Middle School/Upper School Learning Specialist

Agreement Start Date: August 1, 2021

Bennett Day School is a progressive independent day school looking for passionate educators with innovative spirit and rich background in adolescent learning and school experience.  We are a new type of independent school; unabashed believers in the values of progressive education, we put students at the center of the process of learning.

THE OPPORTUNITY

As the first Middle- and Upper-School Learning Specialist Teacher, you will have the opportunity to design and implement a new learning services program focused on the essential needs of students in a competency- and project-based learning school. Because we are a school focused on competency-based learning with minimal tests and quizzes, you will be free to play a central role in supporting the academic and developmental needs of the Bennett Day School community.  You will work in close partnership with students, faculty, and families to provide support and direction connected to academic and developmental growth of students in grades 6th-12th.  This includes supporting established curriculum, project-based learning, and individual student growth, as it relates to current educational best practices, personalized learning and neuroscience research.  You will be an essential  resource for teachers and parents to consult on academic and developmental needs.  Engaging parents through consultation about learning practices, as well as collaborating with teams of teachers about students, are critical elements of this position. 

THE FIRST YEAR IN THIS ROLE:

WITHIN ONE MONTH, YOU WILL:

1. Familiarize yourself with and organize student profiles 
2. Plan lessons on school and study skills
3. Create an assessment timeline for Middle and Upper School
4. Build an In-depth knowledge of laws, policies, procedures, and ethical standards as related to the unique needs of our student population, teaching faculty, and larger school community
5. Meet with Upper School counselor and Middle School teaching team to coordinate advisory

WITHIN THREE MONTHS, YOU WILL: 

1. Instruct students on routines for executive functioning (supporting advisory)
2. Conduct MS Benchmark Screenings and identify US students who need support
3. Observation of classes and regular faculty meetings RE: support
4. Coordination of spring testing schedule
5. Provide support for universal screening and standardized testing including organization, communication and administration of accommodations
6. Serve as first resource for teachers looking for additional suggestions, strategies and/or methods related to the academic and developmental needs of individual students, as well as groups of students

WITHIN SIX MONTHS, YOU WILL:

1. Supporting faculty in preparation for conferences and processing outcomes with plans for growth moving forward for individual students
2. Ongoing support for individual students and small groups as well as teachers
3. Facilitate consistent Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction, monitoring student progress, and collaborating with classroom teachers and families
4. Provide training/teaching for students, teachers and parents for the school’s ongoing development of best practices, pedagogical approaches, and differentiated instruction
5. Serve as the liaison and coordinate with teachers, administrators, and outside support systems (physicians, mental health professionals, hospitals, courts, child protective services, etc.) for the purpose of providing/receiving requested information, making recommendations, and supporting our students
6. Provide support for executive functioning and make recommendations for advisory and/or class organizational systems, assignment and/or instructional scaffolding, etc.

BY THE END OF THE 2021-2022 SCHOOL YEAR, YOU WILL:

1. Teach small groups of Upper School students in school skills either through advisory or in a stand-alone class
2. Collaborate with teachers to support classroom instruction, curriculum, and project based learning 
3. Develop various proactive academic plans to support classroom instruction for individual student needs, which may include the creation and implementation of varied types of documentation and assessment
4. Keep the Directors and Principal fully informed on student issues and other relevant matters pertaining to student and school life
5. Ongoing support of students, teachers and families
6. Manage, organize and proctor standardized assessments in MS and US
7. Adjust and revise academic plans for students as needs arise