What are the responsibilities and job description for the Summer Museum Education - Teaching Assistant position at Phillips Academy?
Phillips Academy Summer Session
Museum Education Teaching Assistant Job Description
June 24 -August 5, 2025
About The Program
One of the nation’s premier boarding schools, Phillips Academy offers a number of summer programs for rising 7th through 12th grade students on its picturesque campus just 21 miles north of Boston. Collectively these programs are referred to as "Andover Summer." Our flagship program, Summer Session, challenges students in an innovative five-week, residential program. More than 60 courses are offered, ranging from computer science to marine biology, from ethics and philosophy to economics. Summer Session students bring the world into the classroom by virtue of their enormous diversity of geographic origin, religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. Every summer Phillips Academy hires several visiting teachers to teach, coach, and house counsel in its summer program. As a Summer Session faculty member, the Teaching Assistant (TA) experience is rigorous, intensive, and challenging, structured to provide support to students academically, socially, and emotionally throughout their 5-week experience. The Summer Session is short, intense, and strongly academic.
About The Addison Gallery Of American Art
The Addison Gallery of American Art, on the campus of Phillips Academy, is committed to serving both the campus and the public through free admission and an education program that reaches diverse audiences, including teachers, students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12, and adults. The Addison’s collection of American art is one of the most comprehensive in the world, including more than 25,000 objects spanning the 18th century to the present. Intended by museum founder Thomas Cochran (PA 1890) “to enrich permanently the lives of students at Phillips Academy,” the Addison Gallery promotes and supports innovative methods of multidisciplinary, experimental learning by working closely with Phillips Academy faculty in all disciplines to plan class visits that complement course syllabi, integrating the museum into the Summer Session classroom experience. More information about the Addison at www.addisongallery.org .
About The Museum Education Teaching Assistant
Teaching Assistants are typically rising college seniors or recent college graduates. The Addison seeks a creative and outgoing TA interested in an opportunity to innovate and discover new ways of teaching and learning in all disciplines.
During Summer Session, the Addison works with classes across the full spectrum of academic subject areas to support the development of students’ visual literacy, creative, and critical thinking skills. All tours are inquiry- and discussion-based and designed to be highly interactive and include activities to engage different learning styles.
The Museum Education Teaching Assistant will work closely with the Addison Gallery of American Art’s Education Department to support the availability of museum resources to Summer Session classes by facilitating two to three museum tours per day, four days per week (Tuesday-Friday). This includes all research and lesson planning for each class on Mondays. While teaching experience is preferred, candidates need not have museum experience, as training will include exhibition content and museum tour methodology.
In addition, the Museum Education Teaching Assistant may house counsel and coach an afternoon activity; assignments may vary slightly depending on the program. Most TAs serve as House Counselors in student dormitories. In this capacity, they are charged with creating a safe, supportive living environment and ensuring the health and wellbeing of the students in their care. Dorm teams consist of 2-5 House Counselors (depending on the size of the dorm) who share residential responsibilities, rotating through evening dorm duties, facilitating dorm meetings and activities, coordinating dorm events, communicating with families, and providing care and support to students as needed. TAs should expect to have roughly 35-40 hours per week of assigned duties, including up to 3 hours of class (Monday-Saturday), ~1 hour of coaching or activity/Connections group facilitation (Monday-Friday), and ~2.5 hours of evening study hours or residential supervision (Sunday-Friday). In addition, on a weekly basis, TAs are likely to participate in the life of the campus by facilitating Open Activities (~1 hour per week) and Connections Groups (~1 hour per week), attending All School or Program meetings (~1 hour per week), as well as participating in weekly Faculty Meetings and TA Cohort Meetings. TAs are also expected to chaperone at least two on-campus social events and at least three off-campus trips during the summer. Absences from assigned duties are not permitted. Few exceptions are made to this policy, although unusual circumstances may determine that an applicant’s situation should be handled on an individual basis.
TAs live in Academy-provided housing, – either in student dorms (if serving as house counselors) or in faculty-only dorms – a full meal plan, and have full access to all Phillips Academy facilities for the duration of the summer.
