Grade Level: 6-8

Start Date: Immediate Opening

Salary Range: $57,396 - $90,424

Who We Are

Kiley Prep Mission: Unimpeded access to inclusive learning through agents of equity and change

We recognize that, in today's diverse classrooms, students need knowledge and skills related to prejudice reduction, human rights awareness and collective action. Through anti-bias and social justice study we encourage our young people to challenge prejudice and learn how to be agents of change in their own lives. Engaging with our global and national history, and how it informs our attitudes and behaviors, allows us to choose a world of equity and justice. We are committed to contradicting oppression and racism by providing civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.

We are seeking candidates that are committed to a vision that embraces a vision of high-quality education with equitable, excellent outcomes for all students as a formidable instrument in disrupting structural racism, oppression and bias. Educational equity means that all children experience:

• Instruction that challenges, engages, and empowers learners;
• Access to standards-based, content-rich, culturally affirming curriculum;
• Explicit anti-racist discussion, practice, and action; and
• School culture that fosters positive identity, belonging, agency, and purpose.

What We Believe In

Kiley Prep Instructional Vision:

Kiley Prep at M. Marcus Kiley Middle School Campus focuses on student ownership of authentic instruction by prioritizing the following three dimensions of success: mastery of knowledge and skills, character, and high-quality student work. Our instructional vision values critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration and character as the cornerstone of student success in high school, college, and career. Our mission is to leverage highest quality instruction that will enable our students to go beyond surface level learning and engage in enduring understandings.  All students will fully engage in grade-level standards aligned curriculum, take robust assessments to demonstrate mastery towards standards, and complete authentic tasks that prepare them for real world challenges and community contributions.

Kiley Prep: 3 Dimensions of Success

• Mastery of Skills and Knowledge: Kiley Prep teachers leverage and lift rigorous grade level, standards-aligned curriculum, and use robust authentic assessments tied to real world challenges. We have a strong focus on literacy through dual ELA and Humanities, as well as cross curricular connections between Math and Science through STEM.

• Character Development and Education: Kiley Prep teachers are committed to developing Habits of Scholarship such as perseverance, responsibility, reflection, and ethical decision making through our Crew classes. Crew is a hallmark feature that develops community and fosters peer collaboration. Students are leaders of their learning through Student Led Conferences and end of year community symposium in which they present yearly portfolios that track academic and social emotional growth.

• High Quality Student Work: Kiley Prep teachers are dedicated to perfecting instructional practices that support high quality student work and achievement. Through student work analysis, Kiley Prep teachers use data to drive instruction through long term planning and in the moment classroom adjustments. We use specific measures for student growth, and action plan twice weekly after to school to create scaffolds that meet the needs of students and help to lift grade level instruction.

Who we are looking for

Educators that view themselves as lifelong learners, collaborators, innovators, and agents of change. Kiley Prep staff model: service, reflection, compassion, equity, empathy, and ethical thinking.

Our teachers believe in a shared responsibility to:

• Ensure that curriculum, instruction, and assessments are rigorous, meaningful, and aligned with standards.
• Use assessment practices that position students as leaders of their own learning.
• Use meaningful data for both teachers and students to track progress towards learning goals.
• Engage all students in daily lessons that require critical thinking about complex, worthy ideas, texts, and problems.
• Elevate student voice and leadership in all classrooms and across the school.
• Make Habits of Scholarship visible across school and daily instruction.
• Model a school wide culture of respect, responsibility, and compassion.
• Prioritize social emotional learning, along with academic learning across the school.
• Design tasks that ask students to apply, analyze, evaluate, and create as part of their work.
• Use models of excellence, critique, and multiple drafts to support all students to produce work of exceptional quality.
• Connect students with the world beyond school through meaningful fieldwork, expert collaborators, research, and community service.  

