Middle School Reading Specialist Teacher

READING SPECIALIST TEACHER

Start Date | June 2026

Reports To | Secondary School Principal

One City Preparatory Academy is seeking a dynamic and skilled  Reading Specialist Teacher . This position is responsible for supporting the learning of scholars individually and in small groups, collaborating, coaching, modeling, and consulting with lead and support teachers about best practices in teaching reading, and staying abreast of current research and best practices in reading instruction.

As a Reading Specialist, this entails creating a classroom environment favorable to learning and personal growth of every scholar; establishing effective rapport with scholars; motivating scholars to develop skills, attitudes, and knowledge needed to provide a good foundation in reading; and to establish good relationships with parents and with other staff members. Scholars will receive instruction from the reading specialist in small and large groups. Depending on individual student needs, components of different reading programs or methodologies are utilized.

This is a full-time position with competitive compensation and comprehensive health benefits.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

One City Preparatory Academy (OCPA) is a unique 6th-12th grade school that combines the features of an EL Education Network School and an Early College and Career Model. OCPA will offer the highly regarded Expeditionary Learning curriculum in sixth through eighth grades and a blended high school, college, and career experience in high school. It is also a unique, two-generation public school, authorized by the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents, that provides a tuition-free education to children, and works directly with families to ensure children are inspired, learning, growing, and achieving to their full potential.

OCPA begins its first year of operation in September of 2022 with sixth grade, ninth grade, and tenth grade while One City Elementary School (Grades 4K-5) will enter its fifth year with the addition of fifth grade. One City Schools is the only public school in Wisconsin that offers both a longer school day (8:15 am to 4:45 pm for the middle school) and longer school year (219 days vs 180 days in traditional public schools).

Recently, we moved into our permanent home, a $12 million facility located at 1707 W. Broadway in Monona, Wisconsin, a small city located on the South Side of our capital city. This 13.5 acre campus includes a 157,000 school facility that will serve 888 K-12 scholars by 2024. The campus is situated just 5 blocks from Lake Monona, just north of Lake Waubesa, and 10 minutes from downtown Madison.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The middle school program at One City Preparatory Academy is an interdisciplinary, student-centered, project-based learning experience in a school organized around the principles of community and equity. We are seeking a team of sixth grade teachers with a variety of subject-specific lenses (Humanities, math, science, art, music, physical education) who are enthusiastic about teaming together to develop interdisciplinary units based on EL's ELA-focused curriculum. In high school, the program is focused on preparation for college or career through a blended high school, college, and career program. Emphasis for both middle and high school is placed not just on academic skill development, but also on individual and community character skills such as empathy, flexibility, curiosity, and grit. Our scholars are taught how to be lifelong learners and thinkers, equipped to approach unpredictable challenges ahead.

The Pleasant T. Rowland Leadership Campus, our new home at 1707 W Broadway, borders Madison and Monona and includes large outdoor space that will be developed into usable exploration space. Inside the building we are developing innovative spaces including everything from a beauty/barber salon, to a student-run DJ booth, coffee shop, school store, and Summit Credit Union branch, to teacher training suites where new teachers can learn from seasoned professionals through one-way glass.

Our middle school curriculum is framed in Expeditions, eight-week interdisciplinary instructional periods, followed by one week immersive workshop experiences.
Workshops provide exposure to career paths, opportunities to engage in design thinking cycles through project based work, and specific content knowledge critical to ensuring success in life and career (e.g., financial literacy, life skills, career readiness). Beginning in 6th grade, students will be exposed to technical and very practical workshops that will help them make informed decisions about their future, while providing them with a rich variety of job prospects. Furthermore, these workshops will lead to summer apprenticeship opportunities and internships on campus and locally, therefore increasing graduation and employment rates specifically among traditionally underrepresented communities.

