OVERVIEW OF DISCOVERY CHARTER SCHOOL

Discovery is a small, non-traditional public charter school serving 100 children from fourth to eighth grade in Newark, New Jersey, founded in 1999 by two veteran public school teachers.

We are guided by the principle of building on students’ natural curiosity to help them develop life-long learning skills and work habits. We train our students to be critical, creative, and reflective thinkers, effective writers, in order to become active citizens. Discovery has a solid track record of proficiency on state tests, and many of our graduates have obtained scholarships to go on to the best high schools in the area.

Our learning environment is an open schoolhouse setting, and includes frequent mixed-grade instruction and cross-curricular learning activities. Our pedagogical emphasis is on experiential, problem-based learning. Within our lessons, we create active learning situations that encourage our students to explore and tinker, to think, to make sense of what they observe, and to support their positions with evidence.

At Discovery, children are active members of our school community. They express their ideas, tutor younger children, and share communal responsibilities. Every adult in the school knows every child, and we place a high value on building close, constructive relationships with the families of all of our students. Parents/guardians are welcome in the school at any time to observe and discuss the progress of their children. Discovery views families as our school's natural partners for supporting children's education.

Because we are a very small school, teachers undertake varied responsibilities outside of planning and instruction, and are involved in multiple aspects of sustaining and improving our learning community.

JOB SUMMARY

The humanities teacher will, in collaboration with other humanities faculty, create and plan a curriculum that integrates both social studies and language arts in trimester-long, interdisciplinary thematic units. Drawing from existing material and creating new activities, the humanities teacher will ensure that students from grades 4-8 become critical readers and sharp writers, gain a solid history background, and engage with important issues of their world.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Create lesson plans that reflect Discovery's teaching priorities: exploration, craftsmanship, and equity. Lessons must have alternate entry levels and success goals to accommodate the range of the children's ages, grade levels, and reading and writing abilities.
• Share school-wide responsibility for ensuring that all our students become engaged readers.
• Show high expectations for all children, constantly searching for ways to facilitate activities that are both accessible and challenging to all students.
• Incorporate a variety of teaching strategies, including hands-on and cooperative learning activities, fieldwork, flexible grouping, and differentiated instruction for children of different levels and abilities.
• Use meaningful forms of assessments to adjust the curriculum and your instructional strategies.
• Hold all students accountable, review the work of homeroom students every morning, engage them in conversation about their progress, and provide individual support.
• Communicate with students' families constructively through our website, online grading program, emails/text, by telephone, and in-person meetings in order to build school-family partnerships that support student learning.
• Participate in building a positive, constructive, and productive culture in the entire school; from building community in homeroom to monitoring students during transitions, from preventing negative student interactions to initiating a family evening, the humanities teacher will contribute to the overall well-being of our learning community.
• During weekly staff sessions, team meetings, or ad-hoc conversations, reflect on one's teaching practice, and welcome the input of leadership and colleagues to continue improving one's craft.
• Continue professional development to improve mastery of social studies and related pedagogy.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

· Teaching experience, preferably in an urban upper elementary, or middle school

· Strong background and interest in social studies

· Solid familiarity with reading and writing teaching strategies.

· Ability to create lesson plans and instructional material with clear learning goals that engage students in activities that foster their intellectual curiosity and critical thinking skills

· Strong communication skills

· New Jersey certification (or being in the process of certification): either standard certification or middle school with subject matter specialization certification in social studies or ELA.

About Discovery Charter School

OVERVIEW OF DISCOVERY CHARTER SCHOOL Discovery is a small, non-traditional public charter school serving 100 children from fourth to eighth grade in Newark, New Jersey, founded in 1999 by two veteran public school teachers. We are guided by the principle of building on students’ natural curiosity to help them develop life-long learning skills and work habits. We train our students to be critical, creative, and reflective thinkers, effective writers, in order to become active citizens. Discovery has a solid track record of proficiency on state tests, and many of our graduates have obtained scholarships to go on to the best high schools in the area. Our learning environment is an open schoolhouse setting, and includes frequent mixed-grade instruction and cross-curricular learning activities. Our pedagogical emphasis is on experiential, problem-based learning. Within our lessons, we create active learning situations that encourage our students to explore and tinker, to think, to make sense of what they observe, and to support their positions with evidence. At Discovery, children are active members of our school community. They express their ideas, tutor younger children, a...nd share communal responsibilities. Every adult in the school knows every child, and we place a high value on building close, constructive relationships with the families of all of our students. Parents/guardians are welcome in the school at any time to observe and discuss the progress of their children. Discovery views families as our school's natural partners for supporting children's education. Because we are a very small school, teachers undertake varied responsibilities outside of planning and instruction, and are involved in multiple aspects of sustaining and improving our learning community.

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Connections working at Discovery Charter School