Founding 7th Grade Teacher

ABOUT US

The Primary School is creating a new school model that brings together all of the adults in a child’s life, including parents, educators, and medical and mental health providers, starting from a very early age. We recognize the entrenched racism that exists within our public systems and the unjust impact this has had on families of color. Our aim is that children and families most impacted by systemic poverty and racism receive the multidisciplinary support they deserve to be well, learn, and thrive.

Long-term, we hope to create a game-changing school model that can be replicated across the country. As we continue to learn and grow, we plan to share what we’ve learned and pursue policy and systems change on a local, state, and national level. We are supported by a growing coalition of philanthropic partners, as well as public funding where available.

Our approach has three defining characteristics:

• We start early. We start working with children as young as 18 months and provide full-time school starting at age three to reach them at a critical stage in development.
• We partner with parents. We believe that when parents thrive, children thrive, so we support the wellness and growth of parents alongside the growth of their children.
• We integrate services. Our unique model unites health care and education, building a multi-disciplinary team and holistic system of care around a child’s full needs.

In 2016, we opened our flagship school in East Palo Alto, California, with our first class of four year olds. We have grown to serve over 300 children and their families through a birth to three program, parent wellness program, full-day preschool, and elementary school, which will grow through eighth grade. In 2021, we opened our second site in the East Bay.

ABOUT OUR EAST PALO ALTO SITE

We are continuing to grow our East Palo Alto site and are excited to launch 6th grade for our 2023-2024 school year. In our school program, we currently serve over 350 students across two preschool grades (3 and 4 year olds) and kindergarten through fifth grade. Integrated into our program are the other core components of our model including our parent program - partnering closely with parents throughout their child’s development and providing wellness programming for caregivers; our birth to 3 program - coordinating early developmental screenings and intervention services; and our medical home partnerships - working with existing health care providers in the community to coordinate care for children.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Founding 7th grade Lead Teacher reports to the Director of School Program in Year 1, and to the EPA School Principal in Year 2. In Y1 (SY 2023-24), the Founding Lead will have a hybrid role, with half the time allocated to working directly with the 6th grade teaching team and 6th grade students, and the other half of the time to working with the Director of School Program and Middle School Instructional Coach to plan the 7th grade curriculum and develop other aspects of the middle school program. In Y2 (SY 2024-25), the Founding Lead teacher will follow the students into 7th grade and support the launch of the 7th grade program as the lead teacher. The 7th grade lead may be either a Humanities or STEM teacher.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Middle School Program Design

Work closely with Director of School Program and Middle School Design Lead to plan the 7th grade curriculum and develop other aspects of the middle school program

• Develop scope and sequence for the Math, Science, and Humanities curriculum
• Write the Unit Zero Plan (6 week onboarding curriculum) for 7th grade .
• Develop a comprehensive plan for high school, college and career readiness for middle school students

6th grade Instructional Support

• Support 6th grade teachers use of assessment data to support differentiated instruction
• Provide targeted small group and 1:1 interventions to 6th grade students to accelerate their learning
• Create a plans to utilize student engaged assessment and increase student ownership of learning goals
• Possible coverage for 6th grade lead teachers (maximum 1x/month)

QUALIFICATIONS

• Minimum of 3 years teaching upper elementary and/or middle school
• Bachelor's degree
• Expertise in progressive, inquiry-based middle school instructional practices that emphasize culturally responsive teaching within a developmentally appropriate framework
• Experience with high poverty and English Language Learner populations; preferably experience with early childhood and middle school learning experiences
• Familiarity with or philosophical alignment with Expeditionary Learning, Structured Literacy, CLASS, and Social Emotional learning.
• Track record of teaching or coaching to exceptional academic and socio-emotional results for children
• Experience with trauma-informed practices and/or anti-bias education
• Exceptional planning and project management skills
• Belief that all children can accomplish extraordinary things

A Plus If

• Master’s degree
• Fluent Spanish-Speaker
• Ties to the East Palo Alto Community
• Background in Special Education

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk, hear, and communicate with both adults and children. The employee frequently is required to use hands or fingers, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is moderate to high.

COMPENSATION

Annual salary range begins at $73,000 (Y1) - $101,725 (Y25). Compensation is commensurate with qualifications and experience, plus excellent health benefits (health, dental, and vision), 401k retirement plan, flexible spending account (FSA), dependent care FSA, and generous paid time off, including a competitive paid parental leave benefit. TPS will cover 93% of the total premium cost for individual team members in our HMO and PPO plans, and 95% for individual team members in our HDHP plan. TPS also covers 50% of enrolled partners and/or dependents' costs on all three of our medical plans (HMO,PPO, HDHP).

To ensure fair and equitable compensation for all of our employees, The Primary School has a no-negotiation policy on all offers extended. Final offers are determined using role descriptions, job market data, internal parity, and semi-annual benchmarking. We hope that this policy, paired with ongoing transparency in our compensation process, will make TPS a more fair, inclusive, and diverse culture.