Special Education ELA Teacher, Salem Prep, Salem Public Schools SY2024-2025

About Salem Public Schools

Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history.  Salem Public School educators are passionate about urban education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement.  We respect and value the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of our students and their families, and have a strong commitment to the Salem community.  We seek individuals who are able to serve all of our students, regardless of ability, economic status, gender/gender identity, language, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or other backgrounds. Salem Public Schools has a clear equity statement and core values that guide and drive our work as an anti-racist organization. Applicants who have experienced working in urban schools and have bilingual skills are strongly encouraged to apply.

What You’ll Do:

Salem Prep High School is a therapeutic public day school primarily serving students diagnosed with emotional disabilities in grades 8-12 from Salem and other school districts following the Salem Public Schools curriculum.

The successful candidate will possess the appropriate Massachusetts Educator License(s) in both ELA and special education. This teacher will instruct mostly in the ELA content are and serve as a Special Education Teacher and Special Education Liaison at Salem Prep High School to students in grades 8-12.

Role Responsibilities:

• Teach in a therapeutic setting
• Offer activities and instruction that will allow all levels of students to successfully engage in instruction based upon the Common Core ELA standards
• Serve as Special Education Liaison to small group of students
• Teach classes in additional subject areas or elective areas
• Prepare teaching materials and related reports for the purpose of implementing lesson plans and documenting student   progress
• Participate in professional development opportunities to enhance the overall educational experience for students
• Assist students, individually or in groups, with lesson assignments to present or reinforce learning concepts
• Analyze data to drive instruction and improve student performance
• Collaborate with school personnel, parents, and various community agencies for the purpose of improving the quality of student outcomes, developing solutions, planning curriculum, collecting data and creating Individual Education Programs (IEP) for students
• Evaluate students’ abilities in basic academics for the purpose of assisting in the diagnosis of learning disorders, developing   remediation plans and/or evaluating student progress
• Provide structure in the classroom by promoting a positive classroom environment that is conducive to learning
• Use innovative approaches and instructional strategies, including effective use of technology, to increase student learning and confidence to learn
• Modify/adapt materials, instructional lessons to meet the specific needs of disabled students as identified in the IEPs
• Utilize paraprofessional assistance within the classroom to enhance student learning
• Work under the general supervision of the building Principal 
• Additional duties may be assigned
• Participate in school based Common Planning Time
• Become competent in utilizing the school based positive reinforcement system
• Become competent with incorporating social and emotional learning into daily lesson planning
• Other duties as necessary

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 growth. You model persistence and growth mindset and thrive in a culture of feedback. 

Job Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree (Required) Masters Degree preferred
• Required Massachusetts teaching certification/licensure in Special Education, Moderate (5-12) preferably with experience teaching in the area of ELA
• Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement (Required within 1-year of start date)
• Minimum of 1 year of teaching experience and working in an urban public or private special education high school preferred
• Maintain professional competence through in-service education activities provided by the District, and/or in self-selected professional growth activities.
• Proficiency with technology (blended learning, teacher/family communication suites (Remind preferred), Google G-Suite Apps, etc.) desirable.
• Ability to meet the expectations of the Massachusetts Standards and Indicators of Effective Teaching Practice
• Second language (Spanish and/or Portuguese) proficiency a plus
• Bilingual candidates and candidates of color strongly encouraged to apply
• Current authorization to work in the United States 

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.