Career Center

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Job Title:   Special Educator          Date:   FY23

Department:   Special Services                                                                                   

Reports To:    Director of Special Services, Dean of Academics or Assistant Head for Academic Affairs, Headmaster, and Headmaster’s Executive Secretary

job summary: 

St. Johnsbury Academy seeks a skilled Special Education Teacher to join our team. Responsibilities with a full-time position include teaching three to four sections each semester. The qualified candidate will have a strong background in math and science and differentiated instruction and a certification in Special Education for the State of Vermont. Training in the Orton Gillingham approach is preferred. We are seeking a candidate to join our creative and collaborative atmosphere and who will engage in and embrace the active lifestyle and responsibilities of boarding school life.

In addition to teaching responsibilities, full-time faculty members are expected to serve as an advisor to a group of 8-12 students and to participate in the campus and residential life programs as assigned. The successful candidate will have the ability to engage in and embrace the active lifestyle and responsibilities of boarding school life.

PRIMARY RESPONSITIBITIES AND DUTIES: 

Teaching

• Create and execute individual education plans for each of the students in your care.
• Communicate with other staff and family members about each student’s progress and struggles
• Design and implement course curriculum with Director of Special Services guidance.
• Prepare syllabi and daily lesson plans for above.
• Assess and provide evaluation information back to students in a timely manner according to the school calendar.
• Participate in IEP (individualized education plans) meetings as scheduled by the school, and as needed for the best outcomes for students in the program.
• Use individualized reinforcement techniques to encourage continuous improvement in each student
• Provide Case Management to a case load of 13-17 students
• Teach a specialized content class (math, science)
• Teach small group targeted interventions
• Review and analyze student data making recommendations for individual and group interventions.
• Communicate with families and districts regarding students’ needs and progress
• Be available daily during the conference period time at the end of the school day and require students to attend who need to make up work or who need extra assistance.
• Maintain communication with parents/guardians as needed throughout the school year, including up to four parents’ afternoons/nights during the school year, and for one resident parents’ weekend in the fall semester.
• Maintain classroom decorum to Academy standards, including recognizing dress code violations, with the support of department chairs and deans.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues within the department and throughout the school.

Other

• Serve as an advisor to a group of 8 -12 students during their four-year tenure at the Academy, including morning attendance and weekly advisory periods.
• Participate in the resident life program as assigned. Resident Life duties may include additional compensation or benefits, depending on the position. Specific assignments take into account faculty interest and lifestyle constraints as well as current school needs, and may include a position on regular dorm staff, after-school supervision of academic, athletic, or recreational activities, and serving as chaperones for student trips or events approximately three times per academic year.
• Attend assigned monthly meetings for all faculty, department, advisory class, and ad hoc committees. Time for department, advisory class, and ad hoc committees is generally allocated during the regular school day.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Be committed to the idea of diversity in the classroom, and the acknowledgment and acceptance of our students’ diversity of culture, gender, sexuality, as well as their varied, economic, and educational backgrounds.
• Be collaborative and open to the idea of team-teaching and/or working regularly with peers.
• Have high degree of competence with contemporary educational technologies such as electronic gradebooks, and the google education suite or be willing to learn.
• Teach critical thinking skills and original idea generation.
• Be creative and encourage the creative process.
• Be excited to work one-on-one with our students outside of the classroom.
• Have flexibility to work occasional evenings and weekends for campus life events.
• Demonstrate character and ability to serve as a mentor and role model for young people.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s Degree required; masters preferred, or desire to pursue a master’s degree.
• Valid Vermont Teaching Certification with special Educator (K-12) required.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience working in a special education or related field providing targeted interventions to students.
• Boarding school experience is a plus.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Must have the ability to sit and stand for extended periods of time; exhibit manual dexterity to use  classroom, tools of the medium,  telephone, computer,  tablet or other learning device; to see and read a computer screen and printed material with or without vision aids; hear and understand speech at normal classroom or office levels, and on the telephone; speak in audible tones so that others may understand clearly in normal classrooms, and on the telephone; physical agility to lift up to 60 pounds to shoulder height and 50 pounds to waist height; and to bend, stoop, sit on the floor, climb stairs, walk and reach overhead.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Duties are normally performed in a school classroom or lab. The instructor may occasionally work in outside weather conditions and be exposed to wet and/or humid conditions, temperature fluctuations, fumes or airborne particles, chemicals commonly used in instruction and /or cleaning. It may be expected that the individual could be exposed to blood or other potentially infectious materials during the course of their duties. The teacher may be exposed to infectious disease as carried by students.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate to loud on occasion.

BACKGROUND CHECK AND FINGERPRINTING

The Academy conducts criminal record checks on all candidates.  We reserve the right to investigate fully any criminal or motor vehicle offense prior to consideration for employment.  Job offer is contingent upon satisfactory maintenance or completion of our background and Child Abuse Registry reporting, and acceptance of our Sexual Harassment Policy.