Mixed age multicultural class of ~14 – 22 children in a progressive independent school that uses an interdisciplinary approach to teaching (EL Education).

Golestan is looking to hire a loving and experienced teacher to start in August 2024. We are looking for someone who values collaboration and is creative and open to different ideas and trying new things.  Must connect well with children, families, and colleagues of all backgrounds and be passionate about integrating curricular subjects into project-based learning in a global context.  

As a lead teacher, this person will be responsible for:

Community Building and Classroom Environment

• Establish a classroom culture that is safe, inclusive, collaborative, and intellectually challenging for all students
• Build strong, asset based relationships with children, families and staff 
• Be a warm and welcoming presence in the building for all students, staff and parents (including prospective families and colab visitors)
• Create and maintain clear routines in the classroom that foster independence and collaboration, grounded in social/moral development theory
• Encourage student leadership in developing a kind, thoughtful and courageous community 
• Maintain a tidy and clutter free environment in the classroom, encouraging students to tidy up after themselves
• Model restorative practices and philosophy with children, families and staff, including community building and a culture of compassion and repair
• Support co-teachers with collecting, cleaning, returning and managing shared supplies for projects to and from the supply rooms.
• Be a beacon of warmth, love, patience and joy in the classroom
• Model self and group awareness in daily interactions 
• Move away from urgency in interactions with adults and children

Curriculum and Instruction

• Build and execute three (3) to four (4) Expeditions (project and inquiry-based units) that integrate Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standard that lead to student action within the school and in the broader community.
• Create structures for a collaborative culture with your co-teacher and specials teachers, bringing them into the planning process and allowing them space to share and execute their visions
• Communicate via ordering form when classroom supplies or instructional materials are needed
• Bring the lens of a values based education to all of your planning to create intentional activities to develop kindness, thoughtfulness and courage
• Apply knowledge of mathematical development and language development to create a balanced instructional program that meets the needs of all students, including choosing, modifying and creating curriculum in all subject areas
• Create systems and protocols in your classroom that maximize student think/talk time and minimize teacher directed instruction
• Actively support Special Classes (music, PE and/or garden) by supporting struggling students with positive reinforcement, engaging in activities with them, helping manage the whole class, and doing individual/small group support as directed by the Specials Teacher.

Documentation

• • Maintain up to date weekly plans, expedition planners, product planners and STA’s on the shared Google drive
  • Take photos/videos of student work and the learning process and upload them regularly to the class photo album
  • Input reading, writing and math data into the school wide data sheet in a timely manner

Assessments & Reporting

• Create, modify and use assessments of student learning that are aligned to Common Core State Standards
• Use formative assessment data to plan instruction to ensure all students are being challenged, engaged and scaffolded to meet or exceed standards

• Create narrative progress reports x 2 a year (December and June) to share progress of students in alignment with benchmarks for state standards
• Schedule, plan and facilitate family conferences, setting a positive and collaborative tone and referring to appropriate data to support students goals 

Communication

• Maintain proactive and consistent communication (phone calls, emails, and outside of school hours meetings) with families regarding student needs, including scheduling SST as needed with Director of Teaching and Learning
• Create weekly newsletters consistent with Golestan aesthetic in order to demonstrate the learning that happens in the classroom through photos and short narrative paragraphs
• Manage students’ goals/needs and communicating them with the team (specialists, after care, family, providers, etc)
• Hold a larger perspective of the students’ development long term and what needs to be communicated when, how and to whom
• Communicate regularly and openly with the co-teacher to create consistency and follow through of stated behavior expectations.
• Limit the use of technology during the school day, including during hayaat and meal duty.
• Be responsive to emails and texts from staff within one work day

The ideal candidate must: 

• have a interdisciplinary perspective for fully integrated hands on, inquiry-based, child centered approach to teaching
• have a minimum of three years teaching experience in elementary grades TK-5
• have a multiple-subject teaching credential
• have a Bachelor’s degree in education and/or related field
• have a deep love of experiential outdoor learning 
• have a hunger for learning (themselves) and teaching (kids) 
• embody the school values of kindness and courage through direct, open, honest and gentle communication with colleagues, students and families
• be organized
• be open to feedback 
• be open to creating an unconventional classroom environment that is compliant with the schools design aesthetic and is uncluttered, simple, and beautiful
• be innovative and willing/able to think outside the box
• be able to create community among students, families, and colleagues
• be deeply kind, thoughtful, warm, nurturing, and empathetic
• be passionate about developing their own curriculum in collaboration with colleagues across disciplines
• be comfortable in a fluid and dynamic environment

Preferred qualities: 

• have a master’s degree in education
• experience teaching language learners 
• experience with EL Education or another project-based learning model 
• experience living and/or teaching in countries outside of the United States
• have an affinity for a constructivist approach to teaching
• have native fluency in a second or third language

Our environment is very intimate and hands on, both with the children and with our colleagues.  We work very closely together across grades in a very loving, positive, and family-like setting.

For more information about our elementary program, please click here.

For more information about our organization please click here.

Please email resume and cover letter to jobs@golestankids.com for immediate consideration.