Museum Education Teaching Assistant Responsibilities And Duties
Pre-Summer
Starting salary is $3500.00 for a Teaching Assistant with a full workload teaching, house counseling, and coaching an afternoon activity. Salary offers may increase based on the demands of a particular program or a TA’s years of education/experience.
How To Apply
In order to apply for this position, please visit our website at: https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/default/mdf/recruitment/recruitment.html?cid=7ddc8884-11ea-4d1aa8a0-2e8834b6caf3&ccId=9200508496526_2&lang=en_US .
Phillips Academy is an equal opportunity employer. Phillips Academy is an intentionally diverse and inclusive residential community “committed to creating an equitable and inclusive school in which students from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and experiences—including race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, and ability—learn and grow together.” The ideal candidate supports the inclusive and diverse nature of the community. Any offers of employment will be contingent upon successful CORI/SORI and fingerprinting background checks as well as unrestricted authorization to work in the United States.
Museum Education Teaching Assistant Job Description
June 24 -August 5, 2025
About The Program
One of the nation’s premier boarding schools, Phillips Academy offers a number of summer programs for rising 7th through 12th grade students on its picturesque campus just 21 miles north of Boston. Collectively these programs are referred to as "Andover Summer." Our flagship program, Summer Session, challenges students in an innovative five-week, residential program. More than 60 courses are offered, ranging from computer science to marine biology, from ethics and philosophy to economics. Summer Session students bring the world into the classroom by virtue of their enormous diversity of geographic origin, religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. Every summer Phillips Academy hires several visiting teachers to teach, coach, and house counsel in its summer program. As a Summer Session faculty member, the Teaching Assistant (TA) experience is rigorous, intensive, and challenging, structured to provide support to students academically, socially, and emotionally throughout their 5-week experience. The Summer Session is short, intense, and strongly academic.
About The Addison Gallery Of American Art
The Addison Gallery of American Art, on the campus of Phillips Academy, is committed to serving both the campus and the public through free admission and an education program that reaches diverse audiences, including teachers, students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12, and adults. The Addison’s collection of American art is one of the most comprehensive in the world, including more than 25,000 objects spanning the 18th century to the present. Intended by museum founder Thomas Cochran (PA 1890) “to enrich permanently the lives of students at Phillips Academy,” the Addison Gallery promotes and supports innovative methods of multidisciplinary, experimental learning by working closely with Phillips Academy faculty in all disciplines to plan class visits that complement course syllabi, integrating the museum into the Summer Session classroom experience. More information about the Addison at www.addisongallery.org .
About The Museum Education Teaching Assistant
Teaching Assistants are typically rising college seniors or recent college graduates. The Addison seeks a creative and outgoing TA interested in an opportunity to innovate and discover new ways of teaching and learning in all disciplines.
During Summer Session, the Addison works with classes across the full spectrum of academic subject areas to support the development of students’ visual literacy, creative, and critical thinking skills. All tours are inquiry- and discussion-based and designed to be highly interactive and include activities to engage different learning styles.
The Museum Education Teaching Assistant will work closely with the Addison Gallery of American Art’s Education Department to support the availability of museum resources to Summer Session classes by facilitating two to three museum tours per day, four days per week (Tuesday-Friday). This includes all research and lesson planning for each class on Mondays. While teaching experience is preferred, candidates need not have museum experience, as training will include exhibition content and museum tour methodology.
In addition, the Museum Education Teaching Assistant may house counsel and coach an afternoon activity; assignments may vary slightly depending on the program. Most TAs serve as House Counselors in student dormitories. In this capacity, they are charged with creating a safe, supportive living environment and ensuring the health and wellbeing of the students in their care. Dorm teams consist of 2-5 House Counselors (depending on the size of the dorm) who share residential responsibilities, rotating through evening dorm duties, facilitating dorm meetings and activities, coordinating dorm events, communicating with families, and providing care and support to students as needed. TAs should expect to have roughly 35-40 hours per week of assigned duties, including up to 3 hours of class (Monday-Saturday), ~1 hour of coaching or activity/Connections group facilitation (Monday-Friday), and ~2.5 hours of evening study hours or residential supervision (Sunday-Friday). In addition, on a weekly basis, TAs are likely to participate in the life of the campus by facilitating Open Activities (~1 hour per week) and Connections Groups (~1 hour per week), attending All School or Program meetings (~1 hour per week), as well as participating in weekly Faculty Meetings and TA Cohort Meetings. TAs are also expected to chaperone at least two on-campus social events and at least three off-campus trips during the summer. Absences from assigned duties are not permitted. Few exceptions are made to this policy, although unusual circumstances may determine that an applicant’s situation should be handled on an individual basis.
