English as a Second Language Teacher & Department Chair

BelovED Charter School is hiring an ESL Teacher.

Salary: $62,000-$82,000

Why Our School is Special:

BelovED Community Charter School is a highly successful charter school that truly supports its teachers. We serve a student mix that is among the most diverse in America while enjoying the cultural vibrance of Jersey City, Hoboken and New York City. If this appeals to you, then apply today! We have achieved academic success without burning out our teachers by meshing an effective education program with effective teacher supports and professional development.

We truly value our faculty and work hard to control other costs so we can focus our resources on supporting them. In fact, throughout our history, we have annually increased faculty salaries by more than at other public schools and now, among those with similar experience, OUR FACULTY MEMBERS ARE AMONG THE HIGHEST PAID IN NEW JERSEY.

New Jersey charter schools ARE public schools. Our teachers are part of the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF), just like teachers at other public schools, and teachers are able to transfer their pension credits from a traditional public school to a charter school and vice versa.

Teacher Responsibilities:

Values, Expectations, and Commitment: Our teachers commit themselves to the school's values and mission. Moreover, appreciating the example of excellent schools which succeed at helping all students achieve at a high level, our teachers hold high expectations for each student and commit themselves to helping every student achieve their full potential.

Student Learning: Our teachers take ownership for his or her students achievements and learning progress that meets or exceeds the school's high standards. They actively develop solutions to problems, reaching out for peer and leader support, and are able to take advantage of all school provided resources.

Teaching and Assessment: We provide teachers with curricular materials. We also allow teachers flexibility in designing their own. We ask that teachers plan and deliver vibrant and engaging lessons - each with a measurable goal - within the framework of the school's carefully sequenced, standards-aligned education program. Our teachers administer school-provided formative assessments on a regular basis so instruction can be targeted to their students' needs.

Culture and Classroom Management: Our teachers communicate and model behaviors which befit the high expectations culture and the caring school climate to which we are committed. Our teachers apply school and classroom rules consistently and effectively; make use of preventive discipline; and effectively supervise students both in their classroom and elsewhere on school grounds.

Teamwork, Professional Relations, and Professional Development: Our teachers see themselves as members of a team and commit themselves to their own and to their peers' on-going professional development. Teachers will be required to attend professional development sessions, to participate actively in planning meetings, and to become part of a professional learning community where they can lend assistance to, and gain assistance from, their grade-level peers.

Special Needs Students and English Language Learners: Our teachers work collaboratively with the school's special education and ELL staff to implement the school's special education and ELL programs and to comply with all state and federal regulations.

Teacher Supports:

Teachers are part of a school-wide team that includes many different professionals and they receive career-long coaching and professional development support from our diverse Leadership Team. Teachers work closely with their grade level peers, with whom they engage within professional learning communities (PLCs) assisting one another to solve problems and plan lessons collaboratively.

Additional teacher supports include:

• Abundant planning periods and a designated lunch break that provides teachers an opportunity to prepare up-coming lessons during the school day;
• A research-based curriculum and supporting curricular materials (you will have the freedom to develop your own, but after a full day in the classroom, you may appreciate not always having to develop learning objectives and curricular resources from scratch);
• High-quality formative assessments, aligned with our curriculum, that will help you immediately identify when students in your class have not achieved mastery of a skill, concept, or knowledge item;
• Full-time reading and math specialists or intervention teachers who will be available to tutor students who are struggling to master an essential skill, and social workers AND counselors who will be available to help students struggling with outside problems;
• The staffing of our afterschool program by Academic Tutors, so we can limit the length of our teachers' work-days
  
  

Teaching/Department Chair Responsibilities

This position plays a critical role in helping to lead the Academy in a specific content area. Additionally, the department chairs collaborate with the Academy Leadership on school-wide initiatives to ensure there is strong communication in the Academy. The Department Chair will be evaluated on the Department Chair rubric.

