Position: SY20-21 High School of Commerce English/Literacy Post-Graduate Success Teacher

Location: High School of Commerce, Springfield, MA

Grade Level:  Post-Graduate Fifth Year Commerce Promise Program

Full Time Start Date: August 2020 (anticipated)

Salary: Starting at $50,500, commensurate with experience based on SEZP’s Career Ladder

SEEKING REVOLUTIONARY EDUCATORS

The High School of Commerce seeks a founding ELA and Literacy Teacher for Post-Graduate Success who believes educators are activists - promising instructional access, rigor, advocacy, and a tenacious commitment to anti-racism for all students.

SEZP offers a competitive salary commensurate with qualifications and experience. Educators in SEZP qualify for benefits (personal/sick days, health insurance, etc.) offered to other teachers in the Springfield Public Schools.

WHO YOU ARE

Commerce is seeking an ELA and Literacy Teacher who views herself/himself as a change agent and who is committed to equitable instruction for our annual cohort of Commerce Promise post-graduate students pursuing a full academic equivalent to the college freshman year. The essential responsibilities for this role will be guided by the following two values:

• AGENCY: We believe educators at Commerce will empower each and every student to pursue their fullest academic and personal potential. We believe a student’s agency to become their best academic and non-academic selves should be organized around rigorous personalized career and college pathways during which the student will own the setting and the attaining of their academic, college, career, and life goals.
• RELATIONSHIP: We believe that each and every Commerce student thrives in a positive, welcoming learning environment that emphasizes intentional and proactive relationship building. Supported through an explicit and universal culture of restorative justice - prioritizing growth and atonement over punishment and separation – a student will recognize the value of and play a leading role in developing interdependent relationships, with all members of the Commerce community working collaboratively in pursuit of this vision.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Educators at Commerce are practitioners who believe in the values of agency and relationship and are willing to advocate for equity both in and out of their classrooms.  Commerce is prepared – considering the centrality of this work to the life-long success our students – to invest substantially in the training, coaching, leadership development, and networking necessary for revolutionary practitioners to thrive in the following job responsibilities:

• Implement rigorous, equitable curriculum within a cohesive school-wide pedagogical approach and design highly adaptive supports to ensure all students can access grade level content
• Provide opportunities for students to correlate instructional experiences with college and career applications
• Coordinate and calibrate academic experiences with those of other practitioners across the school, ensuring an equitable provision of the highest quality instruction for all students
• Build relationships with select students who opt in to an “X-Block” course you design around your high-interest hobby, skill, experience, or passion
• Teach students to dream about their lives beyond graduation by building awareness of inequitable barriers, developing self-advocacy skills, and inspiring a vision for potential college and career pathways 

WHO WE ARE

All educators at Commerce are practitioners who believe in the values of agency and relationship and are willing to advocate for equity both in and out of their classrooms.  Commerce is prepared – considering the centrality of this work to the life-long success our students – to invest substantially in the training, coaching, leadership development, and networking necessary for revolutionary practitioners to thrive in the following job responsibilities:

• Identify and teach critical skill development that will amplify success during co-enrollment in 4-5 college courses per semester for approximately 25-50 Commerce post-graduates (students who have opted to defer their diploma for an additional year in order to take the equivalent of their freshman year courses with intensive Commerce wrap-around supports) per year
• Make recommendations for additional intensive, personalized supports for students in need to ensure success in their college courses including tutoring, basic literacy and numeracy skill development, language supports, social-emotional supports, and other offerings based on individual student needs
• Communicate regularly with Commerce and college partner staff to understand student successes and challenges and to proactively develop strategies for improving approaches to support
• Communicate regularly with families about student successes and challenges
• Prepare weekly reports on student progress 
• Attend regular post-graduate planning meetings and events
• Additional tasks as assigned by the leadership team

Qualifications

• Experience effectively teaching college or upper high school level English, reading, and/or writing
• Experience providing and monitoring literacy supports for students with significant provision gaps preferred 
• Appropriate educator license from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education preferred
• 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 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 educators with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.

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

Questions?

Positions will be filled on a rolling basis; applicants are encouraged to apply immediately. Please contact Kelley (kgangi@springfieldempowerment.org) or SEZP@springfieldempowerment.org with any questions.

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.