Teacher 2018 – 2019 Middle School Teacher
Job Description
Intrepid College Prep is a growing network of free, open-enrollment, high-performing no excuses public schools committed to preparing prepsters to excel in selective colleges, earn professional opportunities, and graduate as financially literate professionals and positive leaders. Our Blue Chip Team currently educates nearly 500 students across two schools – Opportunity Academy, serving students in grades 5-8 and Independence Academy, serving students in grades 9-10 in 2018-2019.
A pioneer in financial literacy education, Intrepid College Prep achieves remarkable academic growth for all prepsters, especially English Language Learners. In 2017, our scholars were #1 in ELL Achievement in Math, #1 in Hispanic Achievement in Math, and #1 in African-American Achievement in Math. Intrepid was also #1 in composite growth among all middle and high schools in Nashville and in the top 1% in the state for growth during the 2016-2017 school year.
Our work grows prepsters academically, financially, and socially – providing the skill sets needed to be game changing leaders in every facet of the future. Intrepid alumni will transform college campuses and the work force, raising expectations for academic excellence, financial acumen and ethical leadership.
Teach Middle School Subjects at Opportunity Academy
Opportunity Academy provides a liberal arts education, including the study of Literacy, Math, Science, Social Studies and Financial Literacy in a disciplined academic environment. Curriculum in all core subjects is aligned to the TN Core standards. Our instructional vision calls for rich, text-dependent questioning and discussion, explaining the “why” across content areas, and supporting answers with thorough evidence. To create rigorous academic discourse geared toward critical thinking and exploring connections and misconceptions, teachers have more than three weeks of summer professional development. During that time, teachers strengthen content knowledge and practice lesson delivery in a manner that protects high student thinking ratio in the classroom.
The kind of learning activities in which students will engage can be described as cooperative group investigations, partner collaboration, or individual work (depending on the topic and assignment). All of which are designed to help students understand and explain the key concepts presented in all courses, incorporating reasoning skills, analysis, communication skills and real world applications.
Eligibility Requirements
- Tennessee Certification in the appropriate content area, with track record of data-driven achievement.
Middle School Teacher Duties and Responsibilities
- Lay the foundation for the improvement of our Literacy, Numeracy, Science, Social Studies, and Financial Literacy curriculum
- Collaborate with leaders and teachers over expanded summer professional development to create rigorous, standards-aligned curriculum including scope and sequence, long-term plan, unit plans.
- Collaborate weekly with leaders and teachers to develop interim, midterm, and final assessments
- Share teaching strategies, visit peer classrooms and analyze academic achievement data daily to develop best practice pedagogy
- Demonstrated experience or willingness to engage in a community where teaching is public (i.e. engaging in classroom visits, publication and critique of curriculum, observation and feedback cycles).
- Work with our ESL and Prepster Support Teachers to support tremendous academic growth for EL students and students with disabilities.
- Collaborate with Prepster Support Team weekly to develop a plan to meet the needs of all learners
- Serve as an Advisor for 12-15 students, including developing relationships with families, monitoring each student’s academic progress and fulfillment of requirements in the Pre-Collegiate Training program
- Availability to participate in after school and Saturday tutoring programs.
- Availability and willingness to engage in a limited number of evening/weekend student recruitment and parent outreach events
- Have structured planning time (minimum of 100 minutes) built into the school day to plan the highest quality lessons
- Other duties as assigned, including bus duty approximately 1 day per month
Successful Middle School teacher candidates possess the following characteristics: - Intelligent, committed, gritty educators ready for challenge and the dogged pursuit of academic excellence.
- Dedication to educational success for students of color and low-income youth
- Demonstrated evidence of the ability to reflect and articulate the lessons learned from past experience
- Demonstrated evidence of strong content knowledge in middle school content area taught and ability to articulate the importance of literacy in a well-rounded middle school education
- Experience with or demonstrated desire in leading Socratic Seminars and utilizing the Harkness Method
- Demonstrated ability to formulate higher-order, open-ended questions to lead students in scholarly conversation
- Demonstrated ability to articulate the criteria for exemplary student work
- Demonstrated ability to help students overcome conceptual difficulties in a specific content area
- Demonstrated evidence of excellent classroom management skills and ability to cultivate a rigorous classroom climate
- Minimum of two years teaching experience in an urban public school or charter school setting preferred, but not required.
- Highest commitment to improving curriculum and instruction through collaboration, best practices, regular assessment and data analysis
- Effective communication skills with students, parents, and colleagues
- Holds a B.A./B.S. degree with a minimum G.P.A. of 3.0
- Degree in subject area intended to teach (preferred)
- Speaks Spanish or has experience working with bilingual students (preferred)
- Belief in and alignment with Intrepid College Prep’s core beliefs and educational philosophy are nonnegotiable.
The position will begin in July 2018.
Compensation
We offer a generous compensation package. All staff members are equipped with the tools needed to succeed, including a dedicated work space, laptop computer, email, high-speed internet access, and all necessary supplies. Compensation is highly competitive; teachers are eligible to participate in the MNPS Retirement System.
Commitment to Diversity
Intrepid College Prep is an equal opportunity employer. As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.
