Middle School Science Teacher

Educational Culture at Challenge Charter Middle School:

Our school’s mission is to cultivate the intellectual, social, emotional, and ethical development of our students and prepare them for long-term success both inside and beyond the classroom. We aim to accomplish this mission by building a culture among students, faculty, staff, parents, and community members that conveys excitement about learning; fosters creativity and collaboration, and celebrates success. Specifically: Educators at Challenge Prep share a common understanding of what quality teaching looks like by adopting the Danielson Framework for Teaching. Challenge Prep educators believe that how children learn is as important as what they learn and that academic success is inextricably tied to building social-emotional competencies. All members of the Challenge Prep community take full responsibility for the academic progress of our students, and this is reflected in our methods of evaluating the effectiveness of faculty, staff, and school leadership. We conduct annual professional evaluations that use multiple measures to determine effectiveness, including classroom observations and student outcomes. We provide intensive support for new teachers to help ensure their success.

Responsibilities

• The successful candidate will share Challenge Prep’s vision for our educational culture and program. Specifically, she/he will:
• Provide academic subject instruction in science, ensuring that curriculum maps and schedules are followed.
• Plan for class activities, including preparing units and daily lesson plans, identifying materials to implement class activities, preparing class projects, giving children feedback on completed work to ensure mastery of presented material, and grading tests and assignments in a timely manner
• Confer with other teachers concerning cross-curricular opportunities.
• Communicate with parents on a regular basis about schedules, assignments, events, and individual student needs.
• Meet with parents during scheduled conferences during the school year.
• Maintain grades and curriculum assessments online. Attend weekly faculty meetings with the division head and curriculum meetings as needed.
• Exhibits enthusiasm for science, engineering, and STEAM.
• Collaborates as a team player with teaching colleagues and administration.
• Sees the school as a community.
• Supports school by attending school-sponsored events and activities.
• Commits to ongoing professional development via workshop attendance, visiting other schools, and webinars.
• Learns new skills and integrates technology as changing pedagogy dictates.
• Models self-discipline and ethical behavior.
• Deliver instruction in the curricular area that is aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
• Incorporate short-response, open-ended, and constructed response questions weekly to facilitate scholars’ application of their knowledge.
• Integrate reading and writing into all subject areas.
• Learn about the cultural backgrounds of your scholars and incorporate them into the classroom culture and lesson plans.
• Make cross-curricular connections among subject areas.
• Use formal and informal assessment data to personalize and accelerate learning for all students. Differentiate instruction for all students, especially for students with special needs.
• Create and maintain a warm and inclusive classroom environment.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with students and their families, focusing on how to align school and home life around continued student growth and success.
• Engage in and support new initiatives, including the use of blended learning, project-based learning

Qualifications

• Master’s degree (preferred) NYS certification in Science and or special education 7-12.
• Demonstrated ability to create safe, supportive, and challenging classroom environments.
• Passion and commitment to teaching students from underserved communities and closing achievement gaps.
• Relentless drive to set and achieve ambitious learning goals for students.
• Eagerness to share and collaborate with peers on continuously improving teaching and learning.The desire for continuous professional growth and development.

Ideal candidates have the following traits:

• 1-2 years of experience in urban Middle School classroom instruction
• Experience in integrating technology into classroom instruction
• Experience with curriculum design
• Background in urban education serving a broad range of students
• Prior experience with new school, “start-up” processes
• Experience in delivering Common Core-aligned instruction