Grade Level: 9-12
Location: Aspire Academy
Working at Aspire
Aspire is an innovative re-imagined high school experience serving students on their quest to earn a high school diploma. Aspire's in-person experience boasts small class sizes, live instruction that supports student growth, achievement, and acceleration. Aspire's rigorous hybrid learning experience allows students to access computer-based curriculum enabling them to acquire much needed credits. Aspire's career pathways and alignments are critical in post-secondary planning providing direct access to in person career labs that are aligned to top local industry sector forging a true pathway to career access and higher wages.
Educators in SEZP
SEZP is seeking educators who are excited and ready to make an impact in a collaborative, engaging, diverse, and high energy environment. We are seeking educators who believe teachers are activists - promising instructional access, rigor, advocacy, and a tenacious commitment to anti-racism for all students. SEZP teachers are expected to:

• Create a safe, purposeful environment that prioritizes learning for all students
• Collaborate with other teachers, instructional leaders, and partners to ensure instruction is meeting the needs of all students
• Assess students regularly, analyze data, and determine appropriate next steps for instruction
• Ensure that instruction meets the needs of all students, including students with special needs, English Language Learners, and students performing below grade level
• Build relationships and communicate regularly with students and their families to solicit input and share academic progress
• Engage in learning about issues of racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion in education to examine your own biases; reflect on how those biases affect you, your students, and their families; and plan and deliver instruction in a culturally responsive way
• Participate in and learn from regular professional development opportunities before and during the school year

Qualifications

• Experience with Counseling at the middle or high school level preferred
• Appropriate content/program area educator license (School Social Worker / Adjustment Counselor) and grade level licensure (5-12) from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education required
• Experience as an active anti-racist or advocate for equity preferred
• Bilingual in English and Spanish preferred
• Bachelor's degree required

If you meet some of the qualifications above, we encourage you to apply or to reach out for more information. We know that historically marginalized groups - including people of color, women, people from working class backgrounds, and people who identify as LGBTQ - are less likely to apply unless and until they meet every requirement for a job. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities. We are actively seeking educators of color.
Benefits
Competitive salary and benefits: First year educators earn a salary of $55,467; with five years of experience in the classroom exemplary teachers can earn up to $88,006 annually. Educators who take on additional responsibilities are also eligible for school-based stipends determined at the school level. Educators in SEZP qualify for benefits (personal/sick days, retirement, health insurance, etc.) offered to other teachers in the Springfield Public Schools. Signing Bonus or Relocation Support May Be Available for Qualified Applicants. More details regarding eligibility will be available during the hiring process
Positions will be filled on a rolling basis; applicants are encouraged to apply immediately. Please contact info@sezp.org with any questions.
About the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership
While Massachusetts is consistently ranked as one of the top states for education results in the country, we have one of the highest and most persistent opportunity gaps. The Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership (SEZP) - established in 2015 as a collaboration between Springfield Public Schools (SPS), the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and the Springfield Education Association (SEA) - seeks to improve the longitudinal life outcomes of the more than 5,000 students in our eleven middle and high schools.
As a "zone" of schools within the city of Springfield, SEZP's approach draws on a deep and embedded partnership with the school district and local teachers' union, while harnessing the flexibility and innovation found in autonomous school models. As a result, each school within SEZP is accorded significant school-based autonomies - in curriculum, talent, calendar, schedule, and budget - while being held accountable for realizing achievement gains for historically marginalized students. In all of our work, SEZP is in pursuit of equity and anti-racism - acknowledging the systemic oppression our students and families encounter daily and working to disrupt these provision gaps urgently and courageously.
Nondiscrimination Statement
The Springfield Public Schools does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, age, disability or military service or marital status. The Springfield Public Schools does not discriminate in admission to, access or treatment in its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation, disability or homelessness.
Title IX Notice of Nondiscrimination
Springfield Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of sex in admission, administration of its educational programs or activities or employment. Springfield Public Schools is required by Title IX and its implementing regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 106 not to discrimination on the basis of sex in admission, administration of its educational programs or activities or employment. The Senior Administrator of Human Resources, Kathleen O'Sullivan, Springfield Public Schools, 1550 Main St. Springfield MA, 011103, 413-787-7100, ext. 55428, has been designated as the employee responsible for coordinating Springfield Public Schools efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under Title IX. Inquiries concerning the application of Title IX and its Page 3 of 3 implementing regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 106 to Springfield Public Schools may be referred to Kathleen O'Sullivan or to U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 400 Maryland Ave., SW Washington, DC 20202-1100, telephone 800-421-3481.