BIOLOGY TEACHER (PART-TIME)

Job Description

Job Description

Part-Time Founding Teaching Position · Reports to the Principal · Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s preferred in Biology, Biological Sciences, or Science Education · Illinois Professional Educator License in high school science preferred and National Board Certification a major plus · 3+ years of secondary (grades 6–12) teaching experience preferred; high school (grades 9–12) teaching experience highly preferred · College-preparatory, independent, Jewish day or faith-based school experience is a plus. Being Jewish is not a requirement for this role. Fewer years but exceptional craft? We hire for mastery, not seat time.

Are you a biology teacher who makes living systems fascinating and rigorous at the same time? Do your students work like practicing scientists, at lab benches and with real data? Are you excited to teach the founding science course of a new college-preparatory school? If so, Davis School Chicago wants to hear from you.

The Dream Team

Davis School Chicago is a proudly Jewish, college-preparatory high school opening in fall 2027 in downtown Chicago, in a state-of-the-art building at the heart of a great city for learning. Every adult at Davis Chicago is an educator and a culture-builder. We hold two expectations at the same time: deep human warmth and uncompromising intellectual excellence. High health and high results, never one at the cost of the other. This is a summary of the characteristics that describe our dream team. Please read the full Profile of the Ideal Davis Chicago Educator and more information about our opportunities before you apply.

To thrive here you are:

• Warm and intellectually formidable. Genuinely kind and seriously bright. We hire for intellectual horsepower; only sharp minds grow students to their full potential.

• You bring the room to life. Passion people feel, loud or quiet, with the range to teach, support, and lead.

• A builder who owns it. Startup grit, a real growth mindset, open about mistakes, gives the gift of feedback, and the drive to create what doesn’t exist yet.

• Teach how to think, not what to think. Rigor, evidence, and a love of hard questions, including the controversial ones. Students reach their own conclusions.

• Rooted in tradition, built for what’s next. Ancient wisdom and modern tools, AI included, aimed at today's problems.

• Unapologetically Jewish. Israel has a right to exist; that is not up for debate. Everything else is fair game, including spirited debate about Israel’s actions. You’re excited to help build a proudly Jewish, pro-Israel school.

What Davis Chicago Needs

Davis Chicago is hiring a part-time Biology Teacher for the founding year. Biology and Biology Honors anchor the ninth-grade science experience and open the school’s clean science ladder: Biology, then Chemistry, then Physics, with Honors and Advanced Placement variants at each step. If you are interested in a full-time role and have the ability to teach mathematics in addition to science, Davis School Chicago is also hiring a founding STEM Department Chair. This role is a teacher-leader who builds our mathematics, science, and engineering program and teaches in it every day.

Who Thrives in This Role

• Warm, Relational, and High-Performing – Kind, emotionally intelligent, intellectually rigorous, and committed to excellence.

• A Lab-First Scientist – Students work with equipment and questions as close as possible to those used by practicing scientists.

• A Wonder-Builder – Makes living systems fascinating and rigorous at once.

• An Entrepreneurial Builder – Thrives in ambiguity, solves problems, and creates programs, systems, and traditions from the ground up.

• A Curious and Courageous Thinker – Embraces learning, evidence, critical thinking, and meaningful debate.

• Rooted and Forward-Looking – Honors tradition while embracing innovation, technology, and AI.

• Committed to Jewish Life and Community – Values Jewish identity, the diversity of Jewish thought, and meaningful engagement in Jewish life.

• A Collaborative Culture-Builder – Balances accountability, care, and results while elevating everyone around them.

The Role

The Biology Teacher is responsible for delivering engaging, rigorous, and student-centered instruction in Biology and Biology Honors, the founding courses of the Davis Chicago science ladder. This educator will develop students’ laboratory habits, scientific reasoning, and love of the discipline, so that students work like practicing scientists from the first week.

The successful candidate will design inquiry-based, laboratory-rich learning experiences built on real data and real questions. As a founding faculty member, the Biology Teacher will help shape curriculum, establish traditions, contribute to school culture, and collaborate closely with colleagues across disciplines to create a vibrant and integrated educational experience.

