Who is Salem Public Schools?

Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history.  Salem Public School leaders are passionate about urban education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement.  They respect and value the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of our students and their families, and have a strong commitment to the Salem community.  Salem Public Schools seeks individuals who are able to serve all of our students, regardless of ability or language. Applicants who have experience working in urban schools and have bilingual skills are strongly encouraged to apply.

What You’ll Do:

As a collaborative member of the Special Education team in Salem, this person will be a licensed (or licensable) Teacher of The Deaf  to work with school-aged students, staff, and families to provide direct services and consultation. The Teacher of The Deaf must be proficient with assessment, observation, and data collection. The candidate must be able to develop curriculum and implement IEP services that foster student success. We are seeking a team player who can multi-task, prioritize, and provide meaningful instruction to children and adults. The selected individual must be able to form and maintain relationships with families, while respecting confidentiality and enforcing appropriate boundaries.

Responsibilities:

Skills:

• Demonstrates knowledge and skills in the areas of language development and language refinement as it pertains to hearing loss
• Able to communicate effectively and to provide a complete English model for hearing-impaired children using a Total Communication approach
• Possesses the knowledge and ability to implement auditory training, speech and speech reading monitoring amplification, and the use and maintenance of hearing aids

Duties:

• Provide consultation and direct services to students with hearing loss
• Conduct initial and re-evaluations as part of the Special Education Team
• Obtain and review available medical and audiological information pertaining to the student’s school-based needs, in consultation with the school audiologist
• Develop lessons plans and provides instruction to students with hearing needs in the LRE
• Establish communication and regular contact with parents, teachers, and related service providers of students on caseload and keeps records of contacts
• Provide support for students, teachers, and families to promote understanding of, and coping skills for, the social-emotional and academic impact of children’s hearing loss
• Develop IEP goals and complete related progress reports using IEP software
• Attend IEP meetings
• Maintain a consistent schedule, be punctual, meet assigned responsibilities and deadlines
• Work as a part of a multi-functional team and demonstrate the flexibility needed to work in a school environment
• Routinely consult with the District’s contracted audiologist
• Conduct off-site observations and/or evaluations, as needed
• Perform additional duties as required by the District and/or Pupil Personnel Services Director

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 failure, using mistakes and challenges as opportunities for growth. You model persistence and growth mindset and thrive in a culture of feedback.

Skills and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree (required); Master’s Degree preferred
• Licensed or able to be licensed by DESE as Teacher of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing
• Fluency in Signed English or ASL preferred
• At least 1 year of relevant experience preferred
• Citizenship, residency, or work visa required
• Safety Care Training Certification (District will provide training)
• Effective written and oral communication skills
• Current authorization to work in the United States

Teacher of The Deaf works as part of the IEP team and reports to each student’s assigned Special Education Team Chair and to the Executive Director of Pupil Personnel Services.

Contact Information:

 Deborah Connerty, Acting Executive Director

                            Department of Pupil Personnel Services

                            Salem Public Schools

                            29 Highland Avenue

                            Salem, MA  01970

 Phone: 978-740-1249

 Fax:     978-740-1137