Expeditions Teacher, Site-Based in Tacoma, WA

at Summit Public Schools (View all jobs)

Site-Based Expeditions Teacher – 2020-2021

Who We Are

This will be a PE role with a STEM focus. 

What if all students graduated high school with the knowledge, skills, and habits they need to lead a fulfilled life?  This is the question that guides our mission at Summit Public Schools.

Summit is a leading network of public schools that prepare a diverse student population for success in a four-year college and to be thoughtful, contributing members of society. We operate 15 schools serving over 4,500 students in the Bay Area and Washington state. Historically, 98 percent of Summit graduates are accepted to four-year colleges, and Summit graduates complete college at double the national average.

We need exceptional, diverse, and mission-aligned teachers to join our team to help prepare our students for a fulfilled life. Join us!

Summit’s Expeditions Program:

The areas of study, or clusters, which students can explore include Leadership & Social Change, Health and Wellness, Media Studies, Technology, Business, and Visual Art, Design & Engineering.  Over the course of their time at Summit, students have the opportunity to explore passions across these clusters or to craft a pathway of deep study that may lead to an internship or independent study.

In particular, our middle and high schools are interested in teachers who can offer courses in one of the following areas:

• Health & Wellness

The Expeditions team seeks teachers with a passion for these areas who can design and execute courses in that cluster based on the teacher’s experience and expertise, aimed at middle and high school students.  Using the Framework for 21st Century Learning (P21. 2015, May), students should master the skills, knowledge and expertise to succeed in work and life in the 21st century.

The role of the Expeditions teacher is to empower students to discover and deepen their passions, as well as serve as a mentor to a group of students they will follow throughout their time in middle and high school. We believe that connecting to one’s passion is crucial for success in college and a career, as this allows students to make better choices about “best fit” colleges based on an understanding of the course of study for possible careers. They can begin college with a career goal in mind that is connected to their passion, and can immediately apply their decision-making and self-direction skills to continuously set and achieve goals. With their own passions and fields of study as expertise, Expeditions Teachers execute this vision by doing the following:

• Summit Expeditions teachers design and teach a high-quality, challenging, project-based curriculum that guides students towards explorations of potential passions.
• Summit Expeditions teachers facilitate learning experiences which lead students through deep exploration of fields of study connected to potential majors, hobbies and careers.
• Summit Expeditions teachers design and guide students through real-life experiences in the field, through guest speakers, field trips, and other connections to community groups.
• Collaboration & Professional Development – Twice a week, teachers participate in all-faculty after-school meetings where community decisions are made, professional development takes place, and faculty collaborates as a grade-level team or subject-level team.
• Mentor Time – Build deep relationships and a sense of community when teachers meet with their small group of mentees daily for their entire time at Summit. Daily, teachers meet with their mentor groups, work on Habits of Success as a group, and check in one-on-one with their mentees. Mentors coach and advocate for their mentees both inside and outside of the classroom, and strive to support them as they develop their sense of purpose as they become self-directed learners.
• See sample teacher schedules here. A student school day is around 8-8:30am to 3-3:30pm, depending on the specific school. Teachers stay until 5pm three days per week.

At Summit Public Schools, you are joining a community committed to excellence and continual growth. We prioritize developing leaders from within and have invested in multiple career pathway programs for our teachers and school leaders. If you are looking for the opportunity to drive transformative change in a diverse community of learners and contribute to reimagining what schools should be, we encourage you to apply.

What You Need

• Commitment to uphold Summit’s values, and the belief that all children deserve a rigorous and equitable education that prepares them for college and for life
• Teaching Credential in California, Washington or another US state
• Bachelor’s Degree (a Master’s Degree in Education is preferred, but not required)
• Clear health and background check
• Teaching experience in your subject preferred, but not required

Who You Are

• You want to be a world-class project-based learning teacher
• You thrive while collaborating and are excited to work with mission-aligned, high-performing colleagues. You find positivity in shared successes.
• You’re excited to teach Summit’s common curriculum and assessment system, which was designed for teachers and by teachers in partnership with learning scientists.
• You care deeply about working in intentionally heterogeneous schools and are ready to support all diverse students to reach a fulfilled life
• You’re eager to engage in professional development and be developed as a practitioner in a network that is committed to continuous improvement.
• You have a growth mindset and see feedback as a positive
• You are passionate about serving as a mentor and advocate for a group of students that you’ll follow year to year. You’re open to having hard conversations to support students.

What You Get

Summit offers competitive salaries and benefit options, including covering 75% of the health, dental, and vision plan costs. We fully cover life and disability insurance. We have a “take what you need” PTO policy, 11 paid holidays, 4 weeks of vacation during the year, and a summer break. We value our teachers’ Summit experience, offering stipends for teachers who have been with us for three or more years and helping teachers grow with us through designated time for paid professional development and regular coaching.

Summit Public Schools does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to all programs.

People from all diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Spanish language proficiency is a plus.

We don’t just encourage diversity and inclusion—we believe it’s a requirement for us to be successful in our mission of helping all children succeed. Since we serve a diverse-by-design community of schools, educators, parents, and students, we need our team members to bring a broad range of lived experiences to the table with them. This is the only way we can ensure we are staying close to the work and building an authentic relationship with the people we serve.