Middle School English Language Arts (Critical Literacies)

Middle School English Language Arts (Critical Literacies)
Position Statement 

Reports To: Head of Middle School

FLSA Status: Exempt, Full-time Position

Department: Middle School Faculty/Critical Literacies

Learn More About The Alexander Dawson School

Shared Values & Competencies of Dawson Employees

Position Summary

The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain seeks a full-time English Language Arts (Critical Literacies) teacher for the 2026–2027 school year. At Dawson, teaching extends beyond academic standards; it intentionally cultivates strong work habits, a resilient learner mindset, and a deep sense of community responsibility. These elements are essential to our modern learning program, where engagement is strengthened through relevance, reflection, and student ownership.

Working closely with other members of their grade-level team and the Critical Literacies department, this educator is responsible for classroom instruction, communication with students and parents, facilitating daily advisory lessons, and remaining current on best practices in adolescent literacy instruction. Providing explicit reading comprehension and writing instruction through a workshop approach is the primary focus of the role. Interdisciplinary instruction, designed and taught in collaboration with the seventh-grade humanities teacher while exposing students to different genres of literature and writing, is strongly encouraged. 

Comfort with and the ability to connect with Middle School students is required. In addition to teaching several sections of Critical Literacies - which includes some small group instruction, the role is expected to serve as a middle school advisor for 10-12 students. The advisor serves as the main point person for families and guides students’ academic, social, and emotional development and success. The role may be asked to teach at least one elective class based upon the educator’s background, expertise, and availability in the teaching schedule. And finally, the middle school faculty share in the unique opportunity to support our overnight field study programs. 

This is a full-time, 10-month position that will begin August 1, 2026; however, the successful candidate is also required to attend a new faculty onboarding program from July 21-23, 2026.

Essential Functions
The essential duties and responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to:

Professional Work Habits & Mission Alignment 

• Professional Standards & Conduct: Consistently upholds professional standards of personal presentation, punctuality, attendance, and engagement at meetings, duty coverage, safety protocols, decision-making, and maintains required credentials.

• Commitment to Dawson Culture: Demonstrates a comprehensive understanding and support of Dawson's mission, vision, core values, and diversity statement; actively participates in school-wide events.

• Confidentiality & Ethical Practice: Honors confidentiality of school, student, and family information and demonstrates ethical decision-making in all professional contexts. Talks to people and not about people.

• Working Agreements: Upholds Dawson working agreements, such as assuming positive intentions in all interactions, holding self and others accountable for the impact of words and actions, mindfully sharing the air, and proactively looking for solutions before problems escalate.

Instructional Knowledge

• Classroom Climate & Management: Establishes a safe, well-organized environment with effective routines that maximize learning time, exhibits student ownership and agency, and reflects the identity of the students.

• Instructional Design & Delivery: Designs learning experiences that are meaningful, engaging, and aligned with clear learning objectives. Lessons leverage high-impact strategies that promote deeper learning, critical thinking, and meaningful technology integration; pacing of lessons is appropriate to maximize instructional time.

• Assessment, Feedback & Differentiation: Provides timely, specific feedback that supports growth and utilizes multiple assessments and adapts instruction to meet diverse learning needs.

• Student Success Skills Integration: Intentionally plans and implements instruction focused on Dawson's Student Success Skills, and systematically collects evidence of student progress toward mastery of these skills.
  
  

Professional Growth & Self-Awareness

• Self-Reflection & Growth Mindset: Demonstrates deep self-awareness, consistently seeks feedback, identifies areas for improvement, and implements meaningful changes to practice.

• Professional Learning & Adaptation: Creates personal development plans, actively seeks learning opportunities, and demonstrates flexibility in adapting to Dawson's culture and practices.

• Effective Communication & Listening: Demonstrates excellent listening skills, remains alert to diverse perspectives, and communicates effectively with various stakeholders throughout change processes.

Care for Others & Community Investment 

• Family Communication & Partnership: Establishes reliable, clear communication systems with families, regularly shares student progress, and responds appropriately to concerns with supervisor consultation.

• Team Collaboration & Engagement: Actively participates in team meetings and collaborative efforts, contributes positively to grade-level or department teams, and seeks appropriate guidance from colleagues.

• Learns From Others: Consistently consults with mentors, supervisors, and colleagues for guidance on student interventions, parent communication, and classroom challenges.

• Identity Awareness: Demonstrates a commitment to ongoing cultural competency and exhibits a deep understanding of how identity and lived experiences influence relationships and interactions.

Qualifications, Education & Experience

• Minimum of three years teaching experience

• Experience providing research-based reading and writing instruction to adolescents

• Bachelor’s degree in education (ideally, related to literacy, reading, or humanities with a focus on middle-level education); master’s degree preferred

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Experience and enjoyment working with students in the intermediate or middle school age group

• A strong awareness of current brain research related to adolescents, social-emotional development, and the use of technology

 Work Environment

• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

 Physical Demands

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand and walk; use hands to handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.