Job Title: Lower School Teacher

Department: Lower School

Reports to: Director of Lower School

Far Hills Country Day School, an independent Preschool through Grade 8 school located in Far Hills, New Jersey, seeks a qualified Lower School teacher for the 24-25 school year beginning in August 2024. Appropriate candidates will join a highly dedicated team of teachers at all grade levels. Our school curriculum is rich and varied, with an emphasis on Mind, Brain, and Education.

Hours: This is a full-time, exempt position. During the school year, the Lower School teacher will be expected to be on campus 7:55 a.m. – 4 p.m. daily. Additionally, presence and participation are expected during weekly faculty meetings, currently held on Wednesdays, 4–5:30 p.m.

Summary:

Our Lower School is Preschool through Grades 4. We are looking for a Lower School teacher with a depth of teaching experience. They are a collaborative member of the Lower School team and exudes warmth, energy, and enthusiasm. A positive role model, they exhibit perseverance and a love of learning. The successful teacher will be one who cultivates an inclusive, safe, caring, and supportive classroom environment that reaches every student based on their individual learning style and strengths. Using multiple teaching strategies, the Lower School teacher engages students to achieve grade-level learning objectives in math, language arts, social studies, and social-emotional areas. The teacher creates a dynamic classroom that promotes critical thinking and learning skills and respects diverse perspectives.

Other responsibilities include duty of care of all Far Hills students, participation in school admission events and other key community events, completion of weekly school duties, and participation in a curriculum vertical team as well as other committees.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Plan, conduct, assess, evaluate, and refine lessons based on school mission, school and discipline-specific goals, grade-level-specific objectives, essential understandings, and NAEYC and NAIS best practices.
• Differentiate instructional methods based on both class and student assessments, evaluation, school-wide initiatives, technological advances, research, and feedback.
• Cultivate close student and parent relationships characterized by open communication, frequent feedback, and responsiveness.
• Maintain trust and relationships with, and contribute meaningfully to, collaborative work teams and students’ families, with the larger goal of achieving positive student outcomes.
• Demonstrate proficiency with current technology as it relates to best practices in instruction, learning, communication, and assessment.
• Assume responsibility for own professional development and participate productively in community-wide professional learning days, teacher discussion groups, such as think tanks, and or implementation groups.
• Participate actively in assessment of prospective students, admission and marketing work.
• Supervise assigned assistant teacher(s) and/or college interns and meet regularly to provide observation documentation about instruction, assign tasks, solicit ideas, and to plan instruction and assessment.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualification Requirements

An ideal candidate must possess:

• at least three years of experience teaching in applicable grade levels;
• a proven track record of working with differentiated instruction;
• a Special Education certification highly suggested;
• certification and/or training in Orton Gillingham;
• excellent organizational, collaboration, and communication skills;
• familiarity with national learning standards; and
• bachelor’s degree required, master’s preferred.