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Special Education Teacher - Tacoma, WA 2018-2019

Who We Are:

What if all students graduated high school with not only content knowledge, but the habits andskills to successfully navigate college and career, with a sense of purpose to anchor them? This is the question at the core of Summit Public Schools. Summit is a leading charter management organization serving heterogeneous communities in the Bay Area and Washington state. We operate 11 schools serving over 3,600 students.

Are you looking for the opportunity to lead change? Do you want to help reimagine what schools should be? We put students in the driver’s seat, empowering students with the skills and habits they need to be successful in college and life. We need diverse, driven, and dynamic teachers to join our growingteam to help realize our educational vision.

The Summit Learning Environment:

Teaching at Summit is unlike teaching in a traditional environment. Our teachers know the individual strengths and growth areas for each student. We empower students to own their learning.

By design, our schools are small communities where every student is known. Our schools are intentionally heterogeneous, and reflect the diverse demographics of the communities they are a part of. As a teacher, this will require being culturally responsive and creating equitable learning pathways for all students.

Summit teachers plan by deeply understanding student data and determining what group and individual supports are needed for their students to move forward on complex projects.

This planning requires teachers to consider not only how students are integrating content information into their projects but also how they are applying cognitive skills (e.g. hypothesizing) that stretch across all content areas and the habits of success (e.g. perseverance) that allow them to prepare for the world beyond the classroom.

Summit teachers do not see themselves as disseminators of knowledge but instead as facilitators andcoaches to their students.

We are committed to continual growth at Summit. We prioritize developing leaders from within and have invested in multiple career pathway programs for our teachers and school leaders. With dedicated days of professional development built into the academic year, we equip teachers with the tools necessary to improve their practice and tackle challenging issues.

 

What you’ll do:

The Education Specialist is responsible for acting as a full faculty member, across all school systems (such as grade level teams and weekly faculty meetings) by inputting advice, student status updates and personal opinions and ideas. In addition, the Education Specialist will have sole responsibility for, and be expected to:

  • A student school day is around 8-8:30am to 3-3:30pm, depending on the specific school. Teachers generally arrive around 30 minutes before school. See sample teacher schedules here.
  • Implement curriculum, instruction and assessment to address the individualized education goals for students receiving special education
  • Provide case-management for a caseload of students:
    • Ensure students are consistently receiving supports, accommodations, and/or modifications as delineated in the each student’s Individualized Education Plans (IEP)
    • Consult with general education teachers to adjust core curriculum, instruction and assessment to meet the unique learning needs and styles of a caseload of students
    • Collaborate with school staff, related service providers and parents to collect information and monitor the progress of a caseload of students in order to review and adjust educational plans at least annually
  • Lead the development and design of IEPs for a caseload of students receiving special education, including facilitating IEP meetings
  • Administer and interpret academic diagnostic assessments to determine learners’ strengths and areas of need for initial, and triennial assessments
  • Create and maintain notifications, records, files and reports as required by federal, state and local regulations
  • Maintain knowledge of current regulations pertaining to special education
  • Serve on a professional development team with other Education Specialists across the Summit network to collaborate
  • Provide support to students in office hours before and/or after school one day each week
  • Utilize an instructional coach to develop educator skills and apply new practices to support students with exceptional needs and mentees.
  • Twice per week all teachers have after-school meetings: community decisions are made, professional development takes place, and faculty collaborate as a grade-level or mentor team. Once per week, teachers offer office hours before or after school. On these days, most teachers leave around 5pm; other days, most teachers leave around 4pm.
  • Occasionally, teachers will also participate in back to school nights, open houses, or other community events after school hours.

What you need:

  • Commitment to uphold Summit’s values, belief that all children deserve a rigorous and equitable education that prepares them for college and for life
  • Teaching Credential in California or another US State (or a commitment to obtain a credential by completing an educator preparation program within 2 years of starting at Summit)
  • Bachelor’s Degree (a Master’s Degree in Education is preferred but not required)
  • Clear health and background check
  • Teaching experience in your subject preferred but not required

Who you are:

  • You maintain high expectations for all students and believe all students can find success in school, college, and life.
  • You’re deeply dedicated to social justice and feel motivated by the challenge and impact of teaching in a heterogenous community and working to close the achievement gap
  • You believe in every student, and can maintain and reinforce Summit's graduated discipline process, recognizing that student growth in all areas—academic, behavioral and community—are an investment and part of the work
  • You facilitate learning experiences, using a variety of method: project-based learning, direct instruction, small group and individual tasks, formative and summative assessment, direct teacher feedback, public presentation, and more
  • You’re passionate about serving as a mentor and advocate for a group of students that you’ll follow year to year
  • You are empathetic and culturally competent. You design and implement social and emotional learning experiences in all courses, and you’re open to having hard conversations
  • You thrive in innovative environments, and are comfortable with the ambiguity that can come with a dynamic and progressive workplace
  • You are a leader, and actively participate as a member of weekly faculty meetings
  • You’re committed to continuous improvement, see feedback as a positive, and have a growth mindset
  • You thrive while collaborating and are excited to work with colleagues to maintain academic integrity of planned lessons and learning experiences for students. You find positivity in share successes
  • You use data to track and provide updates on student achievement to faculty, directors and families
  • You're excited to learn Summit’s technology platforms that organize instructional materials and data

What you get:

Summit offers competitive salaries and benefit options, including covering 75% of the health, dental and vision plan costs. We fully cover life and disability insurance. We have a “take what you need” PTO policy, 11 paid holidays, 4 weeks of vacation during the year, and a summer break. We value our teachers’ Summit experience, offering stipends for teachers who have been with us for three or more years and helping teachers grow with us through designated time for paid professional development and regular coaching.

We strive to recruit a diverse team. Summit Public Schools is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, parenthood, citizenship status, creed, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. Summit will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

People from all diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Spanish language proficiency is a plus.