Special Education Teacher (PreK-8), 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:
As a collaborative member of the special education team, you are responsible for working closely with core academic and other teachers (e.g., ESL) to ensure that all students with disabilities under your care are able to access the curriculum and learn at high levels. You understand and employ best practices for inclusion and work to build meaningful instruction and support for all of your students. You effectively manage a continuous caseload, including providing specialized instruction that allows students to progress academically and socially, assuring that documented accommodations are delivered with consistency. You support students transitioning in/out of their classes and programs. You develop and implement Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), behavioral interventions, and work closely with paraprofessionals to deliver a consistent, high quality program for all students in your care. You are a passionate, mission-driven, collaborative educator who desires an opportunity to teach in a diverse and welcoming school environment. In addition, you will be a collaborative member of a professional learning community who is eager to receive feedback in order to learn and grow in your practice. Above all, you will be guided by an ethos of care and an unwavering belief in the ability of ALL students to reach their full potential.
Role Responsibilities:
- Hold high expectations for student learning (and behavior) and provide support to help students get there.
- Provide specialized instruction that will allow all students to successfully engage in instruction.
- Use innovative approaches and instructional strategies, including the effective use of technologies, to increase student access and learning while building their confidence to learn.
- Modify/adapt materials, instructional lessons, etc. to meet the specific needs of students across the school day, as identified in their IEPs.
- Embed social-emotional learning (SEL) and strategies into lesson-planning.
- Work toward understanding all students’ backgrounds, building positive relationships, and utilizing culturally responsive teaching methods to effectively engage them in their learning.
- Work with the classroom support team and assigned clinical staff to develop data-taking mechanisms and analyze data to drive instruction and monitor student progress.
- Maintain consistent positive relationships with students and manage student behavior by implementing positive student management strategies.
- Work collaboratively across school settings and with parents and various community agencies to improve the quality of student outcomes, develop solutions, plan curriculum, collect data, and create and implement Individual Education Programs (IEPs) for students.
- Demonstrate ability to write an effective IEP with SMART goals and sensible accommodations and generate progress reports using IEP software.
- Demonstrate ability to administer, interpret and report findings from standardized evaluations. Able to administer remote assessments, if needed
- Present evidence of student progress toward goals and objectives in a professional manner during special education meetings.
- Evaluate students' abilities in basic academics and social development using formal and informal measures.
- Support and assist paraprofessionals and other school personnel in their implementation of classroom goals and IEP accommodations, modification, and goals.
- Participate in professional development to enhance the overall educational experience for all students.
- Support the school community with additional duties as appropriate, assigned by the building Principal, Special Education Supervisor or Executive Director of Special Education.
- Work under the general supervision of the building principal and other building administrators, effectively manage student behavior, assess and evaluate student achievement.
- Support the school community with additional duties as needed or assigned.
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:
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 2024-25 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.
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, housing status, 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.