Organization: North Oakland Community Charter School (NOCCS)
Job Title: 4/5th Grade Teacher
Location: Oakland

Posted: 5/6/08

Job Description

North Oakland Community Charter School (NOCCS) seeks a 4/5th grade teacher to join our dynamic community. We are currently a K-5 school with 130 students, and will grow to a K-8 school by opening a sixth grade for the 2008-2009 school year (and expanding one grade per year after that until we reach an enrollment of 205 students).

We are especially interested in educators who are invigorated by the challenge of working in a diverse learning community and committed to delivering an engaging progressive education model to a public school population. The individual needs to be an excellent teacher and teacher leader; someone who has a deep appreciation for students and the particular needs of 9 - 11 year olds. In addition, we are seeking an educator who is enthusiastic about interacting with engaged families, and who wants to take an active role in shaping the school’s growth, policies and educational practices.

NOCCS was started by parents and teachers to provide an intellectually challenging, student-centered learning environment for Oakland public school students. NOCCS opened in September 2000 and is one of the top schools in Oakland. As a charter school, it is independent of the school district and accepts students by public lottery.

The school has a focus on literacy and Teaching for Understanding, a research-based approach to teaching and curriculum design that helps teachers to develop intellectually challenging learning opportunities. The ideal candidate will have knowledge of multi-age classroom settings, experience or knowledge of a charter school environment, and a strong ability to design and implement interdisciplinary teaching units.

The founders of NOCCS developed ten core principles that anchor and guide our community and its work, and provide a vision to which we aspire:

• Respect for children and their learning
• High expectations
• A caring community of learners
• Valuing diversity
• A commitment to equity
• Connections to the world
• Families’ contributions
• Respect for teachers and teaching
• Creativity
• Teaching for Understanding

See our website for more detailed information regarding our school: www.noccs.org

Position Requirements:

• California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and CLAD or AB1059, demonstrating compliance with the NCLB highly qualified teacher status as defined by the California Department of Education.
• Knowledge and skill in organizing, designing, and delivering balanced literacy curriculum. We are particularly interested in finding candidates with experience in implementing practices related to reader’s workshop (Strategies that Work), guided reading, working with words, writer’s workshop, and the integration of reading and writing instruction across the curriculum.
• Knowledge and experience teaching mathematics to the NCTM standards.
• Demonstrated success in designing multi-age, interdisciplinary units of study to engage students aged 9 - 11.
• Demonstrated success working with children from different cultural, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds and the ability to interface with their parents in productive ways.
• Managing a learning-centered classroom that includes age-appropriate, culturally responsive classroom management practices.
• Demonstrated success in differentiating instruction in public school classroom settings.
• Ability to collaborate and participate in critical relationships with other teachers to develop educational strategies jointly within as well as across grade levels.
• Interest in working in a school community with parent/family participation.
• Commitment and ability to attend committee meetings, lead school-wide initiatives, utilize parents as volunteers in the classroom, and attend evening meetings approximately once each month.
• Teaching demonstrations required of all applicants.

Desired:

• Teaching experience in a charter or new school setting
• Ability to contribute to a growing start-up school environment
• National Board Certification
• Knowledge and experience with alternative assessment practices
• Bilingual Education experience (Spanish)

Salaries and benefits are competitive and commensurate with experience.

Interested candidates, who meet the above requirements, please email the following application materials to director@noccs.org or mail them to:

Hiring Committee
North Oakland Community Charter School
1000 42nd St.
Oakland, CA 94608

Absolutely no phone calls please.

1. Resumé
2. Cover letter, including a description of your grade level preference and experience
3. Photocopy of California multiple subject teaching credential
4. Brief response to the following questions (maximum one page for each item):

• How do you develop your learning environment to meet the varied social, emotional, and academic needs of your students?
• Describe your philosophy or approach to teaching reading and writing.
• Describe your philosophy or approach to teaching mathematics.
• Describe your philosophy or approach to classroom management.