Career Center

Elementary Division Director

2022-23

Founded in 1968 in the Lower East Side by a pioneering group of parents and educators, Corlears School is a small New York City independent school located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Over fifty years since its founding, Corlears School has become firmly established among independent schools in New York City. The original founding families believed in the progressive approach to education and creating a rich educational foundation for young children where they could explore, question and take their learning beyond the classroom. Along with this original pedagogical approach, the school has retained a deep commitment to maintaining a community that welcomes and includes children and families from diverse racial, cultural, socioeconomic, gender, sexual identity and religious backgrounds. The Corlears community values an inquiry-based, constructivist approach to instruction, responsiveness to student exploration, and the role of teacher as a guide to student learning. We are committed to creating an environment and shaping a curriculum that is equitable and inclusive for all. We aim to create a collaborative teaching environment by supporting the partnership of teaching teams. Our small and dynamic community makes working at Corlears an opportunity for professional growth. To support our mission and dedication to embrace diversity of social identities among faculty and families, we are eager to meet and consider applicants from traditionally underrepresented groups. 

Corlears School seeks an Elementary Division Director to play an essential role to ensure an effective, inclusive and developmentally appropriate approach to teaching and learning in the Elementary Division, supporting the professional growth of faculty through formal evaluations, coaching cycles and ongoing feedback. 

Term: 10.5 months 

Key Responsibilities: 

Faculty Supervision

• Supervise faculty, subject area teachers, Learning Specialist and Math Coach in the Elementary Division
• Implement a collaborative, meaningful, formal evaluation process for faculty, subject area teachers, Learning Specialist and Math Coach in the Elementary Division
• Establish meaningful relationships with faculty and teaching teams, in the spirit of creating a positive culture of feedback and professional growth 
• Engage teachers in a reflective dialogue, helping to define personalized instructional goals
• Engage faculty in professional learning to develop the educational program in alignment with the school’s philosophy, mission and core values 
• Coordinate and approve professional development opportunities aligning with the professional goals and/or interests of faculty
• Lead planning meetings with teaching teams to develop units, assessment practices, and discuss student growth and development
• Facilitate ongoing communication between subject and classroom teachers to support students and curriculum
• Consult and coach faculty around offering varying levels of embedded classroom-based support and intervention
• Provide ongoing guidance and expectations for family engagement centered on bridging home and school life (ie: Seesaw posts, homework assignments, weekly communications, family visits, curriculum events, conferences, reports, culminations, field trips, etc.)

Curriculum & Instruction

• Familiarity with Corlears Curriculum Frameworks
• Partner with coaches/specialists to support differentiation of instruction and curriculum for neuro-diverse learners
• Develop a shared understanding of skills and benchmarks in each content area
• Ensure integration, alignment, and skill progressions across subject area curricula 
• Support the implementation of culturally responsive SEL practices, aligned with CASEL standards
• Support the implementation of culturally responsive Social Studies curriculum through a Social Justice lens, aligned with Learning for Justice standards
• Prioritizing school-wide strategic goals, design a year-long professional development plan to support alignment in the approach to teaching and learning, vertical/horizontal curriculum planning, and the development of co-curricular transdisciplinary studies
• Support the administration and analysis of standardized testing to support program growth

Families

• Convey the mission, vision, and values of the program to prospective families 
• Offer regular contact with families via family and caregiver meetups and educational workshops
• Be a resource to families as they develop an understanding their child’s development and unique learning profile 
• Create opportunities to host discussions that align to the school’s instructional vision (ie: curriculum nights, roundtable discussions on topics of interest, etc.)
• Respond to inquiries about topics related to the curriculum and instructional approach in the Elementary Division
• Collaborate with SST Executive Team to identify responses to interventions, monitor communications with families and participate in team meetings as needed

Administrative 

• In the event of teacher absences, analyze schedules to assess classroom coverage needs 
• Hire and maintain a retainer substitute pool for Elementary Division
• Collaborate with the Hiring Committee to recruit, onboard, and retain faculty in the Elementary Division 
• Oversee budgets for classroom non-consumables, curriculum and classroom materials and trips
• Administer annual schedule review process; implementing changes, reviewing work loads and assigning duties 
• Collaborate with Student Support Team to to design yearlong assessment calendar, to monitor support for individual students on the SST caseload, and to monitor assessment data collection systems that inform curriculum and instructional needs
• Collaborate with Admissions, Outplacement and Institutional Advancement as needed 

The successful Elementary Division Director will: 

• Value the school's mission to enroll students who are economically, racially and ethnically diverse, as well as those coming from diverse family structures
• Demonstrate a personal and professional commitment to equity, inclusion, and social justice
• Have the ability to connect to and collaborate with a diverse community of faculty, families and children
• Demonstrate emotional intelligence to identify and manage emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and diffuse conflict
• Demonstrate a keen self-awareness and strong interpersonal communication skills that support positive relationships with various constituents in the school community
• Have the motivation, skill and a positive outlook to provide feedback, mentorship and collaborate with colleagues

• Have a thorough grounding in progressive / constructivist practices and principles, working with neuro-diverse learners in an elementary school setting
• Demonstrate depth of knowledge of developmental domains (language, adaptive, psychological, physical, cognitive)
• Be skilled in curriculum development, as evidenced by previous classroom experience in a school setting
• Maintain institutional priorities, while advocating for individual needs within the educational program
• Be committed to reflection and professional growth with the intention to embrace change and learn from the past

Employment Requirements: 

• 5+ years experience in an independent school setting 
• Master’s Degree specializing in Childhood Education
• Training, certification and/or evidence of professional development in Special Education courses and in DEI work
• Training, certification and/or evidence of professional development in anti-bias / anti-racist courses
• Upon hire: 
• Fingerprinting and background checks 
• Medical Physical Examination 
• Record of completed COVID-19 vaccine or confirmed medical/religious exemption 
• Trainings (completed by start date): 
• CPR/AED Training
• Child Abuse and Maltreatment Training
• Sexual Harassment Training 
• DEI / Anti-Bias Training

Hiring Process: 

• Applicant submits a resume and a letter of Interest to committee co-chairs.
• Select applicants are invited to an initial interview with committee co-chairs.
• The hiring committee reviews candidates and selects semi-finalists to participate in a committee interview and submit a digital portfolio, inclusive of: 
• educational philosophy statement 
• work samples and artifacts reflective of experience with the primary responsibilities of the role (ie: examples of feedback/coaching style, family presentations, photos/videos of classroom/student work, curriculum documentation, family/colleague communications, formal evaluation rubrics, etc.)
• 3 reference letters (most recent supervisor, a colleague you have collaborated with, and a colleague you have led/coached)
• The hiring committee selects finalists to participate in a school-visit, inclusive of:
• school tour
• elementary classroom visits
• leading a meeting with elementary teachers
• leading a meeting with subject area teachers
• leading meeting with families