Cajal Academy Inc Hiring for Social Studies Teacher Job at Westport, CT Full Time

Unique opportunity! Seeking passionate Social Studies teacher to join an expert team and innovative project-based learning school that’s modernizing education to math modern neuroscience!

We are looking for a civics and humanities teacher who is excited to join a startup, innovative educational environment and is passionate about real-world, cross-disciplinary project-based learning.

About our School:

Cajal Academy is both a school and an educational innovation nonprofit. We have an expert team, led by a recognized neuropsychologist, and are developing new educational approaches aligned to the neuroscience of how children learn, socialize, develop and grow. Our academic teachers receive training in the science behind our approaches, protocols for implementing them within the classroom, and specific strategies and considerations for differentiating the approaches for each learner.

Academic instruction is aligned with CT standards and presented through multi-disciplinary project-based learning. Students collaborate with one another to solve real world problems, through deep dives supported by executive function coaching and social skill development.

Cajal Academy serves a unique cohort of kids. All our students have very strong analytical reasoning and/or creative thinking skills, together with a range of learning, social-emotional, neurophysiological and/or chronic medical differences. A passion to empower complex learners is essential, however special education experience is not required.

Ours is a small school with a mixed-age cohort of students in grades 3-12, growing towards a full K-12 school. Instruction is provided in small groups of 6 students or fewer; total enrollment for fall, 2022 is not expected to exceed 15 students. Over time we hope to grow the school to a total of approximately 50 students. All staff members form close and nurturing relationships with each of our students, using a trauma-informed approach. Cajal Academy is not a “behavior management” or ABA school and does not implement ABA approaches.

• Collaborating across an interdisciplinary team of academic teachers and licensed therapists to develop standards-based project-based learning units and curriculum that are aligned to CT state standards, at age-appropriate levels for students across grades K-12;

• Fostering a love of learning and the social sciences, and supporting students who have academic anxieties and/or freeze-fight-flight reactions to academics through a trauma-informed approach to help them monitor and eventually reduce these reactions;

• Developing, modifying and delivering instruction to age-grouped humanities classes, combining hands-on experimentation, multimedia sources, community-based field work and engagement of industry experts;

• Collaborating with other team members in the development of curriculum and written lesson plans implementing our protocols and approaches within the classroom, and documenting student performance;

• Differentiating classroom instruction based on each student’s profile of strengths and weaknesses, following guidelines provided by our expert team of therapists;

• Designing and implementing competency-based assessments, including in-depth progress reports detailing students’ progress, learning strengths and “not yet skills”;

• Implementing Cajal Academy protocols for growth mindset and social-emotional coaching, and support children’s growth by prompting students to utilize personalized self-regulation strategies provided by our clinical team;

• Identifying and collaborating with outside, community and/or industry-based experts who can help to provide curriculum depth to our students, particularly at the high school level;

• Providing thoughtful, detailed written competency-based assessments of students’ performance, growth, strengths and “not yet skills;” and

• Keeping parents and team members informed through written and oral communications, and expanding teacher and parent understanding of each child’s development.

Potential advancement opportunities include opportunities to become our future Academic Director and/or positions in school administration.

Requirements:

First and foremost, we are looking for teachers who are prepared to provide standards-based, high level instruction to intellectually-gifted kids through to the high school level, and are excited to partner with our expert team and learn new educational approaches and methodologies.

The successful candidate will have domain expertise in the social sciences, including history, civics, political science and the humanities. Our social studies and humanities teacher must have domain expertise in social sciences sufficient to provide in-depth instruction to intellectually-gifted high school students, and a passion for providing stimulating instruction to kids of all ages.

Our ideal candidate will be an educator who has experience developing and implementing high quality instruction, including at the high school level, or a professional having in-depth experience in a relevant industry and a deep passion for inspiring our next generation of social change agents and thought leaders. Teacher certification is desirable but not required.

All Cajal Academy staff members must be flexible thinkers with very high analytical and organizational skills, and strong attention to detail. (S)he must be comfortable with the fluidity that is required to provide highly-responsive, quality education to children with complex needs. Our model has brought transformative results for students, but it requires our teachers to think about differentiation, scaffolding, curriculum development, behaviors and social-emotional growth in a whole new way. This is an opportunity to be at the forefront of our work to modernize education but requires that you be open-minded to learning new instructional approaches.

All Cajal Academy staff must also be prepared to meet children where they are, and to support children struggling with anxieties, atypical neurophysiological regulation and/or prior school-based traumas.

The successful candidate must also be a team player who is comfortable working both independently and collaboratively in a fluid, startup environment. This may include developing lesson plans outside of school hours, participating in admissions events, supporting our accreditation process, and “pitching in” to help do what needs to be done within a lean startup environment.

All candidates must be fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a valid medical exemption by the time of their start date.

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time

Pay: $45.00 – $65.00 per hour

Benefits:

• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance

Schedule:

• 4 hour shift
• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

COVID-19 considerations:
All staff members must be fully-vaccinated for COVID-19 by the time of their start date.

Application Question(s):

• Please describe your experience providing general ed social studies instruction, including for bright & gifted high school students:

Education:

• Master’s (Required)

Work Location: One location