Special Education Teacher

Job Summary

Job Title: Teacher – 10-month contract

Department: Special Education

Location: Rockbridge County High School On-Site

Supervisor: Principal & Assistant Principal, and SPED Director

Job Type: Full-Time

Employment Classification: Exempt

Supervisory Role: No

The Special Education (SPED) teacher cultivates a supportive and inclusive learning environment for students in grades PreK–12, addressing their social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development through individualized education plans tailored to each student's unique needs. Dedicated to collaboration with healthcare professionals, therapists, and families, the SPED teacher creates a safe and responsive space that integrates both educational and medical considerations, ensuring holistic support for every student.

Essential Job Functions

• Classroom Management: Establish and maintain a structured, engaging, and respectful learning environment. Collaborating with colleagues and school administrators to enhance educational programs and the learning environment.
• Communication & Collaboration: Maintain open communication with parents/guardians, colleagues, and administrators to support student success.
• Extracurricular & School Engagement: Participate in school events, committees, and activities that contribute to a well-rounded educational experience.
• Individualized Support: Offer additional guidance to students who need extra help, ensuring all students have the opportunity to thrive.
• Instruction & Curriculum Delivery: Adapt lesson plans to accommodate diverse learning styles and needs, ensuring all students can succeed. Incorporate physical movement and interaction into your classroom delivery.
• Moral & Ethical Integrity: Maintain a high ethical standard in teaching, grading, and student/parent interactions, ensuring a respectful environment for all parties.
• Recordkeeping: Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by the district and VDOE.
• Student Assessment: Evaluate student progress through assignments, tests, and observations, providing feedback and support as needed.
• VDOE Compliance: Abide by the established guidelines covering all aspects of education, including but not limited to curriculum standards, teacher licensure and certifications, student assessments, and school policies to ensure consistency and quality in instruction.

All other duties as assigned.

Core Competencies

• Adaptability & Accountability: Adapts to changes in the work environment, manages competing demands, open to criticism and feedback, changes approach or method to best fit the situation, and takes responsibility for own actions.
• Analytical Skills: Synthesizes complex or diverse information, prioritizes projects, and determines the best way of meeting deadlines and requirements.
• Attendance & Punctuality: Schedules time off in advance, begins working on time, keeps absences within guidelines, ensures work responsibilities are covered when absent, and arrives at meetings and appointments on time. Coordinate substitute teacher coverage in advance of absence.
• Business Ethics: Works with integrity and ethically, upholds the school district's values, and abides by written school board policies and processes.
• Communication: Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in English and take direction from supervisors. Expresses ideas and thoughts both verbally and in written form, exhibits good listening skills and comprehension, responds well to questions, and writes clearly and informatively. Edits work for spelling and grammar. Presents accurate numerical data effectively.
• Compliance: Within the specified functional area of authority, is personally accountable to understand and ensure regulatory and policy compliance with state and federal requirements in accordance with their respective job duties and responsibilities.
• Confidentiality: Maintains a high degree of confidentiality.
• Culture: Demonstrates and supports a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion through cultivating awareness, continuous development, and modeling inclusive behaviors.
• Customer Service: Provides prompt and high-quality service to parents/guardians, colleagues, and any internal/external customers. Ability to remain calm in stressful situations. Resolves issues in a timely and professional manner.
• Independence of Action: Sets goals and determines how to accomplish defined results with some guidelines. Follow precedents and procedures. Seeks assistance when confronted with difficult and/or unpredictable situations.
• Judgment: Displays willingness to make decisions timely, exhibits sound and accurate judgment, supports and explains reasoning for decisions, includes appropriate people in decision-making process, and takes responsibility for communication, including what is heard.
• Organization: Maintains a clean, safe, and functional classroom. Maintains a continuous workflow to meet daily/weekly/monthly deadlines.
• Safety: Attends required safety training, follows any established injury and illness prevention plans, reports unsafe conditions, and keeps the workspace in a safe condition.
• Teamwork / Morale: Treats others with professionalism, gives and welcomes feedback, inspires the trust of others, displays a solution-driven mindset, offers assistance and support to colleagues, consistent with this role, and works cooperatively and collaboratively in group situations. Engages consistently in professional behavior.
• Training: Successfully completes school-required training in a timely manner to maintain compliance and professional growth.
• Other: Understanding of adolescent developments and challenges. Able to maintain patience and composure during stressful conditions. Able to advocate for students to create a positive learning environment.

Other Duties

• Attendance of Meetings – Actively and consistently participate in staff and committee meetings to collaborate, share insights, and contribute to school initiatives in alignment with the agreed-upon covenants outlined in the RCPS annual employment contract.
• Professional Development – Engage in conferences, workshops, and training sessions while collaborating with peers to continually enhance teaching effectiveness.
• Reporting Obligations – Promptly reports any concerns of child abuse or neglect to the leadership team to ensure student safety and well-being.
• School Bus Duty Obligations – Comply with the bus duty schedule. Supervise students while they board and exit cars and buses to ensure safety.
• Student Teacher Involvement – Support aspiring educators by volunteering to host student teachers in your classroom, providing mentorship and hands-on learning opportunities.
• Student Safety & Supervision – Maintain a safe and structured environment by ensuring students are never left alone and are always properly supervised, to include time out of the classroom and before and after school.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications, Experience, and Education

• Bachelor's Degree (Education Major Preferred) or Eligible for an approved VDOE Alternate Teacher Licensure Program (REQUIRED)
• Master's Degree (PREFERRED)
• Current VDOE Teaching License (PREFERRED)
• Special Education (SPED) Endorsement (PREFERRED)
• Classroom Experience (PREFERRED)
• CPR - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Certification (PREFERRED)
• VDOE Required Training Courses (PREFERRED)
• Strong knowledge of IDEA, Section 504, child development, and inclusive instructional strategies. (PREFERRED)

Computer and Equipment Skills

• Advanced skills with Microsoft/Google Platform applications, which may include GMAIL, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and/or other web-based applications.
• Use of the internet and online teleconferencing software (e.g., Zoom or Teams).
• Ability to navigate web-based programs such as PowerSchool, Canvas, Infinite Campus, etc.

Working Environment and Physical Requirements

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS - None - Under 1/3 - 1/3 - 2/3 - Over 2/3

Standing - X

Walking - X

Sitting - X

Using hands to touch, handle, or feel - X

Reaching with hands and arms - X

Climbing stairs - X

Bending, stooping, kneeling, crouching, or crawling - X

Computer use - X

Phone use - X

Talking and hearing - Clear speech and good hearing, both face to face and on the phone; hears well in noisy social environments

Seeing - Clear vision at 20 inches or less with or without corrective lenses; vision sufficient to drive motor vehicles safely with or without corrective lenses

Lifting - Lifts up to 10 pounds routinely, up to 35 pounds occasionally