Social Studies Teacher - Charter Middle School

MISSION The mission of the Christa McAuliffe Charter School is to cultivate within each member of a diverse student body an intense commitment to self and community, the courage and insight to set high standards for academic and personal success, and the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to achieve those standards. ABOUT THE SCHOOL The Christa McAuliffe Charter School (mcauliffecharter.org) is an EL Education (eleducation.org) school for 340 scholars in grades 6-8 with a hands-on curriculum that inspires achievement through active learning, character growth, and teamwork. The school is committed to ensuring that all students grow as learners and as ethical people through meaningful work and a strong community. POSITION OVERVIEW Everything that we do at McAuliffe is intended to meet the needs of students in their early adolescence. This means that you must be someone who finds sixth, seventh, and eighth graders much more entertaining than aggravating! You must be compassionate, have the ability to develop meaningful connections with students, have strong classroom management skills, and feel confident in your ability to create a psychologically safe classroom culture in which individuals are respected and valued for what they bring to the group. As a Social Studies Teacher, you will implement a curriculum that blends real-world, community-based learning with explicit instruction on the skills and strategies that will make them effective readers, writers, and thinkers. You will differentiate instruction to meet the needs of students at various ability levels to challenge them and help them improve as readers, writers, and critical thinkers. As a crew leader, you'll lead a crew, similar to an advisory, of about 12 students. You will be the mentor/advocate for each student in your crew -- their McAuliffe parent away from home. You'll engage them in team-building activities, facilitate conversations rooted in social-emotional learning, guide the development of crew and individual goals, and prepare students for student-led conferences and exhibitions of learning. POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES - Building on existing curricula, plan and deliver engaging lessons and units that build students' content knowledge and reading, writing, and critical thinking skills - Serve as a Crew adviser to 10-12 students, which includes leading a daily advisory, called crew, supporting advisees, and regularly communicating with parents - Employ a variety of teaching methodologies that guide students to engage in critical thinking: use of protocols, simulations, workshops, Socratic seminars, cooperative learning, experiments, hands-on projects, and other inquiry-based activities - Provide differentiated support, including accommodations and modifications to ensure all students are able to meet and exceed standards - Participate in ongoing professional development, including instructional coaching - Implement school-wide positive behavioral systems to effectively manage the classroom - Continually communicate with students' families regarding performance and progress - Serve as an active member of the McAuliffe Community, including attending evening celebrations of student learning and admissions events QUALIFICATIONS - Experience: Experience in, and passion for, teaching art or design, preferably at the middle school level. - Technical Skill: Expertise with the iterative design process and a variety of assessment methods. - Curriculum: Commitment to developing curriculum and implementing EL Education core practices. - Soft Skills: Strong interpersonal skills, commitment to teamwork, and readiness to reflect and grow. - Licensure: Massachusetts DESE licensure in Social Studies, or equivalent (PreK-8 or 5-12), or eligibility for waiver is required. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS & WORK ENVIRONMENT Must be able to remain in a stationary position for extended periods. Must be able to move about the classroom and school building to assist students. Must be able to lift/move instructional materials up to 25 lbs occasionally. Ability to communicate effectively with students, staff, and parents in person and digitally. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS Salary Range: In the spirit of pay transparency, the base salary range for this position is $41,952 (step 0, Bachelor's) - $84,016 (step 20, Master's). If you are hired at Christa McAuliffe, your final base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as skills, education, and/or applicable experience. Please keep in mind that the range mentioned is the full base salary range for the role. Hiring at the maximum of the range would not be typical in order to allow for future and continued salary growth. Please see our salary scale, available upon request, that clearly outlines where an applicant will fall within the salary range based on years of applicable experience. Benefits: Health, dental, vision, 403b employee contributed, MTRS, life insurance. Benefit details available upon request EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER The Christa McAuliffe Charter School is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive community and strongly encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds.