Paraeducator - ASALA; After School Arts Learning

Para educator - ASALA (After School Arts for Learning Academy)

2025–2026 AFTER SCHOOL ARTS FOR LEARNING ACADEMY (ASALA) PARA EDUCATOR

Arts for Learning Maryland (formerly Young Audiences of Maryland) is devoted to enriching the lives and education of Maryland’s youth through educational and culturally diverse arts programs. Through Arts for Learning, professional teaching artists from all disciplines partner with educators, schools, and school districts to provide -- on average -- over 560,000 hours of learning in, through, and about the arts to more than 155,000 Maryland students annually.

Arts for Learning is a mission-driven organization that values community, innovation, and passion. The staff, board, and teaching artists have a shared commitment to advance equity in the field of education by working tirelessly to generate opportunities for students to imagine, create, and realize their full potential through the arts.

The After School Arts for Learning Academy (ASALA), operated by Arts for Learning Maryland (A4L) in partnership with Baltimore City Schools, gives students the opportunity to imagine, create, and express themselves through the arts.

This exciting program runs four days a week, three hours per day , and introduces students to a wide range of art forms—from illustration and spoken word to percussion, drama, and dance—while also strengthening literacy and math skills through co-planned, arts-integrated lessons. Each site serves up to 156 students, working in groups of 26 with a certified teacher and professional teaching artist.

Mission, Core Values, and Anti-Racist Practices:

ASALA’s mission is to provide students with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn with outstanding teachers and teaching artists in a dynamic, creative, supportive, and student centered environment.

We are committed to:

• Believing in the potential of all students to achieve through the arts.
• Honoring students’ voices and creative processes.
• Creating safe, inclusive, and brave learning spaces.
• Cultivating strong relationships with students, families, and staff through a culture of learning, collaboration, and reflection.
• Encouraging critical thinking, problem solving, inquiry, imagination, and creativity through multiple pathways of teaching and learning.
• Knowing, honoring, and leveraging the cultural knowledge and lived experiences of students and communities.
• Ensuring every student is known, loved, supported, celebrated, and valued.
• Creating inclusive environments where all students’ unique talents are discovered and cultivated, and where their identities are reflected all around them and matter through acknowledgement and affirmation
• Confronting biases and taking small, but consistent steps to eliminate systemic racism in education.
• Cultivating spaces where Black joy thrives.
• Engaging with families as true partners in the work.

The After School Arts for Learning Academy (ASALA) Para educator is a part-time, non-exempt role reporting to the Site Director. Paraeducators are essential in ensuring that all students, especially those with IEPs and special needs, receive the support necessary to thrive in a creative, inclusive environment.

Paraeducators provide both one-on-one and classroom-wide support, working closely with teachers, teaching artists, and lead special educators. They help implement accommodations, foster student success, and contribute to a positive learning community.

Paraeducators will work in partnership with ASALA staff to:

• Support students with IEPs and other learning needs through individualized and classroom support.
• Understand student accommodations and help implement strategies for success.
• Assist teachers and teaching artists with instruction, student records, and preparation of materials.
• Provide behavioral and emotional support, helping students develop strategies for success.
• Communicate regularly with staff, students, and families to ensure a cohesive support system.
• Assist with program activities, including lunch, recess, student showcases, and the creation of the ASALA yearbook.
• Collect photos and student…