Special Education Teacher (Transition Program for 18-22)

About the Job

Assabet Valley Collaborative is looking for a Special Education teacher to join our team in our 18-22 Transition Program (Evolution)!

• Are you ready to build meaningful connections with students who will inspire you daily?
• Are you looking for a job with joy, growth, and connection?
• Do you value working with young people, their families & a team of teachers, paraeducators, nurses, therapists & a clinician?
• Are you interested in providing meaningful experiences that will help prepare young adults for success as they transition to adulthood?

NOTE: Before you read on, please read the Commitments to Educational Equity that AVC strives to adopt across our organization. We seek to add employees to our team who can help us make these commitments a reality and influence how we lead, learn, innovate, design, collaborate, and serve our students, families, partners, and communities. AVC values and employees a shared responsibility model to engage stakeholders across the organization in learning, leading, designing, and decision-making. Still interested? See below:

Job-specific Details:

Who We Are:

Assabet Valley Collaborative (AVC) is an educational service agency in Metrowest/Central Massachusetts. Our services include K-12 and post-graduate school programs, wraparound services, transportation services, professional development, cooperative purchasing and consulting. AVC hosts multiple services internally, including 3 sections of the Evolution program. The open position is within Evolution.

AVC's Evolution is a transition program for young adults aged 18-22 who have a diverse range of cognitive abilities, physical and social-emotional needs. The Evolution-Horizons teacher, in collaboration with three paraeducators, a counselor, a nurse, and rotating related services providers (i.e., OT, SLP, PT, Music, Vision, etc.), serves a classroom of approximately 10-15 students.

Qualifications:

We're looking for a Teacher who serves as a leader and as a learner; a team member who is flexible, resourceful, and thrives in a fast-paced, non-traditional, collaborative environment and who understands educational and human service institutions. This person demonstrates a learning mindset and ability to receive feedback, self-reflect, and adapt, as well as an ability to effectively facilitate the learning of others by pushing their thinking, building their skills, and sparking their self-reflection and curiosity.

Job-specific Details:

AVC is seeking to hire a teacher who:

• Believes students are successful when they are given positive reinforcement and behavioral supports.
• Prioritizes an instructional focus with a blend of the following:
  • Functional social and life skills, Vocational and higher education training and support, Community based learning opportunities.
  • Cultivates and facilitates communication between school and vocational sites.
• Empowers and fosters the skills for students to become problem solvers and independent decision makers.
• Commits to planning rigorous, meaningful instruction.
• Gains enjoyment from using students' skill set to support diverse learners reach their full potential.
• Is skilled at co-designing and adapting a comprehensive curriculum to best meet the daily and personalized learning needs of students through individual, small and whole group activities.
• Balances high academic and behavioral expectations with necessary accommodations and modifications.
• Co-designs and collaborates with families, sending districts, adult service agencies, employers, and in-home service providers.
• Partners with students and all those invested in their success to develop, present, and implement team drafted IEPs.
• Provides ongoing supervision and coaching of paraeducators.
• Works with team members to establish and implement student centered and sustainable data systems that will inform instruction and generate progress reports.
• Conducts necessary assessments and compiles the assessment results of the related service providers for the 3-year re-evaluations.
• Participates in required trainings/professional development.
• Encourages and fosters passion and enthusiasm for the work of the classroom.
• Adhere to established federal, state, and local laws and regulations (FERPA, HIPPA, and IDEA).
• Experience working in schools, nonprofits, human service organizations.
• Designs, delivers, and adapts curriculum with a team to meet students' needs.
• Develops a comprehensive and accessible schedule that maximizes instructional time through individual, small group, and whole group activities.

The ideal candidate would possess or demonstrate the following:

• Ability to thrive within a team while also being able to work independently.
• Ability to engage with conflict and core tensions.
• Bilingual or multilingual is a plus.
• Encourages and fosters passion and enthusiasm for the work of the classroom community.
• Adhere to established federal, state, and local laws and regulations (FERPA, HIPAA, and IDEA).
• Bachelor's Required; Masters Degree Preferred.
• Licensed or working toward licensure from MA DESE in Moderate or Severe Disabilities.
• Valid driver's license, safe driving record and ability to transport students in AVC vehicles (vans).

Schedule:

• 185 day schedule.
• Operating hours of the program, 8:15am-3:15pm.
• Summer hours are also available, but not required.

Physical Demands:

This is an active position. It requires frequent physical movement to meet the needs of our young adult students in order to support them in accessing learning, leisure, activities of daily living and their community.

Competitive Benefits include:

• Compensation competitive within public school employees sector.
• School-year position; additional compensation available for summer school service.
• 3 personal days, 10 sick days.
• 75% health insurance premiums covered by AVC.
  High deductible Health Insurance Plan + Health Savings Account (AVC contributes 50% of deductible into your HSA).
• Participation in MA state pension systems (MTRS or MSERS).
• Voluntary benefits: Flex Spending, Life, Short-term, Long-term Insurance; Dental.

About the Company

Shared Leadership Statement:At AVC we believe that everyone in our community is a leader and learner who each possess inherent brilliance. We also believe that every community member has the ability and a responsibility to support the learning and growth of ourselves and others.