TAs live in Academy-provided housing, – either in student dorms (if serving as house counselors) or in faculty-only dorms – a full meal plan, and have full access to all Phillips Academy facilities for the duration of the summer.
Museum Education Teaching Assistant Responsibilities And Duties
Pre-Summer
- Become familiar with all materials about museum and exhibitions sent in advance.
- Complete required pre-employment activities including HR paperwork, background checks/fingerprinting, and completion of online trainings.
- Attend a daylong TA Orientation, as well as New Faculty orientation.
- Participate in the facilitation of Student Orientation activities, including All School Meeting, campus tours, Dorm Olympics, and Field Day, among others.
- Serve as house counselor in a campus dorm and complete all tasks required of house counselors including:
- contacting advisees and their families
- coordinating dorm team-building activities
- participating in dorm meetings and athletics assemblies or the Club Fair
- completing assigned duty night responsibilities
- Coach assigned afternoon activity.
- Facilitate assigned open activity or affinity group.
- Attend All School Meeting and/or Program Meeting.
- Facilitate Connections group.
- Supervise evening study hours.
- Chaperone on-campus social events and off-campus trips.
- Participate in faculty meetings.
- Prepare for, and participate in, each of the twice-per-week Elwin Sykes Seminar meetings under the direction of the TA coordinator.
- Provide support for student registration and departure days by acting as bus chaperones.
- Train with Addison Gallery Museum Education staff, including:
- Teaching from objects.
- Leading interactive tours.
- Facilitating close looking and discussion.
- Gallery safety for students and artworks.
- In collaboration with Addison Head of Education, develop and lead two to three 90-minute museum tours per day as scheduled.
- Liaise with individual summer session faculty to determine specific objectives and content for each tour.
- Research course subjects and artworks on view to develop thematic connections and applications to class content (studio art, creative writing, physics, ELL, speech and debate, algebra, computer programming, history, philosophy and ethics, ecology, and more).
- Write a lesson plan for each tour to meet the needs of individual classes.
- Suggest potential pre-visit or follow-up writing or research assignments to connect exhibition tour to coursework.
- Schedule and hold check-in meetings with Addison Head of Education.
- At least three years of undergraduate education completed by the time of employment.
- Experience working with middle- or high-school-aged students.
- Strong interest in interdisciplinary teaching and supporting critical thinking skills across subject areas.
- Demonstrated history of creativity and outside the box thinking and connection-making.
- Curiosity about the behind the scenes work of museums.
- Appreciation of the mission and culture of independent, residential, college-preparatory schools.
- Demonstrated experience and success in collaborative environment.
- Flexibility and adaptability in a fast-paced, dynamic environment requiring both the ability to take direction and the readiness to problem-solve.
- Ability to adapt to a variety of audience responses.
- Capacity to apply feedback to improve work.
- Exceptional interpersonal skills.
- Demonstrated commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion.
Starting salary is $3500.00 for a Teaching Assistant with a full workload teaching, house counseling, and coaching an afternoon activity. Salary offers may increase based on the demands of a particular program or a TA’s years of education/experience.
How To Apply
In order to apply for this position, please visit our website at: https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/default/mdf/recruitment/recruitment.html?cid=7ddc8884-11ea-4d1aa8a0-2e8834b6caf3&ccId=9200508496526_2&lang=en_US .
Phillips Academy is an equal opportunity employer. Phillips Academy is an intentionally diverse and inclusive residential community “committed to creating an equitable and inclusive school in which students from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and experiences—including race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, and ability—learn and grow together.” The ideal candidate supports the inclusive and diverse nature of the community. Any offers of employment will be contingent upon successful CORI/SORI and fingerprinting background checks as well as unrestricted authorization to work in the United States.
Salary : $3,500 - $3,850
