District Early Learning Coach, 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.

Compensation:  This position is on the teacher/coordinator contract (teacher pay scale + $3,000 stipend for 7 additional days)

Position Start Date:  As soon as possible

Summary

This position will report to the Assistant Superintendent and support the functions of the Office of Teaching & Learning.  The District Early Learning Coach will play a key role in expanding the district’s preschool program, including collaborating with several community preschool partners as well as supporting the multi-year rollout of a new K-2 literacy curriculum.  The position will require travel between schools.

Responsibilities

• Plans and coordinates the implementation and rollout of new instructional resources at the PreK-2 level
• Ensures that all district and partner preK classrooms have equitable access to curriculum resources in literacy, math, science, and social studies
• Ensures that all district and partner preK classrooms have equitable access to professional development and coaching
• Provides differentiated professional development for preschool teachers with the goal of improving student learning and achievement
• Supports common planning time whenever possible
• Promotes quality implementation of research-based early childhood instructional models
• Prepares regular data reports to track district-wide trends in early literacy
• Supports early childhood teachers and school/district leaders in using early literacy and numeracy data to drive instruction
• Manages administrative tasks such as ordering, technical support, organizing schedules, planning PD, etc.
• Carries out other duties as assigned by the Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning and the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

Coaching Responsibilities

• Networks and supports new teachers at the prekindergarten level
• Carries out coaching cycles with individual teachers or groups of teachers (training provided)
• Works to ensure excellent instruction in every classroom

Note:  This is a non-evaluative position

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.

Qualifications

Applicant must hold the following credentials:

• Massachusetts teaching certification/licensure in Early Childhood, Elementary Education, and/or Reading
• Five or more years of successful teaching at the PreK-2 level, preferably in an urban setting
• Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement (Required within 1-year of start date); ESL licensure a plus
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, attention to detail
• Bilingual candidates and candidates of color strongly encouraged to apply
• Current authorization to work in the United States

Thorough knowledge and/or expertise in the following areas:  

• Deep knowledge of the PreK - 2 MA Literacy Frameworks
• Demonstrated knowledge of the components of a research-based PreK literacy models
• Experience in matching student needs to appropriate core and Tier II interventions
• Knowledge of standards-based assessment and effective use of student data
• Familiarity with the latest literacy research and the science of reading, especially as it relates to emergent readers
• Effective teaching practice/pedagogy including tiered instructional practices in a multi-tiered system of support

Essential Attributes:

• Maintains a sense of urgency in accomplishing goals and objectives
• Holds an unwavering belief that every student in Salem can grow and succeed
• Is able to work collaboratively and flexibly as part of a fast-paced, hard-working team
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and effectively with others, including knowledge of how adults learn
• Has a strong work ethic, is self-directed, and has the ability to work independently
• Is able to multitask on a number of high-profile projects as well as on more routine tasks
• Self-reflects and accepts feedback with a growth mindset

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.

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