Career Center

The Brearley School, an independent girls’ school serving over 700 students K-XII, welcomes candidates for the position of Lower School Associate Teacher for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Founded in 1884, the School is a center of intellectual exuberance, attracting students from across and beyond New York City. Our mission has long combined outstanding academics with an insistence on a larger purpose: we seek to prepare our students for principled engagement in the world. A Brearley teacher loves to teach students who love to learn and aims to foster an ability to think critically and creatively, a deep curiosity about the world, and a pioneering spirit.

In pursuit of this goal, we actively strive to build, nurture, and sustain a diverse faculty and student body. We believe that our school is strengthened by the diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and points of view which the faculty bring to teaching and learning, and we count on them to create and maintain an atmosphere of honesty, generosity, and genuine respect for the thoughts, efforts, and feelings of others. 

We are committed to instilling the values and practice of antiracism in our students, and we expect our faculty, staff, students, parents, and trustees to pursue meaningful change through deliberate and measurable actions.

The Brearley School is an equal employment opportunity employer committed to hiring exceptional, dedicated teachers of diverse backgrounds. We consider qualified individuals for employment with the School regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, or any other state or federally protected classification.

The Associate Teacher Program seeks candidates for a one-year, full-time position that requires a high degree of professionalism, commitment, and responsibility. The program is designed for those interested in pursuing a career in education. K-I Associate Teachers will be placed with one homeroom headteacher; Class II-IV Associates will work with all three headteachers on the grade level. An Associate Teacher participates fully in the life of a classroom, the Lower School, and the School at large. Throughout the school year, she or he will have opportunities to teach lessons and lead activities and is part of the planning and presentation of the material.

Opportunities for professional development exist beyond the classroom as well. Associate Teachers (ATs) meet regularly with the Assistant Head of the Lower School throughout the year as a group and individually. Group sessions focus on a variety of topics: the emotional and social development of children, single-gender education, the admissions process, classroom management, language arts, and mathematics. In individual meetings, ATs reflect upon their experience and assess their progress. They are encouraged to think creatively and begin to develop their own teaching styles.

ATs may visit other classes within the school, attend conferences and workshops, and supervise extracurricular activities. They attend diversity training throughout the year. Brearley provides partial financial assistance for those who are attending graduate school.

At the end of the program, ATs should feel confident in their ability to teach a group of children, have an understanding of the many ways in which children learn, and have developed a sensitivity toward and an interest in children as individuals.

A B.A. or B.S. is required and previous experience with children is highly desirable. Associate Teachers are invited for a second year of teaching at the discretion of the School.

Candidates may apply for this position by visiting https://www.brearley.org/about/employment-opportunities.