2025 - 2026 Middle School Teaching Assistant

Daily Work Hours: 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Start Date: Mid August, 2025 - 10.5 month position

Supervisor: Assistant Principal

Who We Are

Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School (BUGS), is a small, independent, progressive Middle School in South Slope/Windsor Terrace serving approximately 300 students of all abilities and backgrounds from across Brooklyn. 

BUGS is at the forefront of sustainability education, diverse-by-design and community-based schools movements. We feature a hands-on interdisciplinary education with a focus on real-world problem-solving and exploration of environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Our Middle School students (grades 6 to 8) are prepared for success in high school and to become critical thinkers, lifelong learners, and thoughtful designers of a more socially just and sustainable world.

We are excited to welcome talented educators who are inspired by our mission and inclusion model, passionate about serving middle school aged adolescents, and eager to join a dynamic professional learning community. If our mission aligns with yours, we hope you will submit your materials for consideration for the 2025 - 2026 school year.

At BUGS, we value and respect teachers as educators, professionals, and individuals. As a growing faculty and community, we offer many opportunities for innovation, professional growth, and teacher leadership.  We feature a strong, supportive community of learners, an active parent-teacher organization, and a positive student and staff culture. Educators are supported in using project-based methodology and designing on-going fieldwork to enrich the units of study. 

Our Social Sustainability Vision Statement

At BUGS, we actively strive to repair the detrimental effects of racism, discrimination and systems of oppression that affect our students, families, staff, community and larger society. We do this work personally and collectively through in-house professional development with our Inclusion and Culture Departments and in partnership with outside organizations. 

We acknowledge that racism, discrimination and systems of oppression exist, and we are each a part of them and are affected by them - consciously and unconsciously.  Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are important, interdependent components of everyday life and are critical to the successful pursuit of our school vision and mission.

Our Key Design Elements

Inquiry-Based Study of the Science of Sustainability BUGS will be a middle school focused on the science of sustainability, which incorporates the natural sciences, math, economics, history, social sciences, and the humanities to examine the intersection of human and ecological systems.

Extended Time for Learning Longer blocks of class time, a longer school day and a longer school year will provide additional time to: maximize learning opportunities; implement innovative, cross-disciplinary approaches to curriculum, instruction, and assessment; and provide rigorous support for ELLs, special education, and struggling students.

A Positive and Inclusive School Climate BUGS will create a safe, welcoming, and respectful school climate that supports equity and access for all learners. Through its advisory program, school-wide discipline program, positive behavior supports, and research-based interventions, BUGS will foster a college-bound, career-ready student body that respects and values the diversity of others in their community and around the world.

A Professional Learning Community A learning-focused, collaborative culture will be based on trust, shared instructional leadership, and mutual accountability. Daily common planning time and on-going professional development will enhance teachers‘ collective focus on student learning.

Authentic Assessments and Individualization Instruction is driven by ongoing, authentic assessment and analysis of academic and behavioral data, which will support students‘ individual needs and is facilitated by trained and supported teachers.

Use of Technology Computer-based instruction will allow for intensive, targeted remediation in basic skills, individualized learning and assessments, and the development of 21st century skills in visual, media and technological literacy.

BUGS team members are reflective, open-minded, innovative, industrious self-starters who:

• regularly assess students and use data to inform instruction
• are excited to work in an interdisciplinary, sustainability-focused, hands-on learning environment
• commit to school-wide behavior systems that consider adolescent development and promote holistic, socio-emotional responses through restorative justice and collaborative problem solving in collaboration with our Office of Student Affairs
• have excellent communication skills
• exemplify the BUGS Mission, Vision, and C.A.R.E.S. Values
• actively develop their professional practice
• research and implement culturally responsive classroom practices by participating in a Professional Learning Community throughout the school year to identify best practices that would be embedded into the classrooms and curricula
  
• know, understand and apply the three pillars of sustainability that are at the foundation of all work at BUGS
• are passionate about environmental justice and stewardship

Criteria

Teaching Assistants are a key support to the school’s instructional team and we are seeking Candidates with the following qualifications and experience:

-Punctuality: This position must arrive and be ready to greet students promptly at 7:30 am every morning; in addition to being present at specific posts in the school throughout the day as needed
-Have teaching experience in a K-12 school
-Have a High School Diploma or Equivalent, Required
-Proficient in reading, writing and speaking the English language

Preferred Criteria

• Holds a valid, level I or higher New York State Teaching Assistant Certificate
• Bilingual, Spanish preferred
  
• 1 year of classroom experience
• Bachelor’s Degree
  

Responsibilities

Classroom Support

• Provide lesson support for the teachers of classes of 25-32 students.  Activities vary depending on each teacher’s needs and may include behavior management, small-group instruction, and grading assignments
• Meet weekly with teachers to review lesson plans, behavioral interventions, and complete associated paperwork
• Facilitate or support the implementation of the BUGS Quiet Time program 
• Attend weekly meetings which include Grade Team, Interdisciplinary Sustainability, All Staff, and BUGS professional development days
• Guide and assist students in small group instructional settings as per lesson plan and teacher instruction
• Guide and assist students with class routines and in transitioning from one activity to the next
• Attend and support our monthly field study program
• Reinforce behavior through the use of positive supports as per BUGS Code of Conduct 
• Serve as an Advisor as necessary

School Culture and Discipline

• Support transitions between periods
• Supervise morning arrival, lunch, and recess as needed
• Supervise students during after school office hours.

Essential Dates and Times…

• Teaching Assistant Work hours: Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
• Teaching Assistant Calendar: Mid-August (staff orientation) through the end of June (last day of school); dates will vary depending on the needs of the school and the academic calendar
• Monthly Field Studies (3rd or 4th Friday of the month)
• At Least Five Evenings throughout the year, as needed:
  • September Curriculum Night (September)
  • Family & Teacher Conferences (November)
  • Student-led Subject Area Conferences (March)
    
  • Other BUGS sponsored events and conferences, if/as needed

BUGS is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to building a culturally diverse faculty and staff.

Feel free to contact us at careers@bugsbrooklyn.org.

Thank you! We look forward to learning more about you.

Salary : $45,000 - $49,000