STRIVE Prep is a Denver-based community of public charter schools that challenges every student to strive for college and thrive throughout life by helping them to discover and develop the knowledge, skills and confidence necessary to succeed in college and beyond.

STRIVE Prep-RISE’s inclusive and transformative community seeks a High School Special Education Teacher for a 2018-19 school year opening.

Objective: STRIVE Prep High School Special Education Teachers will create exceptional outcomes and opportunities for students by providing high-quality, rigorous and engaging instruction.

We seek dedicated educators that live STRIVE Prep’s  core values every day:

• Con Ganas: The work we do is challenging, but every challenge is seen as an opportunity and we rarely give up.

• The High Road: We do the right thing and we treat one another with respect and dignity.

• Joy Factor: We work to create a joyful and optimistic work environment that values levity and laughter.

• Accountable Action: We hold clear, high expectations for our work, and we are appropriately held accountable to those expectations by ourselves and others.

• Growth Mindset: We continue to develop professionally and operate with a growth mindset in order to create the best school possible for our students and families.

• Lean In: We communicate with one another professionally, appropriately, honestly, and transparently, both in person and in writing.

• We Serve:  Every day is an opportunity to partner with and learn from our students and families, whom we serve with grace and humility.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

     Instruction:

• Lead engaging, data-driven instruction in Special Education.
• Teach daily student interventions, providing individualized instruction based on student needs.
• Collaborate with General Education teachers, school leaders, curriculum directors, and the English Language Development Director to ensure that instruction meets the needs of each learner.
• Analyze student data and use it to provide student feedback and set goals.
• Modify, create, and share pedagogy that draws on students’ lived experiences and cultures in a way that is socially transformative for the student, the school, and the community.
• Respond to academic and social-emotional needs of students in classrooms; be available to students by phone every evening, Monday-Thursday, for homework assistance until 8:00 p.m.

      Culture:

• Establish systems and routines in order to create a safe, purposeful, and welcoming classroom environment focused on learning.
• Lead a student advisory at the beginning and end of each school day, and serve as the main point of contact and advocate for students in an advisory of approximately 25 students.
• Develop the necessary analytical, social-emotional, and academic skills so that students can effectively navigate their social conditions and mainstream culture in order to become agents of social transformation.
• Communicate regularly and often with families to both solicit their input and share student social and academic progress.  Develop meaningful relationships with familes to ensure that they can be active advocates and supports for their students’ learning.
• Provide supervision of students during before and after school activities (daily hall duty, lunch duty once a week and after school dismissal once a week)
• Participate in family and community events, including twice annual parent conferences and at least one student enrollment event or activity.
• Own the success and achievement of all scholars in the school.

      Development:

• Attend and actively engage in weekly staff and grade level meetings.
• Participate in regular instructional coaching meetings and content-based department meetings; self-advocate for specific needs in coaching or development as desired.
• Participate in STRIVE Prep’s Summer Training Institute as well as professional development throughout the school year.

Requirements:

• Bachelor of Arts or Sciences degree
• Achieve Qualified Teacher status (teacher’s license not required) within six weeks of starting through one of the following channels outlined by the Colorado Department of Education:
  • A valid Colorado Teacher License with Special Education endorsement OR
  • Transfer a Special Education license from another state OR
  • Enroll in an alternative licensure program to obtain a Special Education license.
    • Read more about the available pathways to becoming a Qualified Special Education Teacher.

In addition, we strongly prefer the following:

• Speaks Spanish and/or has experience working with English Learners

What We Offer Our Network Staff:

• Competitive compensation package.
• Annual performance-based raises.
• Participation in the Colorado PERA retirement program, including a PERA 401k contribution option.
• Funding of 100 percent of individual medical benefits and a wide range of insurance plans.
• Approximately eight weeks of summer vacation, approximately four weeks of school holidays and vacations, and eight days of paid time off annually.

Join This Movement:

STRIVE Prep educators inspire and encourage our students to think critically, communicate clearly, and collaborate openly, both in and outside of the classroom. By bringing together challenging academics with celebration and joy, we fuel a sense of curiosity, creativity and lifelong possibility in our students and our teachers. No matter where you join us in your career, we welcome our teachers to help make STRIVE Prep a place where everyone in our community can STRIVE and THRIVE.

Equity and Inclusion

STRIVE Prep works to make a college preparatory education for all students in our community the norm, rather than the exception.  We must challenge ourselves as educators on what it means to serve all students, families and each other through a lens of Dignity for All, all the time. To us, Dignity for All means honoring and respecting the rich diversity of who we are and the unique gifts and talents that each of us bring. To achieve this we are committed to building and sustaining a diverse team by maintaining hiring and recruiting processes that are free from bias and seek to provide each candidate with a unique and equitable opportunity for employment.

Questions?

Contact Burgess LePage, Staffing Manager at blepage@striveprep.org