Teaching in SEZP

SEZP is seeking educators who are excited and ready to make an impact in a collaborative, engaging, diverse, and high energy environment. We are seeking educators who believe teachers are activists - promising instructional access, rigor, advocacy, and a tenacious commitment to anti-racism for all students. SEZP teachers are expected to:

• Create a safe, purposeful classroom environment that prioritizes learning for all students
• Collaborate with other teachers, instructional leaders, and partners to ensure instruction is meeting the needs of all students
• Assess students regularly, analyze data, and determine appropriate next steps for instruction
• Ensure that instruction meets the needs of all students, including students with special needs, English Language Learners, and students performing below grade level
• Build relationships and communicate regularly with students and their families to solicit input and share academic progress
• Engage in learning about issues of racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion in education to examine your own biases; reflect on how those biases affect you, your students, and their families; and plan and deliver instruction in a culturally responsive way
• Participate in and learn from regular professional development opportunities before and during the school year

Qualifications

• Experience teaching Special Education at the middle and/or high school level preferred
• Appropriate content/program area (Moderate Disabilities) and grade level license from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education required (Educators who are not licesed by MA DESE in the appropriate area or grade level may be eligible for a licensure waiver and are still encouraged to apply.)
• Experience as an active anti-racist or advocate for equity preferred
• Bilingual in English and Spanish preferred
• Bachelor’s degree required 

If you meet some of the qualifications above, we encourage you to apply or to reach out for more information. We know that historically marginalized groups – including people of color, women, people from working class backgrounds, and people who identify as LGBTQ – are less likely to apply unless and until they meet every requirement for a job. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.

We encourage you to reach out to info@sezp.org if you have questions about the role or your qualifications. We are happy to help you feel ready to apply!

Benefits

SEZP offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience; salaries for new teachers start at $57,396. Teachers in SEZP qualify for benefits (sick days, retirement, health insurance, etc.) offered to other teachers in the Springfield Public Schools.

In addition, there may be several opportunities unique to SEZP schools to increase earnings above base salary. While not guaranteed, those opportunities include, but are not limited to:

• Signing or relocation bonuses
• Expanded Learning Time stipends at some schools, based on the yearly schedule
• Empowerment Academies: Intervention and instruction opportunities we implement during February, April, and summer breaks, following an application and selection process

Positions will be filled on a rolling basis; applicants are encouraged to apply immediately. Please contact info@sezp.org with any questions.

About the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership

While Massachusetts is consistently ranked as one of the top states for education results in the country, we have one of the highest and most persistent opportunity gaps. The Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership (SEZP) - established in 2015 as a collaboration between Springfield Public Schools (SPS), the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and the Springfield Education Association (SEA) – seeks to improve the longitudinal life outcomes of the nearly 5,000 students in our seventeen middle and high schools.

As a “zone” of schools within the city of Springfield, SEZP’s approach draws on a deep and embedded partnership with the school district and local teachers’ union, while harnessing the flexibility and innovation found in autonomous school models. As a result, each school within SEZP is accorded significant school-based autonomies - in curriculum, talent, calendar, schedule, and budget – while being held accountable for realizing achievement gains for historically marginalized students. In all of our work, SEZP is in pursuit of equity and anti-racism – acknowledging the systemic oppression our students and families encounter daily and working to disrupt these provision gaps urgently and courageously.

Nondiscrimination Statement

The Springfield Public Schools does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, age, disability or military service or marital status. The Springfield Public Schools does not discriminate in admission to, access or treatment in its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation, disability or homelessness.

Title IX Notice of Nondiscrimination

Springfield Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of sex in admission, administration of its educational programs or activities or employment. Springfield Public Schools is required by Title IX and its implementing regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 106 not to discrimination on the basis of sex in admission, administration of its educational programs or activities or employment. The Senior Administrator of Human Resources, Kathleen O’Sullivan, Springfield Public Schools, 1550 Main St. Springfield MA, 011103, 413-787-7100, ext. 55428, has been designated as the employee responsible for coordinating Springfield Public Schools efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under Title IX. Inquiries concerning the application of Title IX and its implementing regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 106 to Springfield Public Schools may be referred to Kathleen O’Sullivan or to U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 400 Maryland Ave., SW Washington, DC 20202-1100, telephone 800-421-3481.