Our high school program is semester-based. OCPA seeks to improve the transition from high school to college and increase access and success in higher education. We do this by offering high school-age students, particularly those from low-income and historically underrepresented communities, tuition-free college programs of study. The bridge between high school and college is weakest for the young people for whom the gap between the two is also the widest. OCPA will provide high-school level support (physical, emotional, social, and academic) to scholars pursuing college level coursework. OCPA seeks to demonstrate that an academically rigorous liberal arts and sciences program can intellectually engage a diverse group of high school students and effectively prepare them for success in college, careers, and civic life.

In our longer school day and longer school year model, we have the ability to be flexible and innovative with schedule and program. We are seeking educators eager to build a school and a program designed to meet the needs of historically underrepresented communities.

MISSION, VISION, VALUES, AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES

OUR MISSION
Our mission is to seed a new model of public education that ensures young children are on track to succeed in a college or career preparatory program from birth through high school graduation.

One City Schools achieves its mission by:

• Attracting dedicated families committed to the mission of the school
• Sustaining a diverse, inclusive, and multicultural community that affirms and values each individual
• Focusing on wellness, including providing healthy prepared breakfast, lunch, and snack on a daily basis
• Providing a longer school day and longer school year, ensuring our scholars and their families are continually supported
• Ensuring transparency and accountability, including a 20-year longitudinal study in partnership with University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Providing financial, physical, and educational support for scholars from age 2 through HS graduation
• Focusing on professional development and support
• Cultivating resilience, agency, compassion, and community-mindedness
• Embracing the whole child, from athletics to social-emotional development to content knowledge
• Embedding a community-minded approach t o education, including a focus on collaboration amongst teachers, parents, and scholars

OUR VISION
Our short-term vision is of a Greater Madison where all children are prepared to contribute and succeed as adults.

Our long-term vision is of a Wisconsin and United States of America where all children are prepared to achieve the same. Solving the achievement gap crisis won’t matter if a gap still exists between children in the USA and children in other developed countries around the world.

OUR VALUES

Habits of Character

• We are honest, fair, and fulfill the commitments we make, building a culture of respect and mutual trust.
• We give our best effort, take intellectual risks and learn to persevere.
• We reflect and live with purpose, working toward goals that embody our genuine interests.
• We are a school that values educational excellence, community, and integrity. We are dedicated to lifelong learning.
• We have high expectations for all scholars, staff, and families.

Community

• We embrace the village concept – that it truly takes an entire village to raise a child.
• We support and celebrate one another and take responsibility for our words and actions, acknowledging that we shape the lives of others in our community.
• We work hand-in-hand with parents and the broader community to ensure our students have the fundamental capacity to succeed in school and life.
• We utilize a robust network of community partnerships, routinely evaluate our success, and stay current on the latest research to ensure we are doing our very best to cultivate happy, healthy, and successful children.

Equity

• We embrace and celebrate diversity within our school, knowing that it deepens our learning and enhances our empathy.
• We recognize that each person has different circumstances and we allocate the necessary resources and opportunities needed to provide an equal playing field for our scholars and their families.

Wellness

• We promote the health and wellbeing of our students and employees.
• We provide two nutritious meals and a snack for our scholars and staff on a daily basis.

OUR EXPECTED OUTCOMES
One City Scholars will graduate from our school but always be a part of our community. They will emerge from our program as thinkers, learners, and problem-solvers, ready to tackle life’s challenges and provide effective leadership in our state and globally.

Our graduates will be prepared to lead in the local and global community and serve as role models, mentors and problem solvers. They will understand the importance of reflection, perseverance, compassion and risk-taking. One City scholars, to put it simply, will make the world a better place.

OUR STATEMENT ON DIVERSITY
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are more than just words for One City Schools. We currently have the most diverse staff in Southern Wisconsin and are dedicated to fielding a team that continues to reflect the scholars and families we serve. Currently, 60% of our staff and 87% of our scholars identify as Black, Brown, Asian, Hispanic, Latino, and/or multi-racial. One City Schools is designed to prepare ALL students for success in school, career, and life, particularly the Black, Brown, Hispanic, Latino, and low-income scholars in the Madison community and beyond, who have been historically underserved in traditional school environments.

