Special Education Teacher Job Description

The School

Nashville Classical East opened in July 2013 with one grade, Kindergarten. Since then, the school has grown to enroll 550 scholars in Grades K-8 and become the city’s most popular elementary school, enrolling families from 26 unique Zip Codes.

In the past five years, our school has been

• Named the city’s best nonprofit by the Nashville Business Journal 
• Named a Tennessee Reward School by the TN Department of Education
• Achieved top 5% growth in the state in both Math and ELA
• Awarded 3 Blue Ribbon Awards for Teaching Excellence: Most in the city! 
• Profiled in The Tennessean, Newsweek, and in Doug Lemov’s recent books, Teach Like A Champion 3.0 and Reconnect.

The Position

Nashville Classical East seeks Special Education teachers to join our Scholar Supports Team who are committed to working hard, having fun, and making history. Our team educates a diverse community through a joyful, rigorous curriculum and within a structured, intentional culture, building a foundation of knowledge and habits for high school, college, and life.

Our teachers: 

• Internalize and execute common curricula, including unit plans, lesson plans, and materials.
• Build achievement-oriented cultures during key moments like morning motivation, lunch, recess, and closing circle.
• Implement school-wide systems for scholar culture.
• Communicate regularly with families and attend quarterly events in the evenings, such as Report Card Conferences, Cultural Heritage Nights, etc. 
• Engage in ongoing professional development, including once weekly until 4:30pm. 
• Commit to teaching a daily schedule from 7:17am - 3:37pm.
• Commit to attending 3 weeks of summer professional development starting in July, 2024.
• Do whatever it takes to achieve the mission of Nashville Classical.

Additionally, our Special Education teachers: 

• Support scholars with exceptional needs in grades Kinder-8th across the school.  
• Provide instruction across subjects via small group “pull out” lessons and “push in” support to specific scholars. 
• Collaborate with and support general education teachers on curriculum, instructional strategies, assessments and Individual Education Plans compliance.
• Collaborate with other Special Education/EL staff on curriculum, instructional strategies, assessments and Individual Education Plans. 
• Provide behavior and social emotional support to scholars through interventions. 
• Monitor, compile, analyze and report scholar data through meetings, reports and other required compliance.  
• Communicate progress to families and engage families through formal meetings and informal phone calls, home visits, bus rides, and notes.    

The Qualifications

The ideal candidate possesses:

• Valid Tennessee teaching license with the appropriate Special Education or Interventionist endorsement, or a clear pathway toward Tennessee state certification 
• ESL endorsement is highly preferred
• Bachelor’s degree
• Experience with a Special Education caseload 
• Full-time teaching experience in a school setting
• Experience and demonstrated success teaching in a high-performing school, serving a culturally and socioeconomically diverse school community is highly preferred    

The Compensation 

Nashville Classical pays 5% above our local school district. For teachers, base 24-25 salaries range from $55,670 - $89,877. Teachers can select from three generous medical plans and are eligible for full state retirement benefits. This position will follow a 10-month schedule.

We also offer yearly stipends for teacher-leader roles, extracurricular clubs, coaching and additional roles. We offer all employees a Macbook computer, all necessary classroom supplies, and a $500 discretionary budget for classroom purchases. 

As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or disability.

The Outcomes

Our ideal candidate for this position would be invested in achieving the following outcomes in the next school year:

1. Support the effort to increase the percentage of scholars scoring in the 50th percentile or higher on our benchmark assessment, AimsWeb, which is a nationally normed assessment.

AND

2. Increase the number of scholars scoring on track or mastered on TCAP in 3-8 Math and ELA, and 6-8 Science and Social Studies by:
   1. Providing strong tier I, II, and III instruction to scholars.
   2. Utilize data-driven instruction to target, and close academic gaps. 
   3. Participating in regular observation feedback cycles with your coach, to strengthen instruction. 

3. Partner with families to ensure the percentage of chronically absent scholars decreases from previous school years by:
   1. Partnering with our Scholar and Family Support Coordinator to identify needs, and create a plan to meet them. 
   2. Communicating regularly with families about academic progress, and any potential impacts of attendance. 

As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or disability.