1. Instruction and Curriculum

• Teach sections of Biology and Biology Honors as assigned.

• Design and implement engaging, standards-based, laboratory-rich lessons that build scientific reasoning and quantitative literacy through real data collection and analysis.

• Teach in the spirit of the accomplished-practice standards for science teaching (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards): students investigate, explore, and work with equipment and resources as similar as possible to those used by practicing scientists.

• Maintain laboratory safety standards and protocols in every session.

• Promote inquiry-based learning, laboratory research, field and data-driven investigation, and project-based experiences, including immersive and experiential approaches where they deepen mastery.

• Build toward the Advanced Placement frameworks that anchor the science sequence — AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics — and teach so that students meet or exceed them. At Davis Chicago, top AP scores are the byproduct of rich, rigorous instruction, never of test-prep culture.

• Differentiate instruction to support diverse learners and learning styles.

• Utilize educational technology and current life-science research to enhance student engagement and achievement.

• Assess student progress through a variety of formative and summative measures and provide timely, meaningful feedback.

• Develop authentic assessments that measure student growth and mastery.

• Collaborate in the development of a vertically aligned science curriculum that carries students up the ladder to AP Biology and advanced research.

2. Student Development

• Foster a classroom environment characterized by curiosity, respect, inclusion, and intellectual challenge.

• Build strong relationships with students and serve as a trusted mentor and advisor.

• Support students’ academic, social, and emotional growth.

• Encourage student leadership, confidence, and active participation in school life.

3. Community and Culture Building

• Contribute actively to the vibrant culture and mission of Davis School Chicago.

• Partner with colleagues to support school-wide programming, celebrations, and community initiatives.

• Help create opportunities for students to engage with the life sciences beyond the classroom, from research exposure to science competitions.

• Serve as an ambassador for science education within the school and broader community.

• Showcase student achievement through competitions, presentations, exhibitions, and public events.

• Participate in faculty meetings, professional development, and community events as scoped for a part-time role.

• Help moderate student clubs and activities where scope allows.

4. Family Engagement and Collaboration

• Communicate regularly and effectively with families regarding student progress and learning goals.

• Collaborate with colleagues across academic departments to develop interdisciplinary learning experiences.

• Partner with faculty and school leadership to advance school goals, curriculum development, and student success initiatives.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s preferred in Biology, Biological Sciences, or Science Education.

• Licensure: Illinois Professional Educator License in high school science preferred; National Board Certification a major plus.

• Experience: 3+ years of secondary (grades 6–12) science teaching preferred, ideally including laboratory-based biology; high school (grades 9–12) teaching experience highly preferred.

• Craft: Evidence of students doing science, not just reading about it.

Core Competencies

1. Instruction: inquiry-based, laboratory-rich biology.

2. Assessment: growth students can see, feedback students can use.

3. Safety: a lab that is rigorous and safe in equal measure.

4. Community: science visible in the life of the school.

Compensation and Benefits

The anticipated compensation for this position is $13,000–$18,000 per section, per year, aligned to the same step-and-lane logic as the school’s established Faculty Salary Schedule. Placement within the range is determined by a combination of relevant experience and educational attainment, including Bachelor's, Master's, Master's + additional graduate credits, Education Specialist (Ed.S.), and Doctoral (Ed.D./Ph.D.) degrees, with the upper band reserved for advanced degrees, exceptional depth, and hard-to-staff assignments. The number of sections is agreed annually with the master schedule. Paid leave and paid sick leave accrue as required by law; this position is not eligible for the school’s benefits package.

How We Hire

Our process is thorough and we believe that hiring is a dual decision-making process; you are vetting us as much as we are vetting you. Our process includes focused conversations with the people you would work with, a battery of assessments we use for your development as much as for selection, and interview rounds both in-person and virtually. We use artificial intelligence tools in our recruitment and hiring process to help review and organize applications; every hiring decision is made by a person. Davis School Chicago is an equal employment opportunity employer.

Is this you?

This isn’t for everyone. If it’s you, it may be the best work of your life. Read the full Profile of the Ideal Davis Chicago Educator , then apply.