Join Us on an Exciting Journey at Peninsula School!

Are you ready to be a part of something truly extraordinary? Peninsula School is calling for fearless, passionate educators to be the next generation of progressive education trailblazers.

Why Peninsula School?

Imagine a place where intellectual curiosity, social and emotional learning, and social justice intertwine to create a dynamic learning environment. Peninsula’s wooded, 6-acre campus is not just a setting; it’s a place where children thrive and develop to their full promise as confident contributors in the world, learn about themselves and others, discover their passions, and grow in an inclusive community rich with choices, exploration, and play. In addition to intellectual development and social and emotional learning (SEL), we educate for democracy, student choice and voice, and social justice.

Your Role: Lower School Head Classroom Teacher (Grades TBD, K-2nd Grade Range)

As the Lower School Head Teacher, you’ll play a pivotal role in nurturing students through a journey of exploration, inquiry, and learning. Working closely with our dynamic lower school team, you’ll be a vital contributor to an environment where math, literacy, integrated social studies, and social/emotional development are taught within a progressive framework.

Collaboration with specialist teachers across various disciplines—including Art, Woodshop, Ceramics, Weaving, Music, Library, Spanish, Science, and Physical Education—creates an unparalleled opportunity to cultivate rich, cross-disciplinary learning experiences for students.

This framework honors and celebrates play, prioritizes student choice and voice, and centers Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) practices. Lower School teachers work collaboratively on a team with the support of the Associate Head of School (AHOS) and literacy and math specialists. Teacher creativity is encouraged and celebrated as teachers address the needs of their students, while remaining steadfast to the school’s mission, values, and progressive educational philosophy.

What Awaits You:

Competitive Compensation: Earn between $83,200 to $95,400, depending on your experience.

Benefits: Enjoy a comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, and retirement savings and plans, because your well-being matters to us.

Inspiring Community: Immerse yourself in a supportive, inclusive community dedicated to learning and engaged citizenship.

Room for Growth: Grow both personally and professionally in an environment that values diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Join Us in Shaping the Future!

Peninsula School actively promotes the principles and practices of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging throughout the school community. We are an equal-opportunity employer and encourage people from under-represented groups to apply.

At Peninsula School, we believe in the power of every individual to make a difference. Whether you’re a seasoned educator or newer to the field, we welcome your application. Come join us in shaping the future, one student at a time!

The start date for this position is 8/1/24. Please fill out an employment application and send it with a cover letter and resumé, to HR@peninsulaschool.org

General Responsibilities

● Support and promote Peninsula School’s mission and values

● Provide a progressive program for children using instructional methods and materials that are responsive and appropriate to the intellectual, social and emotional needs of students and that fosters their positive learning and personal growth

● Maintain a cooperative classroom environment that encourages problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, and intellectual curiosity

● Create and maintain a welcoming, safe, equitable and respectful learning environment that honors and values a diversity of learning, cultural, ethnic, racial and sexual identities and lived experiences of the student population

● Manage and monitor student learning, including ongoing assessment that informs instruction

● Remain current on educational research, topics and progressive practices

● Participate in and contribute to the school’s process of continual reflection and evolution of its program

● Collaborate and communicate constructively with other teaching staff, AHOS, Learning

Specialists, and all staff members

● Integrate anti-racist principles and practices into teaching and learning

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

● Teaching and Learning:

○ Recognize and address the unique needs and varied learning styles of all children, ensuring each child’s progress in all areas

○ Develop and implement teaching units that explore and examine multiple cultures, ethnicities, perspectives, lifestyles, lived experiences and identities

○ Deliver a math curriculum that is age-appropriate and that aligns with the scope and sequence of the overall school program

○ Deliver an integrated social studies program, and collaborate with other specialists to make connections to your program.

○ Monitor and document student learning

○ Build class community by fostering students’ social/emotional learning

○ Assess student learning and use data to inform instruction, differentiate practice, and promote learning

● Additional activities:

○ Organize and lead school overnight(s) and/or camping trip(s) (not including nursery through first grade classes)

● Communications with families:

○ Prior to the start of the school year, connect with families and students to welcome them to the class and begin to get to know them (could include but is not limited to a home visit, phone call, zoom meeting, feedback form, etc.)

