Career Center

Adda Clevenger School is an independent TK-8 school offering an accelerated academic curriculum plus a fully integrated performing arts program for San Francisco Bay Area school children. Our educational program is inspired by the child-centric experientialist philosophy of John Dewey. Our school day consists of a dual curriculum of arts and academics, and students from as early as TK move through subject matter with different teachers on a period rotation throughout the day.

Science Department Mission:

The Middle School science program at Adda Clevenger develops lifelong learners who continually expand their understanding of the world around them. The nature of science seeks to provide explanations for natural phenomena and is focused around scientific literacy, scientific inquiry, and scientific knowledge. Through inquiry-based learning, curiosity is triggered, and students are able to become the experts of their own questions.

At Adda Clevenger, students take an active lead in this endeavor through guided labs, engineering design projects, scientific research, hands-on activities, interactive demonstrations, and scientific debates based on logical thinking. Students are encouraged to think beyond the application of vocabulary terms and apply systemic knowledge to answer questions, predict outcomes, and deepen discussion. Through the exercise of the scientific method and engineering design, content outlined by the Next Generation Science Standards comes alive in the students’ daily experience.

One of the highlights of the year is the culmination of student research, experimentation, and analysis in the science fair. All Middle School students take part in the yearly Adda Clevenger Science Fair (grades 5- 8th), with top students moving on to the San Francisco Science Fair (grades 6-8th).

Teaching at Adda Clevenger:

Students have science daily and the expected course load for a teacher is 5-6 instructional periods per day, rounded out by lunch/recess supervision, advisory duties, after school activities or a second subject, substitute coverage, special projects and prep periods. Our regular school day is from 8:00am -5:00pm and academic classes are scheduled throughout the entire day. Teacher prep takes place during the school day. There are 180 instructional days, with several 1-to-3 week breaks throughout the year.

All teachers participate in school life in a variety of ways. For example, some teachers support student productions and performances as stage managers, others take the lead in organizing Spirit Day activities or moderating a student club.

Adda Clevenger teachers enjoy considerable autonomy in their classrooms and are responsible for developing and maintaining their own subject matter curricula. We believe that the teacher and the students are the two critical elements of an effective classroom and the curriculum must derive from and be continually and creatively adapted to their changing needs and environment.

Qualifications:

Personal qualifications

• Strong instructional skills and classroom management
• Excellent communication skills
• Highly organized
• Holds self to a high standard of professionalism in conversations with students and fellow staff, appearance and overall demeanor

Professional qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from a competitive college or university
• Strong formal science background, acquired through education, teaching experience or both. A degree in a natural science discipline is highly desirable.
• 2+ years’ head teaching experience at middle or high school level
• Valid California teaching credential or equivalent from out of state or international

Full course descriptions of Grades 5-8 Science can be found here:

http://www.addaclevenger.org/academics/

About Adda Clevenger School

Adda Clevenger School is an independent TK-8 school offering an accelerated academic curriculum plus a fully integrated performing arts program for San Francisco Bay Area school children. Our educational program is inspired by the child-centric experientialist philosophy of John Dewey. Our school day consists of a dual curriculum of arts and academics, and students from as early as TK move through subject matter with different teachers on a period rotation throughout the day.

Connections working at Adda Clevenger School