Description

At The Mount Vernon School , students are empowered to discover, explore, learn, design, create, and effect change. With a commitment to Identity, Diversity, Equity, and Action (IDEA), we welcome the opportunity to engage in honest, vulnerable, and courageous conversations that challenge our biases and assumptions. Our goal is to design a better world, so we choose to equip students with the knowledge, skills, attributes, and relationships they need to be impact-ready.

The Team 

The Lower School Team works collaboratively to teach foundational literacies and build hands-on inquiry/project-based experiences for students. Each grade-level team is led by a Head of Grade and works with a Learning Coach to meet the needs of each individual student. Leveraging tools and resources such as visible thinking routines, off-campus expeditions, mindfulness/SEL, internal/external experts, and a team of connectors (Maker, Performing Arts, Physical Educator, Science, Spanish, Visual Arts) the Lower School team is able to activate agency and imagination for our learners who are ready to make an impact today!

The Program

Since 2014, Mount Vernon has been investing in the Maker, Design, Engineering Program, which has become a hallmark of the school and an integral partner to the design thinking and project-based learning pedagogies we employ in Preschool through Grade 12. With four dedicated maker labs and many auxiliary maker spaces, the school boasts state-of-the-art equipment and production space where students can craft and fabricate ideas that can become solutions today. Influenced by books such as Make Space and programs such as the Standford.d School, Mount Vernon has been pioneering maker education for more than a decade and recently published Leveling Up Maker Education in collaboration with Mount Vernon Ventures. 

The Role

Mount Vernon believes each student needs a foundation in Maker, Design, and Engineering approaches, and these skills are critical to student success in other academic courses as they design and prototype for projects outside of maker-specific courses. Strong candidates will have experience teaching maker, design, and engineering courses, be a practitioner of design thinking, inquiry-based learning, and competency based education, and be an innovator/thought-leader in the Maker Education movement. 

Responsibilities 

• Facilitating hands-on, project-based learning experiences with groups of students and supporting students at seasonal after-school events
• Designing, iterating, and delivering unit development and alignment across Kindergarten -Grade 5
• Maintaining comprehensive records of performance, progress, and goals using MV tools and portfolios
• Communicating with families
• Operating as a test kitchen for our newest, boldest ideas for doing school differently
• Maintaining the Lower School Maker Spaces, equipment, and inventory
• Partnering with Lower School teachers to help integrate MDE and fabricate/showcase student work
• Actively participating in professional growth opportunities, including weekly school/division/team meetings

Core Competencies

• Knowledge of maker, design, and engineering content, technological tools, and platforms
• Ability to cultivate respectful and affirming environments 
• Culturally proficient & equity literate
• Experience engaging students in learning to promote learner agency and ownership and using questioning/discussion techniques
• A track record of giving high-quality, responsive feedback 
• Understanding of competency-based assessment/mastery approach to learning
• Engage design thinking & external experts both locally and digitally through social media and other connections
• Knowledge of inquiry-based learning pedagogies (PBL, VTR, QFT, DT)
• Use technology in service of learning (experience with coding, 3D modeling, robotics, circuitry and programming, digital media, engineering, design, and fabrication)

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Education or a related field (Masters degree preferred)
• Classroom experience (3 years)
• Life experience in maker, design, and engineering preferred, either through employment or personal projects
• Teaching certification (preferred)

The faculty and staff of The Mount Vernon School believe the fair and equitable treatment of employees is critical to fulfilling its mission and purpose. It is the policy of The Mount Vernon School to conduct business and provide equal employment opportunity to all persons without regard to race, color, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.