Grade 7 Personalized Learning Lab; Math), Collins Middle School,, Salem, MA SY

Position: Grade 7 Personalized Learning Lab (Math), Collins Middle School, Salem Public Schools, Salem, MA [SY 2026-2027]
Grade 7 Personalized Learning Lab (Math), Collins Middle School, Salem Public Schools, Salem, MA [SY ]

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 in 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.

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. We invite you to learn more about our strategic plan and core priorities on our website at https://salemk
12.org/.

Reimagining Middle School:

The Salem Public Schools vision for a middle school graduate, developed in partnership with students, families, and educators in 2023, states: "Powered by relationships, trust, and a sense of belonging, students will develop their identity, skills, and mindsets that empower them to navigate their learning, chart their course, and engage with their community to reach their academic and life potential."

To bring this vision to life, the middle schools in Salem have committed to reimagining the student experience, including designing, piloting, and scaling innovative work in partnership with our students, families, and educators. The goal is to create relevant learning experiences that connect middle schoolers to the community, empower them to be independent learners, and offer appropriate challenges and supports. We are committed to continuing to build our muscles as a learning organization - to continue to empower student voice, to be intentional as we scale what works, and to continue to innovate as we feel there is still so much more to learn and do.

We are also committed to expanding access to the strong foundation and the new opportunities explored in the pilot to now serve the full middle school. To learn more, you can read about the first year of our work in this Transcend Case Study or in this Boston Globe op-ed.

Key components of the reimagined middle school experience include:

* Design Studio:
This hands-on learning block engages students in solving complex challenges through collaboration and creativity. Studio projects are intended to build life-skills such as communication, teamwork, creative problem solving, and responding to feedback.

* Learning Immersions:
Leaving the walls of school to learn is a core pillar of the middle school experience. Whether building collaborative skills at a ropes course or debating policy at the State House, field immersions allow students and families to broaden their understanding of what learning can look like. We talk about "community-based learning" and "learning immersions," not "field trips," to emphasize the academic and social-emotional goals of this type of learning.

* Learner Profiles & MyCAP:
Supporting students' understanding of themselves, their interests, and how they learn is critical for us to help reach our vision for middle school. Learner profiles are a new and evolving tool we are using to help build the habits and skills of learning in middle school that will integrate MyCAP (a student-centered, holistic, multi-year planning tool designed to provide students with ongoing opportunities to plan for their academic, personal/social and career success in high school and beyond).

Personalized Learning:
Empowering students to be independent learners is a key goal across Salem Public Schools, and a critical pillar within the reimagined middle school experience. In SY2025-26, we seek to take this work to the next level and build upon initial pilots to implement personalized learning in each grade level. This work is grounded in supporting students to master grade level standards by emphasizing what Education Elements calls the core four: reflection & goal setting,…