Lower School Special Education Teacher (SY24-25)

Capital City is looking for innovative, experienced, and passionate teachers for the school year 2024-2025.

At Capital City, we challenge the status quo every day. Our staff are skilled, compassionate, solutions-oriented, and unwavering in their commitment to give children of all ages, all backgrounds, and all abilities the education they need to thrive. If you want to help prepare the next generation of changemakers, apply today!

Teaching roles are 10-month positions, which are exempt and therefore not eligible for overtime pay under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Why teach at Capital City?

• Work hard and achieve results, together! At Capital City, teachers work on collaborative teams that grapple with challenges, celebrate successes, and support and learn from one another.
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion aren’t just buzzwords. We believe the diversity of our staff and the students we serve is our greatest asset. We take seriously the responsibility to achieve equity for our students and build a culture where staff engage in dialogue about race and work to build an inclusive culture.
• Invest in your own learning. Capital City prioritizes the professional growth and learning of our teachers through weekly internal professional development and opportunities to learn from experts around the country. Campus and school-wide leadership opportunities are available for teachers who want them.
• Make your classroom and curriculum your own. Our teachers value the autonomy they have at Capital City to design a curriculum that is dynamic, personal and exciting. There is a culture of innovation that is supported by Principals and Instructional Coaches.

Special Education / Inclusion Teachers at Capital City:

Capital City Inclusion Teachers are responsible for delivering instruction to English Learners (ELs) and students with disabilities while supporting differentiation for all students using the principles of Universal Design for Learning. (UDL). Strong collaboration with general education teachers through co-teaching and co-planning is critical to success in this role.

In the following categories Inclusion Teachers at Capital City are expected to:

Curriculum/Instruction

• Implement the principles and components of Expeditionary Learning, Responsive Classroom/Developmental Designs and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Teachers at Capital City are expected to commit to learning these models.
• Provide specialized instruction so that students with disabilities (SWD) meet the goals specified in their IEPs.
• Develop engaging curriculum in partnership with general education teachers. Curriculum should be designed to teach grade level standards and skills and have multiple entry points for students. Implement best practices to ensure that English Learners (ELs) make progress in language domains.
• Apply research-based strategies to meet the needs of SWD and ELs. Seek additional materials and resources as needed. It also requires implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Explicit Instruction (High Leverage Practice (HLP) #16) to address the learning needs of students in special populations. It may also require researching and obtaining additional instructional materials and resources.
• Work with your teaching team to plan and implement learning expeditions ensuring that content, fieldwork and projects are accessible to all students.
• Lead the development of a successful inclusion environment in your classroom by facilitating clear planning around student needs and learning goals, specialized instruction, and classroom structures that support student success.
• Develop and revise clear criteria and standards for quality work and regularly examine student work to ensure that it meets increasingly higher standards of quality.
• Work with your teaching team to plan exhibitions of student work at least two times per year to give students an opportunity to share their learning with an audience of parents, caregivers, other students, and community members. Provide necessary accommodations to ensure that all students can be successful.

Assessment, Accountability and Compliance

• Conduct assessments to track student progress towards IEP goals at regular intervals. Initial assessments will be completed in September and October, interim assessments conducted in January, and end of year assessment will be conducted in May and June.
• Administer the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) assessment or other designated assessment to students in both fall and spring. Results should be documented in students’ present levels of academic achievement and functional performance in their IEPs.
• Maintain a system of progress monitoring that informs and guides instruction and planning for students with disabilities in your grade level. For Middle and High Schools, this must be managed in Learning Bios in the student’s grade book.
• Work with the Special Education case manager to ensure that identified students receive necessary accommodations for standardized assessments and other school administered assessments.
• Prepare for IEP meetings by drafting goals in collaboration with the Case Manager and assembling assessments and student work samples as documentation of progress.
• Regularly analyze student data to improve instruction, ensure equity and make program recommendations and improvements.
• Ensure that each student has a portfolio with items outlined in the criteria for portfolio collection established by the grade level team. Work with other teachers on your team to plan for portfolio collection and support students in selecting and reflecting on pieces for their portfolio. 8th /10th grade inclusion teachers additionally are expected to support students in preparing for passage portfolio presentations. 12th grade inclusion teachers are expected to support senior students in developing expeditions and preparing for their expedition presentations.

