ELA & Special Education Teacher

OVERVIEW OF DISCOVERY CHARTER SCHOOL

Discovery is a small, non-traditional public charter school serving 100 children from fourth to eighth grade in Newark, New Jersey, founded in 1999 by two veteran public school teachers.

We are guided by the principle of building on students' natural curiosity to help them develop life-long learning skills and work habits. We train our students to be critical, creative, and reflective thinkers, effective writers, in order to become active citizens. Discovery has a solid track record of proficiency on state tests, and many of our graduates have obtained scholarships to go on to the best high schools in the area.

Our learning environment is an open schoolhouse setting, and includes frequent mixed-grade instruction and cross-curricular learning activities. Our pedagogical emphasis is on experiential, problem-based learning. Within our lessons, we create active learning situations that encourage our students to explore and tinker, to think, to make sense of what they observe, and to support their positions with evidence.

At Discovery, children are active members of our school community. They express their ideas, tutor younger children, and share communal responsibilities. Every adult in the school knows every child, and we place a high value on building close, constructive relationships with the families of all of our students. Parents/guardians are welcome in the school at any time to observe and discuss the progress of their children.

Discovery views families as our school's natural partners for supporting children's education.

Because we are a very small school, teachers undertake varied responsibilities outside of planning and instruction, and are involved in multiple aspects of sustaining and improving our learning community.

The Elementary / Intervention Teacher will help intervene with 4-6 grade students who are not yet at grade level with essential math, reading, and writing skills. They will participate in our effort to bridge the gaps between our students' skills and the skills they need to actively participate in all their classes.

In addition to co-teach ELA classes the Teacher will provide individual and very small group instruction with 4-6 students both in and out of their classes.

This is preferably a full-time position but there is a part-time option.

• Collaborate with co-teachers to either plan or implement lessons that reflect Discovery's teaching priorities: exploration, craftsmanship, and equity.
• Craft individual or small group instruction that takes into account the children's strengths as well as their deficits, using appropriate tools and resources to both support and challenge them.
• Provide differentiated instruction through whole-class, small-group, and individualized teaching, including both push-in and pull-out support for students with special needs.
• Develop and implement appropriate accommodations and modifications to ensure equitable access to the curriculum for all learners.
• Demonstrate strong knowledge of special education practices, including writing and implementing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), setting measurable goals, and monitoring student progress.
• Participate actively in Child Study Team (CST) meetings, contributing insights on student performance, interventions, and instructional strategies.
• Use a variety of instructional approaches, including hands-on learning, cooperative activities, flexible grouping, and targeted interventions to support different learning styles and abilities.
• Communicate with students' families constructively through our website, online grading program, emails/text, by telephone, and in-person meetings in order to build school-family partnerships that support student learning.
• Participate in building a positive, constructive, and productive culture in the entire school; from building community in homeroom to monitoring students during transitions, from preventing negative student interactions to initiating a family evening, the humanities teacher will contribute to the overall well-being of our learning community.
• During our weekly staff sessions, team meetings, or ad-hoc conversations, reflect on one's teaching practice, and welcome the input of leadership and colleagues to continue improving one's craft.
• Continue professional development to improve mastery of pedagogy.

• Teaching experience, preferably in an urban upper elementary, or middle school
• Solid…