Returner: Lead Special Educator | SALA; Summer Arts Learning Academy

Lead Special Educator | SALA (Summer Arts for Learning Academy)

SUMMER ARTS FOR LEARNING ACADEMY (SALA)

LEAD SPECIAL EDUCATOR

Reports to:

Site Director, Summer Arts for Learning Academy

Baltimore City Schools’ Summer Arts for Learning Academy (SALA), operated by Arts for Learning Maryland, offers students an opportunity to imagine, create, and express who they are through the arts. This is an action-packed, full-day, five-week program (Monday - Thursday) that introduces students to a wide variety of art forms —from illustration and spoken word to percussion, drama, and dance— which gives students a chance to work alongside students from across the city and be taught by professional Artists.

Students’ work is celebrated through a student showcase on the final day of the program. Arts for Learning Maryland will host ten Academy sites throughout the city, locations TBD.

The mission of Arts for Learning Maryland’s Summer Arts for Learning Academy (SALA) is to provide students with an opportunity to spend summer learning from the best Teachers and Teaching Artists our state has to offer. Through a dynamic, creative, and supportive environment, students will explore math and literacy in a unique arts-integrated environment that allows them to develop socially and emotionally, expands their personal creative process, introduces them to different art forms taught by professional Artists, and allows them to experience math and literacy content from a different lens.

• believe unwaveringly that ALL students can achieve high standards in and through the arts.
• provide opportunities for students to develop powerfully articulate voices through art forms and honor their creative processes along the way.
• create safe, brave learning environments for students to grow, make mistakes, and contribute to the community.
• collaborate and reflect by learning from and with each other at every step of the process, cultivating positive relationships between all ages.
• encourage the development of critical thinking, problem solving, inquiry, imagination, and creativity, and provide multiple ways for students to demonstrate knowledge and mastery.
• learn about, honor, and leverage the cultural knowledge, experiences, and frames of reference of our students and community to make learning more relevant and effective.
• ensure that our students are known, loved, supported, celebrated, and valued.

The SALA Lead Special Educator is key to ensuring rigorous and meaningful learning in both literacy and math at SALA sites is possible for all students. Lead Special Educators will provide push in and pull out support and services to students with IEPs and 504 Plans and are responsible for both providing reasonable accommodations and carrying out IEP goals for specific students.

In addition to serving specific students with IEPs, Lead Special Educators are expected to support all students with special needs regardless of IEP status and are required to provide coaching, support, and strategies to Teachers, Teaching Artists, Paraeducators, and One-to-Ones in meeting the needs of all students.

Additionally, Lead Special Educators will manage the team of Gen. Ed. and ESOL Paraeducators, as well as one-to-ones at their site, to ensure that they are in the best position to meet the needs of all students.

• A special education certification. Teachers with special education certifications are also encouraged to apply as general Classroom Teachers.
• Experience managing, supervising, and mentoring staff.
• Experience creating schedules and other logistical resources to ensure all students’ needs are met.
• A passion for students: an ability to build meaningful relationships and a desire to “go above and beyond” to ensure each student’s success.
• A strong interest (with experience preferred) in arts integration and co‑teaching.
• A strong desire to fully integrate into a non‑traditional learning environment where flexibility is strongly valued and where new and innovative ideas are not only cultivated but expected from all staff.
• Willingness to use either the school…