Social Curriculum/School Culture

• Plan for and lead or co-lead a morning meeting (LS), Crew (MS), or Advisory (HS) according to an agreed upon structure and schedule. Develop plans with your teaching team based on the social, emotional and academic needs of students.
• Create and maintain a physically and emotionally safe environment for students. Communicate respectfully with students at all times. Model, practice and discuss respectful, unbiased and effective communication with students.
• Work with your teaching team and students to create classroom rules. Establish and consistently apply logical consequences for not following them.
• Uphold and support the school-wide discipline policies. Document serious and less serious infractions to the policies and seek help and support from colleagues and administrators when discipline concerns arise.
• Support students in understanding their abilities and disabilities and advocating for their needs.
• Engage students in age appropriate discussions of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Use student observations, questions, actions and reactions as teachable moments to issues.

Collaboration, Collegiality, and Professionalism

• Plan at least weekly with your teaching team. Planning should include discussion of modifications and accommodations for identified students.
• Co-ead a monthly Consult Time with your grade level team to review the needs and performance of students with disabilities and ELs. Students with potential learning needs should also be discussed and referred to the Child Study process as needed. Child study plans should be monitored in conjunction with the school counselor or DSS.
• Work with a Special Education Case Manager to monitor student progress, develop IEPs, and prepare for IEP meetings.
• Advocate for the academic and personal/social needs of ELs and students with disabilities.
• Meet and plan regularly with other inclusion teachers to ensure consistency of approach and special education programming.
• Seek to resolve conflicts with colleagues as soon as they arise. Seek support from the DSS or Principal when needed.
• Make classrooms open to visits from other teachers, administrators, family members, prospective families and visitors to the school in ways that are not disruptive to student learning. Involve students in welcoming visitors and communicating about the program.

Professional Development

• Share and teach best practices for inclusion to members of your team using Consult time and classroom opportunities to model practices.
• Participate in weekly Professional Development Time (currently scheduled for Wednesdays, 2:00-4:15p.m) and contribute to sessions by sharing ideas and student work, offering feedback, and facilitating some sessions or discussions.
• Participate in peer observation using protocols established and agreed upon by staff.
• Participate in a Summer Professional Development Institute. The Institute will be two weeks in August before students return.
• Seek additional opportunities for professional development that will lead to achieving personal and school-wide professional development goals.

Parent Communication and Involvement

• Communicate and collaborate regularly with parents and caregivers. Maintain a record of communication with families. Parent Communication related to IEPS should be recorded in SEDS.
• Use the Remind App to provide updates and reminders to families so that they can best support their children.
• Provide data and narratives for progress reports according to an agreed upon format and schedule.
• Conduct conferences with families 3-5 times per year as specified by your campus leadership team. Conferences are generally held in August, November, February, and June. April conferences are held for students performing below grade level.
• Support parents in understanding the instructional approach at Capital City regular communication.

Other Professional Responsibilities

• Be on time for classes, duties, planning sessions, team meetings and professional development activities. Communicate about and plan for absences in advance with teaching partners and the DSS.
• Attend and participate in school events. Teachers are asked to attend at least two community meetings or events per year (note: one of these is Back-to-School Night.)
• Check voicemail and email daily and respond promptly to requests from parents, administrators and colleagues.
• Assist with the monitoring of arrival, dismissal, and recess/lunch according to an agreed upon schedule.

Capital City seeks to employ experienced, credentialed teachers. Ideal candidates have a Master’s degree and 2+ years of full-time teaching experience.

Minimum required qualifications: Bachelor’s degree and at least one of the following:

• A major in special education or field of instruction or equivalent 30 semester hours of credit
• District of Columbia teaching license in special education or English Learner/English as a Second Language certification
• Two years of verifiable teaching experience as a teacher of record
• One year as a support teacher at Capital City and enrollment in a teacher education or certification program

Additionally strong candidates have:

• Experience working in urban environments with diverse populations
• Strong knowledge of pedagogy and experience teaching in a constructivist way
• Experience working with English learners
• Knowledge of EasyIEP/SEDS
• Proven ability to work as a member of a team
• Strong leadership capabilities
• A commitment to their own learning and development
• Spanish language proficiency

In addition to the above requirements, teachers must meet the requirements of all hires at Capital City including a criminal background check.

About Our School

Capital City was founded in 2000 and currently serves a diverse population of nearly 1,000 students across PK-12th grade. We have been recognized as a model for social, emotional and academic development. Our program emphasizes a commitment to diversity and equity, a strong inclusion model and the integration of arts into the curriculum. We are a credentialed EL Education Mentor School (https://eleducation.org/) in the national network of over 150 schools. Through this model, teachers craft long-term learning expeditions that connect learning to the real-world and incorporate projects, research, fieldwork, and service to support students in meeting rigorous standards. Learn more at www.ccpcs.org.

Capital City is an equal-opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, marital status, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability, or any other protected status. All employment decisions will be made solely on the basis of the individual's qualifications as related to the requirements of the position being filled.