Location: Dallas, Texas, USA

WHAT WE BELIEVE

At Solar Preparatory School for Boys we work each day to prepare boys for success in a challenging, inspiring, and inclusive performance-based learning environment. It’s our mission to inspire boys across Dallas ISD to live and lead with passion and purpose. We live by the Solar Six:

1. Curiosity: I ask questions and have a strong desire to learn and discover new things.
2. Self Awareness: I reflect on my strengths and limitations and possess a sense of confidence and optimism
3. Empathy: I listen and seek to understand the feelings of another.
4. Humility: I act in a way that reflects a spirit of inclusion and respect for others.
5. Leadership: I nurture abilities in myself and in others in order to have a positive impact on my school and community.
6. Grit: I bounce back after failure and persist in the face of obstacles.

WHO WE ARE

At Solar Prep, instruction and culture is designed intentionally to meet the needs of boys and ensure educational equity for all. Solar Prep is an open-enrollment campus with scholars coming from across the city. We use a 50/50 socioeconomic diversity model to ensure that 50 percent of student enrollment is made up of economically disadvantaged scholars, and the other 50 percent is composed of non-economically disadvantaged scholars. We employ a weighted lottery to achieve this balance. As research has shown, the likelihood of a school’s overall success is considerably reduced when the student body exceeds 50 percent low-income. We also know that high-income scholars benefit from balanced diversity through interactions with a more diverse class of scholars, increasing their empathy and social abilities. At Solar Prep we work tirelessly to ensure that all scholars succeed in life, school and beyond.

TEACHING @ SOLAR PREP

At Solar Preparatory School for Boys, teachers will work collaboratively with scholars, parents, and staff to provide engaging, performance-based learning experiences designed to meet the needs of each boy, with a strong focus on STEAM and character development.

Teaching in a Solar Prep classroom requires not only foundational teaching skills, but also supplemental competencies to ensure that educators are ready, willing, and able to co-create cross-curricular, performance-based learning experiences. Teachers must also have competencies necessary to build a strong classroom and campus culture of social emotional support for boys from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds.  As a Responsive Classroom school we are also committed to a student-centered, social and emotional learning approach to teaching and discipline. You can find more about our teaching tools and technologies by visiting our website.

As a Maker Space Teacher, you’ll serve as the facilitator of hands-on learning experiences in a space where children and families create, make, discover, investigate and invent. The space gives our scholars a chance to apply problem-solving skills, test and revise their ideas, experiment, collaborate, and just have fun. The Maker Space allows children and families to use real tools and different materials to design, make, tinker and create projects on their own while concentrating on the process not the product. This lab is where we encourage learning, prototyping, sharing of ideas, productive failure, thinking and collaboration.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We are passionate about our model and pathways to create a sustainable excellence in public schools. We are looking for talented, innovative, motivated educators who:

• Value intentional social and emotional leaning and strategically implement best practices to inspire our boys to build self-awareness about their emotions and actions.
• Believe that building capacity and understanding about race and equity is necessary to provide a culturally responsive environment for all of our scholars and staff.
• Prioritize our scholars’ growth and learning through our blended learning model and strategic, targeted instruction.
• Challenge our boys to build leadership skills to fight for a better world for all. for every person.
• Believe that incorporating project-based STEAM instruction makes learning relevant and prepares our boys for the 21st century.
• Demonstrate a growth mindset, with a willingness to continually improve their competency by participating in professional growth and learning opportunities
• Work autonomously and who are self-starters, able to take risks in a progressive school environment
• Can work effectively with a diverse group of students and families

Teachers at Solar Prep are required to be able to demonstrate skill in the following, while be willing to work toward mastery:

• Developing and implementing cross-curricular unit plans to reflect knowledge of individual student’s skills, language proficiency, backgrounds, cultures, interests, learning styles, and special needs, including needs of boys
• Maintaining commitment to student-led exploration of content, selection of resources, and development of collaborative solutions and outcomes
• Demonstrating extensive content expertise, prerequisite knowledge, and interdisciplinary content and deliver content with appropriate tools, language, and best practices for teaching boys
• Measuring student mastery through checks for understanding and interim assessments and use data to adjust future instruction and/or reteach objectives based on data
• Establishing relationships with families and community and use language that is respectful and non-judgmental when speaking about students, their families, and the community
• Maximizing instructional time through efficient routines, seamless transitions, and positive behavior narration
• Embracing the active nature of boys by incorporating movement and hands-on learning tools into the lessons
• Maintaining high student motivation through a use of a variety of engagement strategies and goal setting with students
• Maintaining a nurturing and safe classroom environment targeted to the needs of boys from different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds
• Proactively seeking and engaging in professional development and implementing new learning in the classroom.
• Collaborating weekly with colleagues to plan lessons, discuss student needs, and seek feedback on instructional strategies

In addition to the above, the ideal Maker Space teacher will:

• Demonstrate an interest for subject integration and applied learning.
• Develop and grow the program through authentic applications, competitions, and relevant learning opportunities including before and after school creations and opportunities.
• Serve as the protector of the space in terms of proper inventory, care for the furniture and equipment, and teaching the students to respect and honor the space.
• Have varied professional experiences, both in classroom settings and outside of schools. Former entrepreneurs encouraged to apply, having demonstrated ability to independently develop professional connections and skills.
• Have knowledge or demonstrable willingness to use diverse materials to create like wood, cardboard, styrofoam, paper-mache, metal, programming, as well as experience with robotics, coding and 3D printing, photography, etc.
• Understand that the role of the Maker Space teacher will be as a facilitator and champion for learning, and the ability to be comfortable not having all the answers.

HOW TO JOIN OUR TEAM

TalentED Advisors is currently recruiting educators on behalf of Solar Preparatory School for Boys and is actively searching for one Maker Space teacher supporting grades K-4 for the upcoming school year. Applicants should hold a Bachelor’s degree from accredited university as well as a valid teaching certificate with required endorsements or required training for subject and level assigned.

Our primary application deadline is May 1st. Please submit your application online including a resume, cover letter, essay question response, references and copies of your certifications/ endorsements. Should you have any questions as you complete your application or about Solar Preparatory school, please don’t hesitate to contact us at candidates@talentedadvisors.com.

Please apply here:https://talentedadvisors.com/current-openings/