Spanish Teacher-Elementary and Early Childhood

Start Date: August 8, 2025

Reports to: Head of School

Employee Classification: Salaried exempt, full-time; 10-month employee

Schedule: 8:30 am - 5 pm Mondays - Fridays; IN PERSON ON CAMPUS

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About the Organization

Founded in 1965, Montessori Center School of Santa Barbara (MCS) is an independent school and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The school boasts sixty years rich in a history of nurturing a lifelong love for learning among children ages 18 months through 6th grade – grounded in the Montessori method. An American Montessori Society Member School, MCS fosters independent, self-motivated, confident, life-long learners, who will become positive forces to care for and transform our world. The school is located on a beautiful garden campus in Goleta, California.

Roles & Responsibilities:

The Spanish Specialist will perform the following roles and responsibilities:

Classroom Environment

• Design and maintain a calm and joyful classroom environment that is culturally responsive and nurtures a high-quality whole-child early childhood program that aligns to the American Montessori Society (AMS) accreditation standards as they pertain to specialist programs and classes.
• Build warm and nurturing rapport with each of your students and establish strong routines for the classroom that help the students learn how to be independent and thrive within the boundaries of the environment.
• Lead and support great experiential learning opportunities and Montessori “going out” lessons for your students (e.g. guest speakers, cultural festivities, field trips), which includes carefully planning, communicating and lead-chaperoning field trips for MCS program levels.
• Support strong school culture among the children by supervising and supporting during common time across various parts of the school day as needed (e.g. arrival procedures, playground time, dismissal procedures, and or after care).

Lessons

• Design, deliver and store digitally for future use by the school lessons that are appropriate to each program level’s developmental plane and that expose the children to a breadth and depth of topics and skills within your content area helping students gain strong command of oral and written Spanish.
• Implement strategies and supports to serve the unique needs of every child in your classroom. This includes partnering with the Director of Student Support to design and implement strategies to support neurodiverse children and those with disabilities.

After Care Program

• Guide and deliver an after-school program for Primary, Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary students as part of the school’s After Care program.
• Help out in Primary and/or Elementary After Care as needed.

Family Engagement

• Be an excellent communicator with parents; work to engage parents and caregivers as great partners in each student’s educational process.
• Utilize school-wide protocols, share data and updates routinely with families regarding their children’s academic and social development.
• In consultation with the Director of Enrichment and Director of Community Engagement, create and post two program update posts for ParentSquare (one fall, one winter/spring) to help parents gain insight into the work you lead with children in your classroom.
• Be responsive, receptive, and welcoming of parent/caregiver inquiries and feedback.
• Participate in the life of the school community by supporting annual events, including occasional weekend commitments (e.g. the fall harvest festival, annual benefit auction).

Teamwork, Learning & Development

• Embody MCS’s core values in your daily interactions with children, families and staffulty.
• Seek out and embrace opportunities for collaboration with colleagues across the school.
• Model lifelong learning: Seek out opportunities for learning and development, including opportunities to learn from peer feedback from your colleagues.
• Be a great communicator with your colleagues: Attend to the details when completing grow notes or accident reports, and recognize and act on the knowledge that it is often the seemingly small things that can make a huge difference in the daily lives of the children, their families and your colleagues when it comes to careful and timely communication.
• Pursue continuing education opportunities through being an active participant in the school’s learning and development opportunities (L&D days, workshops, etc.) and by seeking out opportunities for ongoing professional development through high quality training centers and resources.

Qualifications

An Employee hired into this role will evidence the following qualifications:

Experience & Professional Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university
• Experience teaching in your specialist content areas and prior experience working with all age groups you teach in the school (3 years preferred)
• Demonstrated track record of utilizing various sources of information and data (observations, lesson records and formal assessment) to inform instructional choices and guide work with students to support strong whole-child outcomes.
• Excellent written and oral English communication skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing)
• Native speaker level written and oral communication skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) in the target language of Spanish
• Completion of at least 12 core Early Childhood Education units

Mindsets

• Commitment to MCS’ mission, vision and core values
• Demonstrated capacity to collaborate effectively as a member of a results-oriented, high-performing team
• Passion for serving children of all abilities
• Commitment to living out principles of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
• Sound professional judgment and decision-making skills
• Capacity to share, receive, and implement feedback with grace and agility
• High level of emotional intelligence, integrity and humor; low ego
• High level of personal organization, planning and follow-through
• Ability to recognize and embrace that perfect is the enemy of good

Physical Requirements

The roles and responsibilities of this position with the school require the Employee to perform the following physical requirements of working in the school environment:

• Physical stamina to work with school-aged children.
• Frequent walking, kneeling, standing, stooping, sitting on the ground, and occasional lifting, up to approximately 50 pounds.
• Must be able to grasp and feel the attributes of objects, such as size, shape, temperature and texture.
• Able to move as needed to ensure the safety of the children, which includes walking on playground wood chips, grass and sand; running; and jogging. Other physical activities may be required.
• Vocal communication is required for expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word; hearing is required to perceive information at normal spoken word levels; visual acuity is required for preparing and analyzing written or computer information, determining the accuracy, neatness and thoroughness of work, and observing general surroundings and activities; the worker is subject to inside and outside environmental conditions, noise and hazards.
• Daily personal and close contact with children to provide classroom management and learning environment support is required.
• Regular in-person contact with parents and staffulty is required.

These physical demands are representative of those that must be met by an Employee to perform successfully the essential functions of this job. MCS is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. In keeping with this commitment, MCS will take steps to assure that people with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations.

All MCS Employees must be authorized to work in the United States and must clear a DOJ/FBI background check (LiveScan).

Compensation

This is a salaried, exempt full-time position 40 hours per week, 10 months per year. Compensation for this position is competitive and commensurate with starting annualized salary for experienced applicants ranging from $59,000 to $87,000 annually. Full-time employees of MCS are eligible for comprehensive health and wellness benefits, 403b retirement plan matching, and paid time off (PTO).

To Express Interest

To express your interest in this role with MCS, please email: (1) a well-written, one-page cover letter and (2) a one- or two-page professional resume to Head of School, Vanessa Jackson at v.jackson@mcssb.org. Resumes will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and we aim to make an offer to a highly qualified candidate for this role by June 1, 2025.

Talent Inclusivity & Non-discrimination

Montessori Center School is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse community where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, and local laws.

We celebrate diversity and are dedicated to creating a welcoming environment for our students, families, faculty, and staff. Our Montessori philosophy emphasizes respect for all individuals, and we strive to uphold these values in every aspect of our school community.

If you require accommodations during the application process, please contact Birgit Crable: b.crable@mcssb.org.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $59,000.00 - $87,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Flexible spending account
• Health savings account
• Life insurance

Physical Setting:

• Montessori
• Private school

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• After school
• Day shift

Work Location: In person

Salary : $59,000 - $87,000