Science Teacher

Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200•Oak Park, IL

15d•Onsite

About The Position

Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF) is a comprehensive public high school located in Oak Park, IL. We are a one-school district with a diverse student body of approximately 3,300 students. OPRF offers over 200 courses, specialized programs for students with special needs, 75 clubs and activities, and 29 competitive sports. The school is committed to preparing students for post-secondary success, evidenced by an average ACT composite score of 24 and a 94% graduation rate. OPRF highly values diversity and is a founding member of the national Minority Student Achievement Network. The school is racially and economically diverse, with about 48% of students identifying as African-American, Hispanic, multiracial, or Asian. OPRF seeks faculty and staff who have high expectations for all students and value student voice. The school is particularly focused on closing opportunity gaps for students of color and other under-represented groups. OPRF is an equal opportunity employer aiming to increase the diversity of its workforce.

Requirements

Valid Illinois Professional Educator’s License with Physics and Chemistry endorsement required.
Commitment to equity and creating a supportive and inclusive learning environment for all students.

Nice To Haves

The ideal candidate embraces "the power of doing," prioritizing practice-based mastery and transferable skill development over traditional rote memorization.
A skilled collaborator who thrives in team-oriented environments—both in a co-taught classroom and within a Teacher Collaboration Team (TCT)—to guarantee equitable, high-quality learning experiences for all students.

Responsibilities

Partner in a Co-Taught Classroom: Collaborate interdependently with a Special Education co-teacher in Physics-Chemistry to co-plan, co-instruct, and co-assess, utilizing flexible co-teaching models to meet diverse learning needs and maintain an inclusive classroom culture.
Facilitate Discourse-Driven Inquiry: Design and lead classroom experiences rooted in driving phenomena and guided inquiry, fostering student-led discourse, active sense-making, and deep conceptual understanding across all student readiness levels.
Assess & Track Transferable Skills: Align grading and assessment practices with core scientific competencies—investigation, modeling, data synthesis, and evidence-based communication—utilizing accommodations and scaffolded rubrics to support individual student growth.
Cultivate a Safe, Iterative Classroom Culture: Normalize the scientific process by framing mistakes, model revisions, and data recalibrations as essential steps toward mastery rather than academic penalties.
Collaborate in High-Functioning TCTs: Work productively with course-level teams to co-design units, analyze student work, refine instructional strategies, and ensure consistency of rigorous, accessible science content across sections.
Foster Student Agency & Inclusivity: Empower every learner to engage in authentic scientific thinking, providing the necessary supports for students of all abilities to ask original questions, investigate real-world phenomena, and communicate their findings collaboratively.
This job may involve supervision of student teachers and/or teaching assistants.