Dual Language (Spanish) PreK Teacher - Bentley Academy Innovation School, Salem Public Schools SY2024-2025

About Salem Public Schools, where belonging leads to opportunity.

Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history.  Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district enrolling nearly 4,000 students across our 11 schools. Our vision is to ensure that all students will be locally engaged, globally connected, and fully prepared to thrive in a diverse and changing world. We hold dear our core values of belonging, equity, and opportunity in everything we do. Over the next three years (2023-2026), we are committed to the work outlined by the four core priorities in our strategic plan: 1) Elevate Learning; 2) Empower Educators; 3) Center Belonging; and 4) Strengthen Our Foundation. We seek individuals who are passionate about urban education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement for all students, regardless of ability, economic status, gender/gender identity, language, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or other backgrounds. Applicants who have experience working in urban schools and settings and are bilingual are strongly encouraged to apply.

What You’ll Do:

Bentley Academy Innovation School in partnership with the Multilingual Learner Department of Salem Public Schools launched a two-way immersion Spanish-English dual language program with two kindergarten classrooms during the 2020-2021 school year. The two-way immersion program will grow by one grade level each year. The school will add two 4th grade classrooms and a PreK classroom for school year 24–25. The goals of the program are for all students, regardless of language background, to become bilingual and biliterate in Spanish and English, to achieve academically in all subjects at high levels, and to exhibit the skills and disposition of sociocultural competence.

Dual Language PreK Teachers are responsible for planning and teaching interdisciplinary units of Math, Science, Social Studies, and Spanish Language Arts in Spanish for English Learners and Spanish Learners together. Working closely with partner Dual Language teachers and the English language instruction teacher(s), the educator in this position will be highly collaborative, thoughtful, and creative with a focus on instructional excellence and equity for all students. She/he will also support the growth of the program by participating in district and school professional development planning and strategy sessions, engaging in family and community outreach to support the program’s goals and development, and acting as a steward of dual language.

To create a flexible PreK program and a class environment favorable to learning and personal growth; to establish effective rapport with students; to motivate students to develop skill, attitudes, and knowledge needed to provide a good foundation for elementary grade education in accordance with each student’s ability; to establish positive relationships with parents and other staff members.

Responsibilities:

Duties of this job include, but are not limited to:

1. Actively engages with children to foster a positive and healthy learning environment where students feel safe to take risks that will build on their self-esteem.
2. Teaches reading, language arts, social studies, mathematics, science according to Massachusetts Curriculum Standards.
3. Develops engaging, hands-on lessons using district curricular materials.
4. Guides the learning process toward the achievement of established district curriculum goals, establishes and communicates clear objectives to the students for all lessons, units, and projects.
5. Provides individualized and small group instruction in order to meet the needs of each student.
6. Adapts teaching and materials to meet the needs of diverse learners.
7. Uses a variety of instructional strategies, such as play, inquiry, group discussion, discovery, student pair share etc.
8. Builds a positive classroom which is consistent with routines and supports the academic, social-emotional, and behavioral needs of students.
9. Creates a welcoming environment for learning through functional, accessible, and attractive displays, bulletin boards, and interest centers that celebrate diversity.
10. Evaluates students’ academic and social growth using common assessments and anecdotal notes.
11. Maintains accurate and complete student records.
12. Communicates regularly with parents through conferences and other means to discuss students’ progress.
13. Works collaboratively with other professional staff members to ensure students have access to wrap-around services.
14. Maintains professional competence through in-service Professional Development activities and coaching.
15. Participates cooperatively with the appropriate administrator in fulfilling the teacher evaluation process.
16. Attends established traditional school sponsored activities (e.g. Open House) agreed upon by the building administrator and the faculty consistent with the teachers’ contract.

What You’ll Bring: 

We are looking for candidates who have diverse backgrounds and experiences, are inspired by our mission and are highly motivated to change children’s lives through education. You’ll be right at home here if you are a reflective practitioner who values collaboration with colleagues and pushes yourself, your work and the people around you to the next level.  We expect our SPS employees to:

• Hold a deep commitment to students and families and value diversity - The SPS community is vibrant, diverse in background, ethnicity, language, and perspective. You embrace and affirm the backgrounds of all members of the SPS community and view our diversity as a powerful resource that supports us each in learning and doing our best work.
• Hold high expectations for yourself, students, and colleagues – You see potential in all, especially our SPS students, and maintain high expectations for achievement, while providing the support necessary to meet that bar. You hold yourself to high expectations, modeling SPS values and seeking opportunities to continuously improve.
• Build authentic, caring relationships with colleagues, students, and families – You build strong relationships across students, families, and colleagues that are collaborative in nature and contribute to the individual and collective success of SPS. You partner with families and colleagues to make decisions in the best interest of students and learning.
• Embrace feedback – You are a reflective practitioner who learns from mistakes and challenges and uses them as opportunities for professional development. You model persistence and growth mindset and thrive in a culture of feedback. 

Job Qualifications - Required:

1. Education: Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution
2. Hold a valid  Massachusetts teaching certification/licensure in either Early Childhood PreK-2 OR Elementary 1-6
3. Hold a valid Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement OR Grade-level appropriate ESL license
4. Meet all state and federal guidelines in order to be fully licensed and highly qualified

Job Qualifications - Preferred:

1. Experience in urban schools
2. Experience working with diverse learners
3. Additional certification in Teacher of Students with Moderate Disabilities and/or English Language Learners (ESL)
4. Demonstrated experience in English Language Development (ELD) and Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) strategies strongly preferred
5. Bilingual language proficiency (Spanish/English) strongly preferred
6. Bilingual candidates and candidates of color strongly encouraged to apply
7. Current authorization to work in the United States

Work Year: Teachers in Salem Public Schools work a 185 day school year (180 student contact days plus 5 professional development days. Please visit www.salemk12.org to view the 2023-24 district and/or school calendar.

Salary: Teacher salaries in the Salem Public Schools are determined by the Salem Teachers Union collective bargaining agreement. Salary information can be found in Appendix A. Use our new Salem Teacher Salary estimator here. Collins Middle School teachers receive an additional 4% differential on top of their base salary for a slightly longer (7 hour) school day.

Benefits: The City of Salem offers Group Insurance Commission (GIC) benefits to all full-time employees. Click here for more information about our health benefits.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Salem Public School District is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws. Additionally, we prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose such discrimination and harassment or who participate in an equal opportunity investigation.