○ Clearly articulate program and developmental goals to parents

○ Clearly communicate student learning to students and parents

○ Maintain open lines of communication with parents

○ Post class schedule for families within one week of the beginning of school

○ Communicate with families to share and preview classroom learning (newsletter, email, blog) at least once per week

● Provide a model for positive leadership

● Reflect on Practice:

○ Examine and evaluate classroom program and teaching regularly and adjust as needed

○ Define at least one professional development (PD) goal and complete a PD (in addition to in-service learning) according to your goals and in agreement with a supervisor

● Program articulation:

○ Share high level (month by month) curriculum goals and objectives for students with AHOS/Programmatic Team by the first back to school staff day

● Collaboration:

○ Provide oversight and supervision to Assistant Teachers and Associate Teachers under the direction of the AHOS to nurture and enrich children’s experiences.

This includes: supporting learning, goal setting, monitoring students, scheduling planning/prep and support time, providing feedback

○ Support an open door policy for classrooms and meetings for teaching colleagues and program administrators, appropriate to role

○ Participate in coaching conversations and peer-review on an as-needed basis

● Logistics:

○ Be in the classroom ready to welcome and greet children no later than 8:45am

○ Be available on Tuesdays from 3:15-5pm for meetings and meet with Lower School Heads one day per week

○ Post a daily schedule for students

Other Responsibilities

● Meet with parents for conferences formally two times a year and provide additional conferences and communication as required or requested

● Organize and facilitate group parent meetings at least twice a year

● Attend independent learning plan meetings (ILP)

● Attend admission events

● Attend all staff meetings/in-services and contribute positively within those meetings

● Participate in school committees as needed

Qualifications and Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required. 3-5 years of teaching experience preferred. A teaching credential, advanced degree in education and/or specific training in K-2 is a plus.

Competencies

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

● Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging – A demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and an ability to work with and support a diverse population of students and families. An ability to remain sensitive to the experiences of students, parents and faculty in all situations and integrate feedback into practice.

● Growth Mindset – Recognizes the importance of learning and adopting and modeling a growth mindset. Stays abreast of best practices in schools and in supporting positive child and youth development, enthusiastically seeks out professional growth opportunities.

● Relational Skills – Ability to relate well to a wide range of people, including building rapport with students, parents, faculty, staff, and administrators. Willingness to work to understand the culture of the school. Knowledge of each child’s challenges and strengths. Skill with conflict resolution, consensus building and decision-making.

● Emotional Intelligence, Regulation, and Maturity – Ability to interact with individuals in heightened emotional states and navigate complex and emotionally challenging situations involving children and adults. A high degree of emotional stability, ability to separate one’s own emotions from a situation, and ability to maintain perspective in the midst of emotional situations is essential. A willingness to center children.

● Communications Skills – Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of constituents. Maintains open communications channels with teaching staff, parents and administrators. Able to present information formally and informally in an effective manner both through oral presentations or conversation and through written means. Has a strong understanding of the power of word choice and the need for a high level of tact and professional, accurate communication.

● Time Management Skills – Ability to manage many tasks and projects simultaneously and to prioritize them appropriately.

● Organizational Skills – Ability to balance many tasks and processes, including keeping track of progress on longer term projects or goals, managing details accurately, and following through in a timely fashion.

● Problem Solving Skills – Ability to consider a broad range of internal and external factors when solving problems. Grasps complexities and perceives relationships among different problems or issues. Uses various solution-focused problem-solving strategies appropriate to the situation, including enlisting and seeking advice from others when appropriate.

● Strategic Thinking Skills – Ability to work with others to gather, synthesize, and analyze quantitative and qualitative information and to develop plans for meeting short and long-range goals which support student learning and growth and advance the broader strategic direction of the school.

● Child-Centered: ability to center children, the Mission Statement and the values of the school.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, ability to adjust focus, and sound hearing. The ability to speak clearly and coherently is required. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands, talk and hear. The employee is frequently required to reach with hands and arms. On occasion, the employee is required to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, or crouch. Employee is required to operate a computer and office productivity machinery, communicate across a variety of media, and work in close proximity to others. The role may also require the employee to work in inclement weather during special activities and work at a desk for extended periods of time.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to listen, physically direct, and speak. The employee is required to sit (sometimes for extended periods); stand; walk on a variety of surfaces; climb stairs, bend and squat when communicating with younger students; use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision and ability to adjust focus. The noise and activity level in the work environment is variable, with times of quiet and times of high stimulation and activity.

Peninsula School | 920 Peninsula Way, Menlo Park, CA, 94025 | 650-325-1584 | www.peninsulaschool.org