Core Teacher

Qualifications

Teachers represent a central force of an educational program, and they are uniquely important in a dual language school. Our teachers should believe in the power of language and culture immersion as an educational philosophy. We are seeking individuals with a commitment to our mission who understand and relish the demands of a start-up school, and possess an entrepreneurial spirit, willingness to solve problems, creativity to develop new ideas and programs, and personal traits to thrive in a new environment. Teachers are also expected to bring expertise beyond the assigned teaching role to the school and possess the flexibility and willingness to help fill in any gaps as the school starts out.

Specifically, Core Teachers will:

Be native or near-native speakers of Mandarin Chinese and be able to teach subject matters (e.g., math, science, Chinese language arts, and social studies) in Mandarin Chinese.

Have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and New Jersey Teaching Certification in Elementary Education (K-5) or Early Childhood Education (P-3). Alternate Route candidates will be considered.

Be highly qualified as defined by NCLB (Pass Praxis II Elementary Content Knowledge Test or Pass Praxis P-3).

Have successful teaching experience in a classroom setting.

Demonstrate a passion for working with children.

There are eight full-time openings for the eight classes. Preference will be given to teachers with immersion experience, charter school experience, and/or IB PYP experience.

Responsibilities

Adhere to PIACS mission, goals, and educational philosophy.

Develop lesson plans that ensure the attainment of state learning standards and deliver effective, high-quality, rigorous instruction in their content areas that produce high levels of student achievement, both academic and linguistic.

Maintain and enrich their expertise in the content knowledge area and skills to successfully teach assigned subject area and grade level.

Understand Immersion theories and models, and master immersion strategies and techniques.

Plan with the Head of School and Chinese Program Coordinator (if appropriate) on a regular basis.

Participate actively in curriculum development; design and develop relevant materials; adapt existing curricula in Chinese to meet the needs of students.

Possess a high level of technological understanding and a willingness to take advantage of professional development opportunities in the area of technology and assessment, as well as immersion education and related areas.

Participate in ongoing professional development and attend all staff meetings.

Participate in developing and meeting the goals of an individualized professional development plan.

Plan with specialist teachers and teachers of other subject areas to create transdisciplinary units of inquiry in accordance with the IB guidelines.

Establish a good working relationship with other teaching professionals for integration of best practices into the classroom and the curriculum.

Differentiate instruction to best meet the needs of all students.

Develop long and short-term planning addressing the needs of individual students.

Develop and use a variety of assessments that effectively, holistically and frequently measure student’s progress.

Maintain adequate records of student achievement and behavioral performance and complete report cards promptly as scheduled.

Communicate regularly with parents, particularly in an immersion program where parents who don’t speak the target language (Chinese) may need more guidance and/or reassurance about achievement of academic goals, linguistic benchmarks, etc.

Be available and prepared for Parent-Teacher Conferences, parent/student orientations and other events.

Respond to parent concerns effectively and in a timely manner.

Value and promote peaceful conflict resolution and creative and authentic problem solving.

Implement the school-wide behavior policies in the classroom and throughout the school.

Maintain an organized, clean classroom environment that enhances learning.

Plan and chaperone field trips that support the curriculum as well as invite specialists and/or experts to come in to give presentations that enrich the units of inquiry.

Work collaboratively with Teacher Assistant, if any.

Perform other duties to support the ongoing development of PIACS, as deemed appropriate.