History Teacher SY 26-27

Background Information

Spark Academy in Lawrence, MA, seeks excellent teachers and those who are committed to becoming excellent to join our team of committed, growth-oriented educators. Spark Academy is an innovative public school, part of Lawrence Public Schools, dedicated to creating a nurturing environment where every student thrives. Recognized among the top 4% of schools in the state as a “School of Recognition,” Spark Academy pairs research-driven academics, a focus on movement, and a strong, values-based culture to meet the needs of our students.

At Spark Academy, we embrace a growth mindset for both staff and students. We seek educators who are positive, growth-oriented, and who are dedicated to helping our students—and themselves—reach their fullest potential. Our school provides students with six core academic periods, daily physical education, and an intervention period, ensuring comprehensive support for all learners. Featured on NPR’s Only a Game, our program integrates frequent physical movement and exercise opportunities to bolster both academic achievement and overall well-being.

Spark Academy teachers teach 180 days of school and participate in 5-8 professional development days throughout the school year. Teacher hours are from 7:38-3:00 pm. Teachers also participate in professional development on approximately 19 Tuesdays from 3:05-4:10.

Responsibilities

• Take responsibility to be a strong, positive force daily in their classroom - consistently and thoughtfully motivate students to work hard and want to learn;
• Design, implement, and collaborate around high quality shared curricula that incorporate research-based strategies to help students master Massachusetts and Common Core standards;
• Motivate students to reach high achievement by setting class-wide and individual goals and provide specific and actionable feedback to students on their progress towards academic goals;
• Build supportive working relationships with fellow teachers, associate teachers, and staff, and provide regular feedback to help develop associate teachers;
• Engage in weekly professional development and intensive coaching with administration and colleagues and embrace a growth mindset to actively improve instruction, curriculum, and management;
• Wholeheartedly embrace school-wide systems to ensure consistency within the school learning community to ensure smooth transitions between classes and grades for all students, e.g. school-wide writing practices, annotation strategies, behavior system;
• Use school-wide behavior system to establish strong classroom culture, consistent routines, and high expectations for students to ensure that culture is uniform throughout the school and thus ensuring the least amount of learning time is wasted;
• Build trusting relationships with students and families in an advisory setting of up to 14 students while also supporting students to gain a deeper understanding of our school values: Seeking Justice, Perseverance, Active Living, Reason, and Kindness.
• Other responsibilities as needed and assigned by administration.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor degree preferred.
• Citizenship, residency or work visa required