Job Description

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Preparing and Delivering Instruction

• Thoroughly review, deeply internalize, and meticulously prepare KIPP NC adopted curricula every single day. KIPP NC has selected the following curricula for its middle schools:

  • Math: Open Up Resources, focused on problem solving and developing student thinking

  • ELA: KIPP Wheatley

  • 8th Grade Science: Amplify & supported Science materials to match NC Standards

  • State-aligned intervention: i-Ready

• Practice—and then practice some more—lesson delivery to execute curricula at an exceptionally high level

• Work to learn the students in the room—working to learn their data and individual needs, including those addressed by IEPs, multilingual language plans, and other individualized plans

• Create exemplar responses and documents for work to hold students accountable and to facilitate collaboration with colleagues

• Use assessment data (i-Ready data, IA data, EOG data, DIBELS data, curricular data, exit tickets, student quizzes and work) to drive instruction, make hard pivots when necessary, and make individualized learning plans for every student in their care

• Set clear, high expectations, and hold students accountable for performance—all of which requires taking personal responsibility and doing everything required to reach challenging goals

• Embrace and incorporate the gift of feedback from wherever it comes—colleagues, principal, assistant principal, regional coaches, students, wherever—in the spirit of Pursuing Excellence, one of KIPP NC core values

• Do all the operational things that support great instruction, like maintaining an accurate and timely gradebook, keeping records, and completing tasks for data tracking systems

Building Positive Classroom and Schoolwide Cultures

• Develop positive relationships with students, families, teachers, and staff through regular positive phone calls to families, routine curbside check-ins with families at arrival and dismissal, weekly newsletters from the classroom, and attendance at all school events, including Back-to-School Night, family conferences, report card conferences, and all other school celebrations

• Leverage those relationships to induce behaviors and instructional habits from students that are significantly different from those previously exhibited; pinpoint and tap the needs, wants, and underlying motivations of students

• Participate fully in the daily routines of a school that form the foundation of culture, like arrival/dismissal, advisory/circle time, lunch, hallway transitions, and the 1,000 other moments that make up a day

• Embody, nurture, and build KIPP NC’s core values (Pursuing Excellence, Building Knowledge, Fighting Injustice, Sparking Joy, and Rising Together) and the school’s student and staff cultures

• Assume personal responsibility for student achievement, all the students in the school, and the success of staff colleagues

• Create and maintain a joyful classroom space that exudes love, builds a sense of belonging, and celebrates learning, which includes displaying current student work and grade level/content- appropriate and identity-affirming decorations

Exemplifying a Growth Mindset

• Collaborate with leaders and coaches to identify areas of strength and areas of growth for professional development throughout the year, some of which will be leader-led, and some of which will happen in the quiet after-school moments in classrooms with colleagues in the routine preparation for the next day

• Attend practice clinics to hone and sharpen pedagogical skills and lesson delivery

• Participate in Teacher Work Days, Regional Data Days, and Professional Development meetings after school; satiate their hunger to learn and grow as a professional

Taking Care of Yourself

• Use the many benefits the organization offers employees (health benefits, generous school holidays, etc.) to relieve stress after the workday is done or over school breaks and holidays, as the job of turning a school around is tough—teachers will experience stress and emotional challenges associated with all the essential duties enumerated above, and self-care will be a priority

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS

The following are required of all KIPP Durham Middle classroom teachers:

• A deep commitment to the mission of KIPP NC and an unwavering belief in the potential of all our students

• An unwavering commitment to anti-racism, equity, inclusion, and liberation

• A deep commitment to both racial equity and improving the lives of kids from economically marginalized communities

• 3+ years of teaching experience in K-12; experience in teaching in a high performing charter school and/or schools with a high population of students with free and reduced lunch

• Demonstrated success in raising the achievement levels of economically marginalized students

• Valid North Carolina teaching license, ability to seek reciprocity, or willingness to pursue and attain state certification within the first 6 months of being hired

• A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant content area

• Pass Criminal Background Check

• Fluency in Spanish is preferred

Additional Information

Additional Notes

• Hours are Monday-Friday, 7:30 AM – 5:00 PM (these are work hours for teachers, not school hours for students)

• Some Saturday/weekend commitments will be required for additional tutoring and intervention work with students

• Durham Middle staff will be expected to help run summer academies in the Summers of 2025, 2026, and 2027

Total Benefits

KIPP Durham Middle Teachers will earn $70k - $100k during the years KIPP Durham Middle is in turnaround. This is a combination of KIPP Durham Middle Teachers being paid on the KIPP Durham 2024-25 Compensation Model and paid according to their years of relevant experience and educational attainment with an additional $25,000 salary supplement in recognition of their investment in KIPP Durham Middle’s refounding.

In addition, KIPP Durham Middle teachers will receive:

• Opportunity to earn supplements for a relevant PhD, additional licensure endorsements, National Board Certification, and teaching in high needs areas (these supplements are in perpetuity and in addition to base salary)

• Health Insurance: State Health Plan with low premiums for individuals and deep discounts for spouses, dependents, and families

• Paid Parental Leave: 8 weeks of 100% paid maternity leave and 4 weeks of 100% paid paternity leave

• Paid Time Off + Sick Leave: 5 days of PTO and 6 sick days every year

• Retirement: An optional 403b with a generous employer match with immediate vesting

Important Note: This incredible opportunity to magnetize a Dream Team staff to Durham Middle starting in the 2024-25 school year is made possible by the national KIPP Foundation. Their commitment to KIPP NC is for three school years (2024-25, 2025-26, and 2026-27). After those three years, we will reassess our approach and resource allocation model. We are asking all successful candidates in this role to commit to the entirety of those three years (with a TBD for 2027-28 and beyond!).

*We are forever indebted to Public Impact, a North Carolina-based non-profit organization dedicated to an excellent education for all students and excellent careers for all educators through its national Opportunity Culture initiative, for this language and framework.

The reality of too many of our country’s schools—especially those serving low-income and other marginalized communities coming out of a global health crisis and with a century of systemic under-investment—is that the academic achievement of their students doesn’t match their students' brilliance, and their student culture does not create an environment where each and every student is seen, valued, and loved.

KIPP Durham Middle School on the east side of Durham, North Carolina, has been one such school. Every 6-8-Grade student in our classrooms today is brilliant, but our efforts over the past decade have not successfully harnessed that collective brainpower to get exceptional results on North Carolina’s state middle school exams in reading, math, and science, the benchmarks that ensure they are on track towards being academically prepared to lead the choice-filled lives they envision for themselves.