Classroom Culture Lead Teacher - Elementary

This job posting was opened on 2/14/25. Please note that we will be considering applications from internal employees and former IRC Staff exclusively for the first 5 days. After this period, if necessary, we will extend the opportunity to external candidates.

Job Overview/Summary:The Newcomer Youth Summer Academy (NYSA) is a six-week program that prepares newly arrived refugee youth to succeed at their grade level in the New York City public school system. Up to 130 students aged 5 - 21 from over 20 countries will participate in academic, creative arts, physical education, and social-emotional learning classes. Field trips are held on Fridays.

Classroom Culture Lead Teachers play an important role, leading classroom culture, rituals, and routines. Classroom Culture Lead Teachers work with a single class level (Grades K-1, 2-3, 4-5) providing support and continuity throughout the program. Classroom Culture Lead Teachers are responsible for planning and leading daily mindfulness, facilitating small-group instruction as per the Academic Lead Teacher's plans, working with students one-on-one, and providing additional sheltered instruction support for multilingual learning.

Classroom Culture Lead Teachers are directly responsible for behavior management in alignment with Academy philosophy and classroom guidelines.They are primarily responsible for leading their classroom Peer Mentors, and they play a critical role in ensuring consistent, timely communication among Academic Lead Teachers, Peer Mentors, Administration, and students' families.

Classroom Culture Lead Teachers are responsible for observing, assessing, recording, and monitoring students' individual progress. This requires an understanding of the IRC School Readiness indicators, gathering input from other staff to assess individual students' school readiness assets and needs.

Position term:June 16 - August 15, 2025

Pre-program Planning: Between June 16 and July 1 - Up to 10 hours of lesson planning and instructional planning with Dean of Instruction and asynchronous foundational online training modules to be completed independently ahead of synchronous staff training dates

Training: July 1-3, 2025, Up to 24 hours of training

Main Program: July 7- August 15, 2025: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm; 7.5 hours per day, including unpaid 30-minute lunch and 1 hour of prep/planning/meetings daily.

• 1 evening of parent/teacher conferences.

Major Responsibilities:

• Participate in mandatory school programing.
• Contribute to collaborative planning sessions for all staff training and program meetings.
• Plan and lead (15 minutes x2 - x3, daily) whole-group mindfulness lessons
• Lead weekly family-communication plan for all students in assigned class
• Collaborate with IRC Staff and the Academic Lead Teacher in the implementation of a 6-week curriculum
• Complete pre- and post-School Readiness observational assessments for each student in assigned class
• Collaborate with Academic Lead Teacher(s) in planning, coordinating classroom activities, and reviewing student progress
• Lead classroom climate and culture in accordance with Academy philosophy and protocols
• Manage dismissal protocols
• Supervise students during breakfast
• Lead students on weekly field trips
• Engage in instructional coaching cycles and participate in weekly Classroom Culture Lead Teacher meetings
• Participate in parent conferences for each student in the classroom

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Education or related field required; candidate for Master's degree preferred
• 2 years of classroom teaching experience or experience working with youth strongly desired
• Experience teaching English Language Learners/multilingual learners is strongly desired
• Familiarity teaching in New York City public schools is strongly desired
• Certification/experience with Responsive Classrooms or Classroom Mindfulness desired
• Strong classroom management skills strongly desired
• Proficiency teaching social emotional learning preferred
• Experience working with refugee and/or immigrant populations strongly desired
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Highly organized, dependable, responsive, and collaborative work style
• Second language proficiency in relevant language highly desirable (Arabic, Dari, Farsi, French, Fulani, Haitian Creole, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian)
• Strength in cultural competency-building

Working Environment: NYSA takes place in a centrally located school (TBD) in New York City. All applicants must be willing to relocate to the New York City area for the entirety of the Academy.

Compensation: Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

Equal Opportunity Employer: IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days depending on role and tenure, medical insurance starting at $143 per month, dental starting at $6.50 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.