Math Specialist Teaching Position, Collins Middle School (6-8th Grade), 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.

 

Reimagining Middle School: 

The Salem Public Schools vision for a middle school graduate, developed in partnership with students, families, and educators in 2023, states: “Powered by relationships, trust, and a sense of belonging, students will develop their identity, skills, and mindsets that empower them to navigate their learning, chart their course, and engage with their community to reach their academic and life potential.” 

 

What You’ll Do: 

As a math specialist, you will provide direct math instruction to students in both the Tier I and Tier II learning environment. Teach an Algebra 1 pathway to students with advanced assessment scores. You will also have the opportunity to collaborate with classroom teachers to design and implement units of instruction, and to assess student learning. Finally, you will work in alignment with the mission, goals, and objectives of Collins Middle School and Salem Public Schools. 

 

Role Responsibilities: 

• Collaborate with teachers in the instructional process by planning engaging and challenging lessons and assignments that lead to the effective use of math resources. 
• Collaborate with teachers to design, teach, and assess learning that incorporates project-based learning, information literacies in different formats, critical thinking and self-assessment. ? Provide direct support instruction to students with learning issues across the math curriculum, including skill development. 
• Plan, develop, and deliver regular whole group, individual and group instruction meetings with students using school and district high quality instructional materials 
• Lead the process of interpreting data and designing approaches to improve student achievement 
• Plan and lead school-wide professional development 
• Contributes to the building and nurturing of a positive school culture including the coordination of school-wide or grade level events, the implementation of staff and student recognition systems and helping to lead the school-wide PBIS initiative. 
• Serve on decision-making and instructional leadership teams and present at meetings. 
• Stay current in professional practices and educational research and maintain active professional memberships. 
• Collect and analyze data to improve instruction and the quality of instructions. 
• Additional duties as assigned by supervisor
• Launch, establish, and maintain a co-constructed culture of joy, mutual respect, and empowerment for students; 
• Provide structure in the classroom by promoting a positive classroom environment that is conducive to learning 
• Take seriously your responsibility for the safety and well-being of students in your classroom or under your supervision at all times; 
• Together with your cluster team, serve as advisors and community builders for one cluster, leading grade-level experiences in the cluster; 
• Communicate proactively and regularly with families and caregivers as full partners in the community. 
• Collaboratively take responsibility for the learning, well-being, and growth of all students, including partnering with other teachers on the team to flexibly meet learning needs.
• Additional duties as assigned by supervisor
  

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 Requirements: 

• Bachelor's Degree Required; Master’s Degree preferred 
• Required Massachusetts teaching certification/licensure as a Math Teacher (5-8) 
• Ability to meet the expectations of the Massachusetts Standards and Indicators of Effective Teaching Practice
• Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement (Required within 1-year of start date) 
• 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.
• 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
  

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.