The role is a hybrid between serving as a department chair and having teaching responsibilities. Specifically, the role includes the following:

Modeling Professionalism - Department Chairs are viewed as leaders in the Academy. Accordingly, they are expected to model expectations throughout the day (teaching, during PDs, leading meetings, etc.). This includes but is not limited to:

Upholding BelovED's policies and procedures

Modeling strong teaching techniques

Leading "living the learning" PDs

Having agendas prepared in advance and sending out action steps following each meeting

Being on time and present during meetings

Department Teacher Training - You shall work in collaboration with the Academy Dean to plan and/or deliver professional development training for the department. This includes:

Collaborating to create and execute department and Academy specific PD during BelovED's Summer Institute

Collaborating on creating and executing targeted monthly PD's throughout the year

Ongoing Department Teacher Coaching - You shall work in collaboration with the Academy Dean to provide ongoing teacher training for the department. Specifically, you shall:

Provide a coaching plan for each assigned teacher (returners during Summer Institute) and new teachers

• The coaching plan will include 3-5 action items for their respective teacher for that particular month. The Department Chair will then insert their coaching dates/times into their google calendar and enter feedback into Whetstone. The Academy Dean will help support the Department Chair with any logistics, observations, etc

Observe and provide real-time coaching and instructional modeling for each teacher

Provide one-to-one feedback meetings for each assigned teacher

Assist with the formal evaluation of assigned teachers, three times per year.

Lesson Plan Review and Feedback — You shall provide a system for lesson plan submission, conduct a weekly review of, and provide feedback on, teacher lesson plans for each week, ensuring that intentional student activities are ready to go every day.

Overseeing of the Department Curriculum - As you review assessment data, you shall think about how BelovED's curriculum might be improved and you shall actively participate in the planning and facilitation of continual program improvements (curriculum, assessment and instruction) at BelovED. This includes, but is not limited to:

Ensuring that each curriculum is properly backwards planned from various key assessments throughout the school year.

Overseeing grade level pacing and ensuring that each teacher is keeping pace with the curriculum and making proper adjustments when necessary.

Ensuring each teacher has prepared their major assessments by the deadlines.

Monitoring progress towards power standards and working with department teachers to update curriculum/pacing, as necessary

Assessment Data Analysis/Department Team Meetings - You shall prepare the agenda for and chair Department Team Meetings (DTM), conducted using the Professional Learning Community model. During these DTMs, you shall conduct "test-in-hand" assessment data analysis with your team that moves beyond what scholars got wrong, facilitates teachers taking ownership of why scholars got it wrong, and guides teacher modification of their instructional plans. Specifically, you shall:

Create a system for managing exit ticket data collection and timely analysis

Create a system for interim assessment data collection and timely analysis

Support teachers in the creation of reteach plans to support student growth, ensuring the reteaching of standards during "reteach days."

Department Liaison - You shall serve as a liaison between department teachers, and the Academy Dean. These duties include, but are not limited to:

• Managing a department Google Calendar
• Conducting a review of teachers' gradebooks twice a month during check-ins
• Monitoring the weekly Grade Summary to look for any trends or significant issues (e.g., a large percentage of scholars failing the course) and working with teachers and/or Leadership to create action plans, as necessary
• Creating a system for collaborative grading of high stakes items (ie writing cycles, interim assessments, etc)
• Related Services -- You shall provide any additional related services that may be required of you from time to time as deemed necessary by the Executive Director and/or Academy Dean: These include but are not limited to:
• Instructional support for any long term subs
• Preparing and/or planning for department support initiatives (ie small group, after school tutoring, etc)
• Preparing, planning, or delegating department wide activities/events (ie Science Fair, Literacy/Math Night, etc)
  
  

Requirements

Required Certifications

• Candidates must possess a NJ Department of Education CE, CEAS or Standard Certificate to teach English as a Second Language
• Candidates who do not possess the required NJDOE certification cannot be hired. Charter Schools in New Jersey ARE Public Schools. If you are applying for reciprocity, please contact us when you hold a NJ issued Certificate.
• Experience is a plus
  
  
  

Benefits

Benefits

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Training & Development
  
  

As an equal opportunity employer, Empowerment Academy hires without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or disability.