Elementary Special Education Coordinator and Teacher

VOICE Charter School • Long Island, NY

2d • Onsite

About The Position

VOICE Charter School is an elementary and middle school located in Long Island City, Queens, serving approximately 650 students across grades K-8. We are seeking dedicated educators and administrators committed to urban education to join our dynamic professional learning community. Our mission is to foster a safe and healthy learning environment that nurtures, motivates, and challenges all children to achieve academic excellence and become mindful, responsible contributors to their education, community, and society. At VOICE, we emphasize the importance of people, passion, relationships, choice, and individual care. We believe in efficacy, with the core idea that all students are capable of success and that intelligence is developed, not inherent. We support and develop our teachers, providing over two hours of daily planning time and additional collaborative planning days. We also promote participation in music and the arts, integrating them into our curriculum to develop problem-solving, critical thinking, and imagination. All staff are expected to love and nurture students, take personal responsibility for student achievement, encourage curiosity, uphold high standards, support colleagues, seek feedback, and help students choose their future.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university required.
• New York State teaching certification required (candidates must be fully certified or on track to be fully certified by the first day of employment).
• Teaching or student teaching experience in a school required.
• Experience with and interest in working with high needs students preferred.
• New York State teaching certification in Students with Disabilities, Special Ed, or ESL.
• Unwavering humility, patience, and kindness.
• Professional demeanor with the ability to influence and facilitate decision-making among multiple, diverse parties.
• Perseverance to create clarity while allowing for complexity and nuance.
• Openness to work collaboratively to solve problems.
• High sense of urgency, demonstrated ability to successfully handle multiple projects concurrently in a fast-paced environment, and ability to be self-directed and take initiative.
• Organized and systems driven.
• Fastidious and attentive to detail.
• Deep belief in VOICE’s mission, vision, and values.
• Basic principles of curriculum design.
• Child learning theory and behavioral approaches.
• Differentiation strategies (conferencing; small group work); basic understanding of English as a Second Language and Special Education approaches and procedures.
• Elements of effective classroom environment and management.
• Analyzing data using defined but different processes in order to inform student progress.
• Ability to adapt to changing work priorities.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality; exhibit tact and patience.
• Building strong and effective collegial relationships as part of a team, including but not limited to co-teachers and grade teams; be able to effectively manage an assistant.
• Building individual relationships with students and maintaining a kind, firm voice and body language.
• Building effective sequential long-term lesson plans and mastery-oriented short term lesson plans.
• Maintaining high academic expectations through purposeful building of thinking skills, standards-aligned independent practice, questioning and discussion techniques, high standards for language and evidence, and structured support for students.
• Communicating effectively and frequently with families.
• Reflecting on own practice and implementing action steps; embodying VOICE values in everyday interactions and work products.
• Using time efficiently; prioritizing tasks appropriately; meeting deadlines.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with and interest in working with high needs students preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provides students with a safe and healthy learning environment that will nurture, motivate and challenge all children to achieve the highest level of academic excellence and to develop into mindful, responsible, contributing participants in their education and communities.
• Learns content and skills as detailed in curriculum support materials, VOICE framework for teaching, and Common Core or other related standards.
• Collaborates with colleagues in developing purposeful, rigorous, and engaging daily and long-term plans aligned to standards, and regularly revises these materials.
• Creates, administers, and analyzes meaningful and frequent assessments from which reteaches are planned.
• Maintains necessary records of student progress toward academic goals and meets deadlines for submitting data to other departments.
• Provides targeted push-in and pull-out academic support.
• Teaches small group instruction, ensuring all SETSS and ESL mandates are met.
• Attends regular grade level data reflection and envisioning meetings and offers lesson differentiation suggestions for implementation by classroom teachers.
• Creates flexible small groups based on data and writes lessons for small groups based on grade-level curriculum and supplemental instructional materials.
• Collaborates with classroom teachers for push-in and pull-out groups.
• Maintains a productive, safe, and disciplined learning environment with clearly displayed classroom values, teaching points, process charts, and student work.
• Maximizes instruction time by keeping the flow of classroom activities moving smoothly and efficiently.
• Upholds all school policies within the classroom.
• Infuses VOICE values, rigor, and joy into lessons.
• Integrates feedback and goal-setting into lesson delivery.
• Provides the differentiation and accommodations needed for the growth and success of all students.
• Models strong written and verbal skills.
• Invests time in knowing students and demonstrates an active interest in their well-being.
• Reviews and complies with guidelines of students’ IEPs, follows IDEA reporting requirements, and provides information about student performance and services received.
• Facilitates Academic Intervention Service (IS) Meetings, including triggering teachers for recommendations, collecting student work, and convening the meeting.
• Serves as a helper for student records and standards test administration, including reviewing accuracy of class organization, writing reports, and attending special education meetings.
• Fully embraces VOICE’s mission and values and promotes them to students, parents, and colleagues.
• Collaborates as part of an interdisciplinary team coordinating all instructional activities with teachers, assistants, and instructional leaders.
• Proactively seeks assistance or advice when faced with challenging teaching situations.
• Maintains positive relationships with and supports the learning of all staff members.
• Appropriately gives and receives feedback to/from students, parents, faculty, staff, and administration.
• Keeps families well-informed of student performance and progress.
• Provides feedback and guidance to classroom assistants.
• Fully participates in all school and grade-level meetings, designated school functions outside of school hours, and opportunities for professional development.
• Meets expectations including punctuality and professionalism, consistently meets deadlines, and communicates appropriately on progress.
• Reflects on professional practice through self-analysis and engagement in feedback processes.
• Supervises out of classroom settings such as arrival, transitions, lunch, recess, dismissal, and field trips.

Benefits

• Participation in a pre-tax commuter benefits program and partial reimbursement for monthly commuting expenses
• Gym reimbursement
• Cultural enrichment reimbursements
• Participation in the Teachers Retirement System pension program
• Frequent access to baked goods
• Many opportunities to get to know your VOICE colleagues

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level