High School Expeditions Teacher [Cooking] (Sunnyvale)
Who We Are:
What if all students graduated high school with the knowledge, skills and habits they need to lead a fulfilled life? This is the question that guides our mission at Summit Public Schools.
Summit is a leading network of public schools that prepares a diverse student population for success in a four-year college and to be thoughtful, contributing members of society. We operate 14 schools serving over 4,500 students in the Bay Area and Washington state. 100% of Summit graduates are college-ready and Summit graduates complete college at double the national average.
We need exceptional, diverse, and mission-aligned teachers to join our team to help prepare our students for a fulfilled life. Join us!
Summit’s Expeditions Program:
The Summit approach to elective courses - in the form of Expeditions - is unique. Expeditions occur at each school site four times throughout the year in two-week intervals. Students take a morning and afternoon course every day for two and a half hours each for a daily, immersive experience in the area of study that they would like to explore or already have passion for. They continue this exploration for each two-week Expeditions interval in a school-year.
The Expeditions faculty is the team of teachers who rotate through four school sites for the year, leading two sets of students at each school through this immersive experience for two weeks, and returning to that group four times each year. You can see an overview here, and view past year’s calendar here.
The areas of study, or clusters, which students can explore include but not limited to:
- Cooking
- STEM-Related courses
- College Readiness
- Visual and Performing Arts
- Leadership and Service
- Outdoor Wilderness
- Entrepreneurship
- Health and Wellness
Over the course of their time at Summit, students have the opportunity to explore passions across these clusters or to craft a pathway of deep study that may lead to an internship or independent study.
Using the Framework for 21st Century Learning, the skills, knowledge, and expertise that students should master to succeed in work and life in the 21st century vary by areas of study or cluster.
The role of the Expeditions teacher is to empower students to discover and deepen their passions. We believe that connecting to one’s passion is essential for success in college and career. Students can make better choices about “best fit” colleges based on an understanding of the course of study for possible careers. This helps them immediately apply their decision-making and self-direction skills to continuously set and achieve goals that are connected to their desired career trajectory.
With your own passion and expertise, you will execute this vision by doing the following:
- Designing and teaching a high-quality, challenging, project-based curriculum which guides students towards explorations of potential passions.
- Facilitating learning experiences that lead students through a deep exploration of fields of study connected to potential majors, hobbies, and careers.
- Creating and guiding students through real-life experiences in the field, through guest speakers, field trips, and other authentic connections to the real world.
What you need:
- Commitment to uphold Summit’s values, belief that all children deserve a rigorous and equitable education that prepares them for college and for life
- Teaching Credential in California or another US State, or currently enrolled in program
- Bachelor’s Degree (a Master’s Degree in Education is preferred but not required)
- Clear health and background check
- Teaching experience in your subject preferred but not required
- Experience in and ability to design and execute courses in the chosen “cluster”
Who you are:
- You maintain high expectations for all students and believe all students can find success in school, college, and life.
- You’re deeply dedicated to social justice and feel motivated by the challenge and impact of teaching in a heterogeneous community and working to close the achievement gap
- You believe in every student, and can maintain and reinforce Summit's graduated discipline process, recognizing that student growth in all areas—academic, behavioral and community—are an investment and part of the work
- You facilitate learning experiences, using a variety of method: project-based learning, direct instruction, small group and individual tasks, formative and summative assessment, direct teacher feedback, public presentation, and more
- You are empathetic and culturally competent. You design and implement social and emotional learning experiences in all courses, and you’re open to having hard conversations
- You thrive in innovative environments and are comfortable with the ambiguity that can come with a dynamic and progressive workplace
- You are a leader, and actively participate as a member of weekly faculty meetings
- You’re committed to continuous improvement, see feedback as a positive, and have a growth mindset
- You thrive while collaborating and are excited to work with colleagues to maintain the academic integrity of planned lessons and learning experiences for students. You find positivity in share successes
- You use data to track and provide updates on student achievement to faculty, directors, and families
- You're excited to learn Summit’s technology platforms that organize instructional materials and data
What You Get
Summit offers competitive salaries and benefit options for full-time employees, including covering 75% of the health, dental and vision plan costs. We fully cover life and disability insurance. We have a “take what you need” PTO policy, 11 paid holidays and 3 weeks of organizational-wide closure during the year.
Summit is an equal opportunity employer. We believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are directly intertwined with education. We are ALL better when we are able to bring our whole selves to work and honor each other’s voices across identities, cultural backgrounds, and life experiences. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals who are members of historically marginalized communities. Spanish language proficiency is a plus.