be uploaded. Only those applicants whose certification/licensure can be verified will be considered.
- MSDE Certificate/License Holders: Please upload a copy of your MSDE certificate/license showing the required Administrator credential. If you have just completed the requirements and do not yet hold the license, you must upload copies of the appropriate transcripts or test scores to demonstrate eligibility for licensure in addition to submitting the request in TEACH to apply for the applicable Administrator license. This applies to internal HCPSS employees as well as external applicants.
- Out-of-State License Holders: Please upload all certification/licensure documents you possess such as your current certificates/licenses, any prior MSDE certificates held, as well as transcripts and test scores used to obtain initial licensure in another state.
Additional Licensure Information
Out-of-state applicants are strongly encouraged to begin the application process for educator licensure with the Maryland State Department of Education in addition to uploading all required materials to your HCPSS employment application.
Applicants to principal positions who are not currently in a principal position must have a qualifying School Leaders Licensure Assessment (SLLA) score. Please upload your Praxis score report for Test 6990 to your application materials.
Additional information is available on our Educator Licensure webpage.
Professional References
Our current online application requires that you enter at least two professional references and will automatically send electronic reference surveys to those individuals upon submission of your application.
Completed reference surveys are valid for one year from the date of submission and are required from two of your current and most recent supervisors should a recommendation for hire be made. If you have not yet communicated with your current supervisor regarding your employment search, please identify another professional reference.
Additionally, the current HCPSS reference survey is valid for all positions to which you apply, so if you applied to other positions within the past year and your references completed a survey on your behalf, they will not get a new survey to complete for your administrator application.
Reference surveys are not considered in determining whether an applicant meets the qualifications of the position.
The Screening and Interview Process
The Office of Human Resources will review and evaluate all applications. Complete applications that meet the advertised minimum qualifications will also be evaluated based on the preferred qualifications for the position. Invitations to interview will be extended to those applicants that best meet the minimum and preferred qualifications.
The first-round interview is a structured panel interview designed to provide all candidates equal opportunity to present their qualifications and includes both written and verbal components. Candidates are encouraged to articulate the experiences, skills, and strengths they possess that make them an outstanding candidate. Successful candidates provide specific examples in their responses and demonstrate strong connections between their experiences and the role they are seeking.