Career Opportunities

TEACHERS

"Teachers have not taught unless the student has learned."

("lamad"—Hebrew).

Teachers represent the collective wisdom of our culture. English teachers should understand the relationships among reading, writing, and oral language; science teachers should know about the roles played by hypothesis generation and experimentation in science; mathematics teachers should know the modes of justification for substantiating mathematical claims; art teachers should understand how visual ideas are generated and communicated; history or social studies teachers should know how historians use evidence to interpret past events; second language teachers should understand how language and culture interact and fuse; and special education teachers should understand skill development to maximize independence in the lives of their students with special needs. All teachers are challenged to create excellence in education (NBPTS, 2010).

Cultural Arts Academy Charter School at Spring Creek is seeking individuals that understand that a quality education for all children is a civil right and a moral imperative. We seek teachers who are inspiring and supportive in their work with children, who are willing to create extended learning experiences that teach beyond the classroom, and who share our belief in the values of collaboration, respect, and diversity.

If you apply to be a teacher at Cultural Arts Academy Charter School at Spring Creek, you must:

Demonstrate past leadership and achievement: achieved ambitious, measurable results in academic, professional, extra-curricular or volunteer settings
Have strong critical thinking skills: making accurate linkages between cause and effect and generating relevant solutions to problems
Have the ability to influence and motivate children
Have organizational ability: planning well, meeting deadlines and working efficiently
Have an understanding of and desire to work relentlessly in pursuit of the Cultural Arts Academy Charter School vision
Have respect for all students and families in the school community
Operate with professionalism and integrity and meet proficient reading and writing standards

(Adapted from TFA, 2010).

Cultural Arts Academy Charter School has a longer school day and school year than traditional schools. CAACS teachers will participate in a mandatory 60-hour professional development series each summer, daily common planning, weekly professional development workshops and a mentoring program with continuous development of a professional portfolio. As educational professionals, teachers will be observed, guided, and coached regularly as a standard operating procedure to relentlessly improve their practice and strengthen our professional learning community.

Every Cultural Arts Academy Charter School teacher must meet the federal and state requirement for being "highly qualified". An effective teacher:

Teaches for mastery
Has positive expectations for student success and allows students to excel to their highest abilities.
Exhibits enthusiasm for teaching and learning that motivates students to be interested in class discussions and classroom activities.
Communicates in a clear and animated manner.
Has effective classroom management skills
Designs and implements standards-based lessons.
Reflects on whether or not students have mastered the lesson.
Has strong rapport with students

Learning the basic skills necessary to become an effective educator takes practice and professional development from mentors, coaches and administrators. The Cultural Arts Academy Charter School is looking for candidates that have:

Full NYS certification and licensing.
Three to five years of teaching experience
Bachelor or Master’s degree in the field of education
The skills and abilities necessary to create, enrich, maintain and alter print-rich instructional settings and lessons that sustain the interest of their students

Candidates for teaching must also:

Provide evidence of closing the achievement gap
Have experience or interest in the cultural arts
Employ multiple methods for measuring student growth and understanding and can clearly articulate student performance to parents.
Have an understanding of data-driven instruction
Critically examine their practice, seek to expand their repertoire, deepen their knowledge, sharpen their judgment and adapt their teaching to new findings, ideas and theories
Have an interest in pursuing National Board certification

Integrating the arts into daily instruction enriches student learning across all subject areas. The classroom teachers and teachers of subject areas other than the arts must provide a vital support for the arts learning. In particular, they must address strands 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the Blueprint—all strands of arts learning except the Arts Making strand, which often are more effectively taught by certified arts specialists and teaching artists.

The classroom teacher must support the arts curriculum and extend the work of the arts teacher or visiting teaching artist in the following ways:

Collaborating with teaching artists to co-design units of study that satisfy both arts standards and other core curriculum standards
Reading, research, writing, and discussion about the arts to support the Arts Literacy strand of the Blueprint
Studying the arts of a culture or period of history to support the Making Connections strand of the Blueprint
Field trips to performances and exhibitions to support the Community & Cultural Resources and Careers & Lifelong Learning strands of the Blueprint (NYCDOE)

Initially, Candidates should submit a résumé, the names and contact information of three references, and a letter of intent describing their experience and interest in the position. Please e-mail inquiries and application materials to caacs@caa-ny.org (please add name of position to the subject line of the e-mail message). We accept resumes only by e-mail. No telephone calls please. Thank you for your interest in our school.

COMPENSATION

Cultural Arts Academy Charter School offers a competitive compensation package and comprehensive health benefits for each position.