High School Teacher: AP Environmental Science (2021-2022)

OVERVIEW
Valor Collegiate Academies is seeking an exceptional AP Environmental Science teacher who is excited to share our mission of academic excellence and empowering scholars to live inspired and purposeful lives.

At Valor, our teachers grow to become extraordinary educators. As a lead teacher, you will provide high-quality instruction through content-focused, data-driven preparation. You will collaborate with teachers and school leaders to analyze student data and prepare unit plans and lesson plans to ensure instructional excellence. As a mentor, you are responsible for guiding a diverse group of scholars through social and emotional development and supporting scholars in achieving academic goals. As a team member, you will play an integral role in shaping our organization’s growth, performance, and school culture.

A teaching career at Valor is multifaceted. You will receive curricular support and individualized coaching to master your craft. You will build strong relationships and mentorship in guiding scholars’ positive character development. You will be a part of a tight-knit, high performing team dedicated to ensuring all Valor scholars have access to transformative education. At Valor, you will have the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on our scholars’ experiences, and on a larger scale, the Valor community.

ABOUT THE COURSE
This course explores and investigates the interrelationships of the natural world and analyze environmental problems, both natural and human-made. Students will take part in laboratory investigations and field work.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Responsibilities of a Valor Teacher may include but are not limited to:

Teach Core Content & Academic Lab

• Plan, prepare, and deliver rigorous, standards-aligned lessons and instructional materials and assess student learning.
• Develop academically rigorous lesson plans, adapt unit plans, rubrics and assessments in alignment with curriculum expectations set by Valor’s academic team
• Provide students with feedback on work and plan for individual, differentiated learning needs
• Engage in weekly coaching meetings to internalize content and improve your practice
• Maintain and update scholar gradebook using Valor’s school-wide grading policy
• Establish and maintain communication with families to share academic and behavioral progress
• Lead daily Academic Lab to effectively provide scholars with structured, small group academic support

Student Mentorship

• Facilitate student Circle once a week, as well as participate in all staff Circle once a week
• Monitor your mentor group’s academic and behavior progress and provide support students in setting and reaching ambitious academic and character development goals
• Provide guidance and support on students’ self-discovery work
• Serve as a direct point-of-contact for Valor families to communicate school-wide information

School-Based Duties

• Enforce, uphold, and exhibit school’s values, student management policies and culture
• Own arrival duty, recess or lunch duty, and dismissal duty to ensure scholar safety and smooth operations
• Participate in parent teacher conferences, orientation, and other school-wide events
• Track and input daily student behavior feedback to share with families and Student Support Team
• Participate in school-wide professional development programming, including 3 weeks of faculty training over the summer and weekly sessions during the academic year

CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
In adherence with Tennessee Department of Education’s licensure requirements, candidates applying to teach this course must: (A) have a valid Tennessee teaching license with the appropriate content endorsements, or (B) have a valid out-of-state teaching license that will be successfully transferred to Tennessee by July 2021, or (C) demonstrate they are enrolled in an approved teacher’s preparation program and are on track to receiving teacher certification in the 2021-2022 school year. Deadlines and licensure requirements are strictly enforced.

Eligible endorsements for this course:

• (015) Biology 7-12 , (016) Chemistry 7-12 , (126) Biology 6-12 , (127) Chemistry 6-12 , (128) Earth Science 6-12 , (211) Biology 7-12 , (212) Chemistry 7-12 , (415) Biology 7-12 , (416) Chemistry 7-12 , (418) Earth Science 7-12 , (926) (PSE) 9-12 Biology , (927) (PSE) 9-12 Chemistry , (928) (PSE) 9-12 Earth Science

CRITICAL EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
At Valor, we believe our diversity makes us strong and we are committed to building a team of educators with diverse experiences, backgrounds, and expertise. Candidates with the following experiences are highly encouraged to apply for this position:

• You have 2+ years of full-time teaching experience in a K-12 environment
• You have the ability to execute a rigorous, standards-aligned curriculum and adopt a data driven approach in assessing students’ progress
• You have a relentless drive to develop your own instructional practice to sharpen your skills as an educator
• You have the ability to set and reach ambitious goals, and can handle the intensity required to thrive in a high-performing, results-driven school environment
• You thrive on data. You can analyze qualitative and quantitative data to inform instructional decisions
• You have the passion and commitment to serve an ethnically & economically diverse student body
• You have the ability to model, live, and reinforce the school’s core values, norms, and policies
• You enjoy cultivating deep relationships with students, families, and staff to create a positive school environment

INTERVIEW PROCESS
Our hiring process is both an opportunity for us to determine whether you are a good fit for Valor and an opportunity for you to decide whether Valor is the right fit for you. Here is what you can expect in the process for this role:

• Resume Review
• Phone Interview with Valor's Talent Team
• Virtual Performance Task
• Interview with Valor school leaders & Virtual Sample Lesson
• Reference Checks
• Teacher Licensure Commitment
• Offer extension

WHO WE ARE
Founded with the mission to empower a diverse community to live inspired, purposeful lives, Valor Collegiate Academies is a network of high-performing public charter schools serving students in grades 5-12 by the 2021-2022 school year. Our scholars will graduate with academic skills, social-emotional skills, and positive character strengths that rival the outcomes of the best schools in the world.

At Valor, we believe that we can have the greatest impact on our community by committing to 4 key organizational anchors:

• Top 1% Academics: We are passionate about meeting every scholar where they are – whether that is behind or above grade level – and supporting them to grow and excel. We define Top 1% Academics to mean that we strive to be in the top 5% in the State of TN for both student achievement and growth every year. All three Valor schools were recognized as Tennessee Reward Schools in the 2018-2019 school year.

• Powered by Compass: We believe that in order to live inspired and purposeful lives we must focus on comprehensive human development. The Valor Compass, our nationally recognized comprehensive human development program, is designed to help scholars develop their sharp minds as they strengthen their big hearts. The Compass model is intentionally infused throughout every aspect of our school and has helped foster strong relationships between scholars, teachers, and the larger community.

• Thrive in a Diverse World: Valor was founded upon the belief that having a truly diverse community of families and learners in a thoughtfully designed model allows for everyone to have a higher quality and more meaningful experience. Our scholars and staff members come from various walks of life, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and home lives from within Davidson County.

• Built to Last: We believe that being built-to-last means having strong, long-term operational infrastructure. This is largely driven in part by having talented people, and keeping that talent at Valor. We believe in making the work we do sustainable, by providing our faculty high quality professional development and support.

COMPENSATION

• Valor offers a competitive salary that is determined based on prior teaching experience
• Valor participates in Metro Nashville Public Schools’ retirement and benefits plan.

Valor Collegiate Academies is an equal opportunity employer. We seek applicants of diverse backgrounds and hire without regard to color, gender, religion, national origin, citizenship, disability, age, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law.