AcademyACL welcomes a caring, collaborative special education teacher to join our amazing team this year. Our special education needs are typically in the mild range, kindergarten through eighth grade, and our Special Education Teacher leads our team in meeting the needs of our students, many of whom also qualify for gifted education support. Current Colorado special education licensure is required for this position. 

Educational Requirements: Bachelor’s Degree or Higher; Colorado Licensure
required, Gifted Education Endorsement preferred.

All teachers must meet the requirement of a "highly qualified teacher" as mandated by the No Child Left Behind Law. Requirements are as follows:

• Must have obtained a Bachelor's degree or higher;
• Must have demonstrated competency in the core academic subject area(s) that he/she teaches by passing a content area test or enough hours to be equivalent to a major (24 semester hours). The core academic areas are English; Reading or Language Arts; Mathematics; Science; Foreign Languages; Social Studies (Civics, Government, Economics, History, Geography); the Arts (visual arts, Drama, Music).
• The 3rd requirement, as mandated for public school employees, is state certification/licensure in special education. This requirement is not waived for Special Education Teachers at a charter school.

AcademyACL will have preference for special education teachers who also hold gifted education endorsements. Candidate should have concentrations, research, and/or experience and be prepared to continue to develop skill and expertise, in:

• Special Education (and Remedial Instruction techniques)
• Curriculum & Instruction
• Gifted Education/Twice-Exceptional Education
• Colorado’s Response to Intervention (RtI) & MTSS Process

Reports To: Academy Director

Required Skills:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Excellent people-skills that include advocacy, teamwork, co-teaching, and conflict-resolution skills
• Initiative and Attention-to-detail that actively seeks and meets legal requirements for accommodations, modifications, scheduling, identification, and special education needs
• Consistent implementation of high standards for educational ethics and best practices
• High capacity in all academic content areas for teaching kindergarten through eighth-grade students
• Awareness and skill with both academic and social-emotional needs of twice-exceptional students
• Ability to use proven methods to help students increase achievement, including the tiered response and support systems as mandated by Colorado and directed by Colorado Springs District 11
• Effective teamwork with special education and the work of school psychologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech/language pathologists, school nurses, and other such specialists
• Personal Growth Mindset that welcomes and applies coaching feedback and celebrates goals

Direct Reports: All classroom teachers report up through a structure of Lead Teachers/Team Leaders for Divisions, Specialized Student Services, and Finance and Operations. The Academy Director determines the appropriate structure, such as Teaching Teams for Divisions I, II, and III; Divisions IV and V; Encore Team; Student Support Team, and Office Team.

Job Summary: The Special Education Teacher is expected to provide a highly challenging, highly supportive gifted education program that meets the vision and the mission of AcademyACL under the guidance of the Academy Director. The Special Education Teacher is entrusted with the educational support of students with federally mandated Individual Education Plans for educational, physical, and other handicaps and additional students being monitored in a tiered response process. Special education teachers are also expected to build relationships with other students in the teaching team and within the school as appropriate and to support other teachers in the mission of the Academy. This teacher is expected to contribute to a highly supportive and highly challenging school climate that supports academic achievement and the needs of the whole child. Within these broad areas and working with the educational and administrative structure of the Academy, the Special Education Teacher position will include the following responsibilities:

Area of Excellence: Academic Performance & Accreditation Status measures the purpose of AcademyACL as an academic home for advanced and creative learning. This includes expectations from the State of Colorado for Standards & Instructional Planning, Best First Instruction, Assessment, and Tiered Support for students. At AcademyACL, this process emphasizes both excellence in academics and the social-emotional growth of students. Special Education teachers are responsible for:

Academic Excellence:

