First Grade Teacher

First Grade Teacher 2025-2026

Full-time

Grade Level: Elementary

Subject: General Elementary

Start Date: Next year opening

Department: Teacher

Company Description

Join the KIPP Team & Family

KIPP is hiring a diverse team of dynamic, collaborative, and dedicated individuals with the unyielding belief that every child will succeed.

KIPP Oklahoma is a part of a national network of free, open-enrollment, public charter schools offering a choice to families and children in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. We are driven and committed to our mission and vision.

KIPP Oklahoma currently educates over 1,000 students and supports hundreds of alumni. Today, the KIPP Oklahoma network consists of KIPP Tulsa Public Charter Schools (grades 5th – 12th) and KIPP OKC Public Schools (grades PreK - 3rd and 6th – 8th). KIPP OKC Public Schools is growing one grade per year until they are a full PreK – 8th grade program.

Mission:

Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

Vision:

Every child grows up free to create the future they want for themselves and their communities.

We are a Team & Family

At KIPP, we see the gifts in everyone who walks through the doors of our schools. Especially our teachers. Their skill. Energy. Love. Their determination. On the good days and on the hard days. So we support our teachers to make the most of those gifts. It starts with respect – for our teacher's innate talent and desire to learn, for their professional growth and the lives they lead beyond our walls.

The Five Pillars of KIPP

1. High Expectations. KIPP schools have clearly defined and measurable high expectations for academic achievement and conduct that make no excuses based on the students' backgrounds. Students, parents, teachers, and staff create and reinforce a culture of achievement and support through a range of formal and informal rewards and consequences for academic performance and behavior.

2. Choice & Commitment. Students, their parents, and the faculty of each KIPP school choose to participate in the program. No one is assigned or forced to attend a KIPP school. Everyone must make and uphold a commitment to the school and to each other to put in the time and effort required to achieve success.

3. More Time. KIPP schools know that there are no shortcuts when it comes to success in academics and life. With an extended school day, week, and year, students have more time in the classroom to acquire the academic knowledge and skills that will prepare them for competitive high schools and colleges, as well as more opportunities to engage in diverse extracurricular experiences.

4. Power to Lead. The principals of KIPP schools are effective academic and organizational leaders who understand that great schools require great school leaders. They have control over their school budget and personnel. They are free to swiftly move dollars or make staffing changes, allowing them maximum effectiveness in helping students learn.

5. Focus on Results. KIPP schools relentlessly focus on high student performance on standardized tests and other objective measures. Just as there are no shortcuts, there are no excuses. Students are expected to achieve a level of academic performance that will enable them to succeed at the nation's best high schools and colleges. Teachers will be provided consistent and constant professional development.

Job Description

Instructional Delivery and Assessment:

• Develop year-long Oklahoma standards-based unit plans and lesson plans that meet all scholars' learning needs.
• Use assessment data to modify short and long-term plans in order to promote all scholars' academic performance.
• Embrace and incorporate feedback in the spirit of constant improvement.
• Teacher contract hours are 7:30am – 5:00pm (M-Th) and 7:30am – 4:30pm (F) on regular school days. On Friday afternoons, scholars are dismissed early teachers participate all-school professional development. All scholars begin class at 8:00am. Middle School dismisses at 4:00pm (M-Th) and 2:30pm (F). Elementary School dismisses at 3:00pm (M-Th) and 2:30pm (F).

Academic and Cultural Support

• Collaborate with content and grade-level teams to promote an environment of critical thinking and academic rigor.
• Establish and maintain working relationships with scholars and families based on trust and respect.
• Participate in the daily functions of the school such as morning, lunch, and afternoon supervisory duties.
• Attend school events such as staff meetings, open houses, back to school nights, parent orientations, parent-teacher conferences, PTSO events and various other school events.
• Develop individualized learning plans for students and communicate these plans to families in parent meetings and conferences.
• Meet professional obligations including timeliness and consistency in meeting deadlines.

Qualifications

Skills and Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university
• Valid Oklahoma Teaching Certificate with required certification for subject and level assigned, if applicable*
• Demonstrated knowledge of core subject area assigned
• Satisfactory outcome of a background check. Employees are responsible for a non-refundable fingerprinting fee (approximately $60).

*Applicants currently pursuing a certification may apply before certification is received. All certifications must be acquired and on file with KIPP OKC before the end of the first year of employment.

Competencies:

• Unwavering commitment to KIPP OKC mission, scholars, families, and community
• Strong record of helping children achieve academic success, primarily with students in educationally underserved communities,
• Strong desire to teach an academically intense curriculum and commit to an extended school day, week, and year.
• Desire to continuously learn and increase effectiveness as a teacher and professional; offer and receive constructive feedback.
• Willingness to be flexible and to go above and beyond to meet the needs of KIPP OKC scholars.

Additional Information

Compensation and Benefits:

This is a Full-Time, 10-month position. Salary is commensurate with experience and based on the KIPP OKC teacher salary scale.

Employees are eligible to participate in employer benefits including health, dental, life, accidental death and dismemberment, short and long term disability and participation in Oklahoma Teacher Retirement plans.

As an equal opportunity employer, KIPP Oklahoma does not discriminate based on race, color, religion (creed), gender, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, or any other basis made unlawful by applicable federal, state, or local laws or regulations.