The Jounce Instructional Leader Fellowship
Through the Jounce Instructional Leadership Fellowship, we recruit talented educators and help them to grow and transition into roles as highly effective instructional leaders.
Program
Instructional Leader Fellows (ILFs) are full-time Jounce employees for two years. During their fellowship, these leaders receive two summers of intensive training, cohort-based professional learning each week of the school year, and weekly one-on-one coaching from experienced educational leaders on our team. Most importantly, ILFs spend about 70% of their time coaching teachers at schools that contract with Jounce. Students in classrooms where our Fellows coach tend to grow faster academically than those in comparable classrooms. This means our Fellows have an immediate positive impact on school communities and it provides us with a valuable indicator that Fellows will be ready to be effective school-based leaders when they complete the program.
We emphasize supporting instructional leaders who represent the experiences and backgrounds of the students they’ll serve; these educators often have less access to leadership pathways and, when they do pursue leadership roles, are often steered toward discipline and culture roles and away from academic leadership roles. The Jounce Instructional Leader Fellowship builds content and curricular knowledge, delivers practical coaching and management experience, and provides competitive compensation and benefits - in order to remove knowledge, experience, and financial barriers to success for high-potential instructional leaders.
Intensive Training
9 weeks of training each summer
One-on-one, job-embedded coaching weekly
4 hours of content knowledge, pedagogy, instructional coaching, and management training each week
On-the-job Experience & Feedback
Each week from September to June, Fellows deliver 30 hours of instructional coaching in our partner schools
Fellows review impact data weekly with a senior Jounce coach to build their skill set for the future and to improve student outcomes in the short term.
Final Match and Placement
After two years of training and experience, Fellows have a demonstrated track record of coaching teachers and moving student outcomes. They also have deep knowledge across multiple grade spans, content areas, and curricular programs.
All graduated Jounce Fellows have received more than 3 offers for instructional leadership roles before completing the program.
Less than 10%
of applicants are invited to the Fellowship
Over 90% of finalists accept their Fellowship offer
100% of ILFs have moved into instructional leadership roles
Alumni Spotlight
Aquila Waller
2024 ILF Graduate
Before Jounce
- 5 years of teaching experience
- 2 years of school leadership experience
- Role before ILF: Assistant Principal at Independence Charter School West in Philadelphia, PA
Placement upon ILF Fellowship Graduation
- Head of School at Belmont Charter Elementary School in Philadelphia, PA
Jennifer Bentley
2024 ILF Graduate
Before Jounce
- 13 years of teaching experience
- Role before ILF: 3rd Grade Spanish Immersion teacher in DE
Placement upon ILF Fellowship Graduation
- Director of Lower School/Assistant Principal at Eastside Charter in Wilmington, DE
“The ILF experience exceeded my expectations. Jounce frameworks helped me to understand the importance of practice and consistency, and how to be an effective leader.”
Raven Redmond
2024 ILF Graduate
Before Jounce
- 6 years of teaching experience
- 1 year of school leadership experience
- Role before ILF: Math Curriculum Lead at Parkway Village in Memphis, TN
Placement upon ILF Fellowship Graduation
- Assistant Principal at DC Prep in Washington, DC
“Jounce helped develop my flexibility in working with teachers of different backgrounds, challenged me with different grade levels and content areas, and expanded my way of thinking to be an asset to all teachers regardless of school conditions, grades, administration, subjects, mindset, etc.”
Jordan Floyd
2023 ILF Graduate
Before Jounce
- 5 years of teaching experience
- Role before ILF: 7th and 8th Grade Math lead teacher at Mastery Pickett Charter School in Philadelphia
Placement upon ILF Fellowship Graduation
- Assistant Principal of Instruction at KIPP Philadelphia Preparatory Academy in Philadelphia, PA
“My Jounce ILF experience has allowed me to seamlessly transition into an Assistant Principal position and make an instant impact on academics. It has also shifted my thinking from procedural mathematics to conceptual understanding which has helped students understand math at a much deeper level.”
Denisha Wilson
2025 ILF Graduate
Before Jounce
- 17 years of teaching experience
- Role before ILF: Career + College Readiness Teacher at West Oak Lane Charter School in Philadelphia, PA
Placement upon ILF Fellowship Graduation
- Academic Dean at Philadelphia Hebrew Public Charter School in Philadelphia, PA
“The ILF program gave me the tools I needed regarding curriculum expertise and implementation that prepared me for leadership…the experience allowed me to grow in an instructional/content driven way which is absolutely necessary when it comes to schools and students. This program prepared me to lead in a more comprehensive way.”
Shannon Gallagher
2024 ILF Graduate
Before Jounce
- 8 years of teaching experience
- 2 years of school leadership experience
- Role before ILF: Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Brooklyn RISE in Brooklyn, NY
Placement upon ILF Fellowship Graduation
- Assistant Head of Schools at Belmont Charter Elementary School in Philadelphia, PA
“I felt really confident having Jounce on my resume and felt highly prepared for components of the interview process that required things like data analysis, coaching demos, coaching meetings, etc. ”