• Assessments: Responsible for administering and interpreting results of ability and achievement assessments, using accurate testing procedures, and developing continual improvement of student academic performance in collaboration with other teachers
• Behavior Modification: Responsible for teaching socially acceptable behavior, employing techniques such as behavior modification and positive reinforcement
• Best Practices: Responsible for instructing students using research-based instructional methodologies and techniques (including techniques for twice-exceptional students and for improving sensory-motor and perceptual-motor development, memory, language, and cognition)
• Celebrations: Responsible for showcasing the academic performance and progress of his/her students
• Co-Teaching & Planning: Responsible for team- and co-teaching with other teachers for integrated lessons/units with themes in Encore and Core subjects and other faculty as appropriate to promote the educational, physical, and social/emotional development of students
• Curriculum: Responsible for implementing Curriculum as outlined by AcademyACL Curriculum Guide and planning curriculum and other instructional materials to meet students’ needs, considering such factors as physical, emotional, and educational abilities
• Data: Responsible for analyzing student achievement data, and using data to drive and adjust instruction
• Differentiation: Responsible for ensuring that effective, ongoing differentiation is in place for both remedial and advanced learning needs, within every teaching opportunity
• Living Skills: Responsible to instruct students in daily living skills required for independent maintenance and economic self-sufficiency, such as hygiene, safety, and food preparation as necessary
• Portfolio (Students): Responsible for providing information as needed for a cumulative portfolio for each student with select samples of student work that demonstrates strengths and growth over time
• Portfolio/Planner (Teacher): Responsible for maintaining a teacher portfolio with evidence of effective, standards-based lessons, best-practice instructional strategies, and documentation of student growth on standardized and alternative measures
• Progress: Responsible to observe, evaluate, and prepare reports on progress of assigned students
• Real World Connections: Responsible to select and teach reading material and math problems related to everyday life of the individual student, as appropriate
• Staffings: Responsible to facilitate staffings concerning Individual Education Plans, to confer with parents, administrators, testing specialists, social workers and others to develop IEPs.
• Standardized Testing: Responsible for using accurate, ethical standardized testing procedures
• Student Plans: Responsible for maintaining students’ special education Individual Education Plans, and Personal Learning Plan Goals each reporting period; and connecting to Individual READ Act Plans, Advanced Learning Plans, Section 504 Plans, and classroom needs as appropriate
• Tiered Support: Responsible for implementing, facilitating, monitoring, and supporting a tiered intervention process to maximize student support and achievement within school design

Social-Emotional Growth

• Curriculum: Responsible for ensuring that AcademyACL Lifeskills© lessons are taught daily, reinforced throughout the day, and communicated to parents in a positive, collaborative manner
• Continuum of Expectations: Responsible for ensuring that AcademyACL students are supported on a continuum that is adjusted for their individual growth needs
• Capturing Kids Hearts: Responsible for ensuring that CKH© strategies are consistently in place for a consistently positive approach to working with students, parents, and colleagues

Area of Excellence: School Operations includes expectations from the state of Colorado for Leadership, Culture and Climate, Educator Effectiveness, and Continuous Improvement. AcademyACL bases the success of its school operations as an outcome of its Values (the importance of: awareness of student-need, family partnerships, staff teamwork and expectations, professional development, curricular programming, instructional and differentiation techniques, integration of technology, classroom management and safety, and community connections).

Leadership

Each Classroom and Special Education Teacher is responsible for using Leadership Skills (encouraging the heart, modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, and encouraging others to act, Kouzes & Posner®) within his/her role as Teacher:

• Encourage and support others as they contribute to the vision & mission of the school
• Model positive collaboration and effective teaching strategies, and actively Enable teammates, students, families and others to act in positive and productive ways
• Welcome and cultivate various family and community volunteer partnerships
• Communicate positively and effectively in both written and oral forms with the Academy Director, Teaching Team, Parents, Administrative Staff and the Community
• PTO/PAACL: Responsible for supporting positive relationships with PAACL
• Channels: Responsible for maintaining positive and effective parent communication channels (newsletter, message boards, setting ‘office hours’ and meeting times, et cetera)
• Data and Support: Responsible for ensuring that families receive timely communication on specific areas in which students are struggling and excelling on Colorado content standards, and providing specific ways in which families can support their students towards content mastery
• Conflict Resolution: Responsible for ensuring all families are aware of channels to resolve conflicts and implementing proactive strategies to prevent, reduce and resolve conflicts in productive ways
• Model effective teaching strategies and strengthen one’s own practice through the use of the designated teacher evaluation tool and rubric (such as iObservation)
• Demonstrate a passion for gifted education as well as the needs of all students
• Contribute to a shared vision for academic and operational excellence
• Challenge systems, processes, ideas and methodologies that are not working for the needs of children in positive, supportive and productive ways

Within Leadership in particular, the Special Education Teacher will:

• Coordinate additional support personnel and ensure that Individual Education Plan deadlines and requirements are met within homeroom and other classrooms
• Ensure that accommodations, modifications, and other documentation is correctly recorded for standardized testing and other requirements in a timely and efficient manner

At-Will Employment

All employment, in every position, at AcademyACL is under “At-Will Employment” status. Colorado follows the legal doctrine of "employment-at-will" which provides that in the absence of a contract to the contrary, neither an employer nor an employee is required to give notice or advance notice of termination or resignation. Additionally, neither an employer nor an employee is required to give a reason for the separation from employment. No AcademyACL employee shall be authorized by the AcademyACL Board of Directors to provide or convey any employment agreement that does not follow expectations for at-will employment.

FLSA Status
Exempt

Organization Information: AcademyACL is a K-8 Charter School in Colorado Springs School District 11 specializing in gifted & talented education. Please visit our website at www.academyacl.org for more information.

AcademyACL is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.