French Teacher - Salem High School, Salem Public Schools, Salem, MA 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:

Make French language content accessible to diverse learners and promote learning for all students.

Salem High School seeks a highly qualified French teacher who has native or near-native fluency and a passion for teaching students at all levels of French. Near-native speakers should have experience studying, working and/or teaching abroad. Prospective candidates must have not only the knowledge, but also the capacity to design and implement effective, student-centered high school world language curriculum units. The position consists of teaching several sections of beginning to intermediate French classes to Grades 9-12 and working collaboratively within a growing World Language Department.

 

Role Responsibilities:

Deliver lessons in the target language that meet the academic and social-emotional needs of all learners. Successful applicants will be self-starters, skilled at implementing instructional units and Integrated Performance Assessments informed by the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines and 2017 NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements, 21st Century Skills, Understanding By Design (UbD), and the essential design elements of Project-Based Learning (PBL). Candidates must be comfortable using and implementing a variety of technologies into their practice. Experience with the Seal of Biliteracy, curriculum development, and teaching native and heritage Francophone students a plus.

 

The French teacher will develop and implement unit plans with an emphasis on student mastery of content and skills.   Integral to this role is monitoring students’ progress and pace by using formative and summative assessments directly linked to the learning goals; scaffolding instruction, supports, and pacing so that all learners can master the content; and supporting high expectations for achievement by providing teacher corrective feedback, opportunities for practice, revision, and improvement.

 

In addition, the French teacher:

• Evaluates each students’ progress in French language knowledge and skills
• Prepares teaching materials and related reports for the purpose of implementing lesson plans and documenting student progress
• Participates in in-service programs to enhance the overall educational experience for students
• Assists students, individually or in groups, with lesson assignments to present or reinforce learning concepts
• Provides structure in the classroom by promoting a positive classroom environment that is conducive to learning
• Works under the general supervision of the building principal and/or other designated administrator, manages student behavior, assesses and evaluates student achievement
• Additional duties may be 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 failure, using mistakes and challenges as opportunities for growth. You model persistence and growth mindset and thrive in a culture of feedback.

Job Requirements: 

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree (Required) Masters Degree preferred
• Required Massachusetts teaching certification/licensure in French (5-12 Required; additional certification PreK-6 preferred)
• Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement (Required within 1-year of start date)
• Three to five years experience teaching French
• Fully bilingual and biliterate; fluency in written and spoken French and English (Required)
• Experience working in an urban public school setting preferred;
• Deep knowledge of principles of language instruction for native and non-native speakers including ACTFL proficiency guidelines;
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively and collaboratively as part of a professional learning community;
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and interact effectively with families, community members and colleagues;
• Demonstrated ability to meet the expectations of the Massachusetts Standards and Indicators of Effective Teaching Practice
• Maintains 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
• Dual certification is a plus
• Second language (Spanish and/or Portuguese) proficiency a plus
• 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.