First Grade Teacher

LOWER SCHOOL TEACHER JOB DESCRIPTION  - First Grade

Job Title: Lower School Teacher
Position Type: Faculty, Exempt, Full-time, 10-month
Reports to: Lower School Dean
Salary: Dependent on Experience – Salaried, paid monthly over 12 months

Whitefield Academy is a classical Christian school for students Kindergarten-Prep – 12th grade. We are a nondenominational, private, day school accredited by the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS).

Requirements
• Bachelor’s degree
• Early Childhood or Elementary Education degree preferred
• Teaching experience preferred
• Familiarity or experience with the classical Christian education model preferred
• Member of an evangelical church able to affirm the school’s biblical, faith, and ethical standards as delineated in the school’s Statements and Affirmations on Faith and Practice

Portrait of a Whitefield Teacher
We believe that teaching is both a calling and an art and is most effective when conducted by a team of highly educated professionals. Whitefield teachers are committed followers of Christ, and they experience teaching as a missional calling. They delight in offering an education that is formative for their students, not only imparting knowledge, but discipling them to know, love, imitate, and be like God. They invest in the lives of their students and know them as individuals. As an art, Whitefield teachers are committed to growing and developing their skills. They embrace and champion classical pedagogy and seek to deepen their understanding and mastery of it. Whitefield faculty members are passionate about conveying a love for learning, and they model this love through an excitement for their lessons and a delight when students engage and learn.

Critical Performance Competencies
• Adhere to biblical standards in all areas of conduct
• Positively support the school’s policies and practices and work collaboratively and professionally
• Truthful, positive, and purposeful when communicating with others
• Able to use strong written and oral communication skills to transfer thoughts and express ideas
• Flexible and adaptable in dealing with new, different, or changing requirements
• Maintain confidentiality and security of information
• Hold self and others accountable to accomplish results
• Effective in handling multiple concurrent tasks, with demonstrable administrative skills
• Familiar with Microsoft Word and Outlook, able to learn and work with the school’s integrated data-based software package as needed (FACTS)

Specific Duties and Responsibilities
• Consistently exhibit love, joy, peace, and spiritual maturity before students and the rest of the school
• Be a student and lover of the Bible, God’s only written Word
• Have a thorough knowledge of and interest in the class assigned
• Teach utilizing the objectives, materials, priorities, and methods prescribed in the Curriculum Guide (CG)
• Encourage students to see how all subjects are interrelated, as parts of God’s integrated universe
• Use clear language and appropriate vocabulary
• Use a variety of teaching methods
• Stimulate and maintain the students’ interest in the material
• Recognize and make reasonable accommodations for individual needs
• Use a variety of techniques (in addition to testing) to assess student progress
• Use the CG as the basis for measuring the overall progress of the class and individual students
• Maintain a neat, organized, clean, and stimulating classroom environment for students, enlisting student’s help to take an active part in cleaning and maintaining their room’s appearance
• Establish simple and manageable class routines to accomplish basic tasks, (i.e. taking attendance, homework collection, daily cleaning, schedules, materials storage and distribution, etc.)
• Be familiar with and able to apply the spirit as well as the letter of school rules
• Ensure that students are aware of class and school rules and encourage them to exercise self-discipline
• Maintain an orderly (not necessarily silent) working atmosphere
• Address all the corrective discipline situations within the classroom
• Enter lesson plans as assigned, reflecting creativity and good use of time into FACTS
• Lead extracurricular activities
• Participate in a bi-monthly after-school reading group around classical Christian education
• Participate in school events on and off campus
• Complete the ACCS Teacher Certification as assigned

Professionalism:
• Consistently and joyfully demonstrate excellence in work, punctuality, speech, attitude, dress, and attention to administrative duties
• Regularly communicate with parents. Emphasize getting to know the families well and letting them know what is happening in class. Parents should feel welcome to visit and assist in the classroom
• Cooperate with administration in annual evaluations
• Cheerfully comply with all applicable policies in the Employee Handbook
• Cheerfully attend to assigned or volunteered collateral duties such as lunch and recess duty, attendance at school programs and events, and others as prescribed by the school administration

Disclaimers
Whitefield Academy is an equal opportunity employer and is required by law to perform background checks on selected qualified candidates. All employees of Whitefield Academy must agree to carry out their responsibilities in a manner that is consistent with Whitefield Academy’s Mission Statement, Statements and Affirmations on Faith and Practice, Employee Handbook, and conduct themselves in a manner consistent with Biblical standards.

The above job description is meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed; it is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required for the position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform other job-related duties requested by their supervisor in compliance with Federal and State Laws.

Requirements are representative of minimum levels of knowledge, skills and/or abilities. To perform this job successfully, the employee must possess the abilities or aptitudes to perform each duty proficiently. Continued employment remains on an “at-will” basis.

All job requirements are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. However, teaching requires sitting, standing for extended periods, reaching, stooping, and climbing stairs. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health and safety of themselves or other employees and students.