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
In September of 2022, One City Preparatory Academy will welcome as many as 72 scholars in Grade 6 and 96 in each of Grades 9 and 10, while One City Elementary School will expand through Grade 5 with 48 scholars/grade. In the following two years (School Years ‘23-24 and ‘24-25), expansion will continue until One City Schools serves children from as young a s age 2 (One City Preschool) through high school graduation. The first graduating class will be in June of ‘25.

Our new facility at 1707 W Broadway is currently under renovation while we simultaneously use it for instruction for Grades K-4. Renovations will be complete by September of ‘22, at which time construction on the Athletics Center will begin. Programs will expand as OCPA grows and will always center on our mission and vision.

POSITION OVERVIEW

One City Schools seeks an experienced  Reading Specialist Teacher to join an interdisciplinary team that is committed to interactive project-based learning, student self-knowledge and self-advocacy, and collaboration. Ideal candidates have the attributes of flexibility, humor, collaboration, creativity, and passion for emerging research and pedagogy. They must possess the insight and skills to participate fully on a team collaborating on the creation and implementation of a new school program.

SPECIFIC DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assign related coursework and track student performance; evaluate programs and student progress (conferences, written evaluation, and written daily correspondence)
• Effectively adapt teaching methods, instructional materials, and learning opportunities to meet students’ varying needs and interests
• Instruct and encourage individual students; establish goals for individualized students and small group
• Implement and model the school’s curriculum with a strong emphasis on community
• Assess student progress through observations, assignments, and assessments, and communicate and collaborate with parents, other teachers, counselors, and administrators regarding students’ progress
• Maintain accurate and complete student records
• Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops in order to maintain and improve professional competence
• Participate in student extra-curricular activities, such as sponsorship of clubs, involvement in after-school student activities, chaperone student events
• Manage the class and ensure engagement and discipline
• Attend staff meetings, and serve on committees as required
• Select, store, order, issue and inventory equipment, materials and supplies
• Additional duties as assigned by the administration.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education:  Bachelor’s Degree or higher

Experience: 2 years teaching experience in a Middle and/or High School setting, preferred

Certifications/Licenses:  Certified/Certifiable to teach in Wisconsin (or willingness to become certified with the assistance of One City Schools)

Other Requirements:

• Strong commitment to the mission, vision, goals and objectives of One City.
• Minimum of two (2) years teaching experience preferred but not required; urban teaching (or student-teaching) experience and teaching children from racial, ethnic, and linguistically diverse backgrounds also preferred.
• Experience in EL (Expeditionary Learning) or student-led project-based learning is preferred but not required.
• Ability to differentiate instruction, including working with students with learning differences, and the skill and willingness to adjust to student understanding and misunderstanding.
• Experience with reading assessments (informal and formal).
• Superior written and oral communication and presentation skills.
• Possess an entrepreneurial spirit to be able to create and implement routines and rituals to ensure student achievement.
• Flexibility
• Comfort with discomfort
• Enthusiasm to build a school together
• Compassion
• Community-focused
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills

APPLICATION PROCESS:

• Resume
• Cover letter outlining interest in position
• List of 3-5 references with contact information (references will not be notified until candidate is notified)
• Background checks are a condition of employment

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:
One City offers salaries and wages that are competitive within our local market and area public schools, as well as comprehensive benefits to all full-time employees. Benefits include:

• Salary: $45K to $75K, depending on education, experience, and demonstrated impact on student academic growth and achievement
• 11-month contract with dedicated planning time each week. Standard school year breaks apply (e.g., Thanksgiving break, winter break, spring break, national holidays).
• Healthy prepared breakfast, lunch, and snack provided while at work
• Comprehensive health benefits (medical, dental and vision)
• Investment in comprehensive professional development
• 401K with employer match of 5.9%
• Voluntary Benefits (Supplemental Life, Accident, Short Term Disability, etc.)
• Your age-eligible children automatically admitted to One City Elementary School
• Life Insurance and Long-term Disability
• Employee Assistance Plan

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

One City is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all team members and applicants, and to maintaining a work environment in which everyone is treated with respect and dignity.