Who do teachers report to?

Their head of department, who reports to an assistant head for academics, who reports to the head. Some schools add a second, dotted line to a grade-level dean or year head for pastoral matters. Whatever the answer is at your school, the chart should make it one line each way, not a cloud.

What's the difference between a public and an independent school org chart?

The top two cards. Independent: a board of trustees above the head of school, with advancement and admissions reporting to the head. Public: a superintendent and district above the principal, with finance, HR and enrolment held by the district rather than the school. Below that, both organise by department or grade.

Where does the school counsellor sit?

Under the dean of students (or an assistant principal for student services), not under academics. Counsellors need to be reachable outside the classroom structure, and the chart should reflect where students actually go.

How do you show a department head who also teaches?

As the manager of the department, with teachers stacked beneath. Note the teaching load in the title if you want ('Head of Science, 0.6 teaching'). The alternative — listing them as a teacher with a star — hides the school's real management layer.

School org chart example

An independent school with a board of trustees, a head, and the split every school has underneath: academics on one side, student life and operations on the other. Department heads are teachers who also manage, and the chart should say so.

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Wrenfield Academy · 22 people · an invented company, drawn by the layout engine. The board chair above the head of school; academic departments stacked under their heads; student life, the business office, advancement and admissions as peers. The open science post is next year's hire.

How a school is usually structured

A school reports to something above it: a board of trustees for an independent school, a district superintendent for a public one. The head (or principal) answers to it, and the assistant to the head sits beside them as staff. Under the head, the shape is the same almost everywhere — an academic line, a student-life line, and the business office.

The academic line is organised by department (English, mathematics, science…), each led by a head of department who teaches most of a full load and manages their colleagues for the rest. Teachers are stacked under their department head because a department of eight in a row would make the chart twice as wide and no more useful. Public schools often organise by grade level instead, with grade-level leads; the drawing is the same.

Student life — counselling, athletics, the nurse, sometimes residential life — sits under a dean of students. The business manager owns facilities, IT and finance. Advancement (fundraising) and admissions report directly to the head in an independent school, because enrolment and giving are the head's job; in a public school they don't exist and the district holds finance.

What's particular here

Department heads are player-coaches
A head of department teaches four classes and manages six people. Draw them as managers — the span matters — but expect their title to read 'Teacher' in the HR export.
Two kinds of school, one chart
Independent: board, head, then the lines above. Public: superintendent, principal, assistant principals by grade or function, with departments under an assistant principal. Swap the top two cards and the rest holds.
Teachers can have two lines
In a school organised by both department and grade, a teacher reports to a department head for curriculum and a grade-level dean for students. That's a dotted line, and it's worth drawing for the year-group leads at least.
Open posts are the plan
Schools hire on a calendar. A vacancy drawn in March for a September start is the staffing plan and the org chart in one, and it is what the board wants to see at the spring meeting.

Typical titles by level

The vocabulary these charts use, from the top down. Titles vary by country and by company; the levels don't.

Level	Titles you'll see
Governance	Chair, Board of Trustees (independent) or Superintendent and School Board (public)
Leadership	Head of School or Principal, Assistant Head or Assistant Principal (Academics, Student Life, Lower and Upper School), Dean of Students, Business Manager or Director of Finance & Operations, Director of Advancement, Director of Admissions
Middle leadership	Head of Department, Grade-Level Lead, Athletic Director, Director of Technology, Facilities Manager, Registrar, Librarian
Staff	Teacher, Teaching Assistant, School Counsellor, School Nurse, Coach, Custodian, IT Support, Admissions Officer, Administrative Assistant

Where these charts go wrong

School charts fail by omitting the board or district (so the head answers to nobody), by drawing every teacher in a row so the chart is four screens wide, by hiding department heads among the teachers so nobody’s span is visible, and by putting the counsellor under academics, where students can’t find them.

Questions people ask

Who do teachers report to?: Their head of department, who reports to an assistant head for academics, who reports to the head. Some schools add a second, dotted line to a grade-level dean or year head for pastoral matters. Whatever the answer is at your school, the chart should make it one line each way, not a cloud.
What's the difference between a public and an independent school org chart?: The top two cards. Independent: a board of trustees above the head of school, with advancement and admissions reporting to the head. Public: a superintendent and district above the principal, with finance, HR and enrolment held by the district rather than the school. Below that, both organise by department or grade.
Where does the school counsellor sit?: Under the dean of students (or an assistant principal for student services), not under academics. Counsellors need to be reachable outside the classroom structure, and the chart should reflect where students actually go.
How do you show a department head who also teaches?: As the manager of the department, with teachers stacked beneath. Note the teaching load in the title if you want ('Head of Science, 0.6 teaching'). The alternative — listing them as a teacher with a star — hides the school's real management layer.

Other industries

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