Lakeside School, an independent 5-12 day school located in North Seattle, is currently recruiting for a part time (teaching 3 sections) or full time (teaching 4 sections) Middle School Social Studies teacher for the 2023-2024 school year. The Middle School Social Studies program prepares students to thrive and lead in a world of accelerating change. To actively contribute wisdom, compassion, and leadership to a global society, students must understand the past and its relationship to the world today. We emphasize an Equity and Inclusion Mindset, as well as Global, Ethical, Sustainability, and Service Mindsets, while helping students build the literacy, critical thinking, multi-disciplinary flexibility, and courageous problem-solving they will need as they face the unknowns of the future.

Responsibilities: Lakeside Middle School’s social studies teachers are a collaborative team. Across grades five through eight, students’ literacy skills grow as they analyze texts, visuals, and data. They learn to research and to make prudent and effective use of media and technology. To foster critical thinking, students identify claims, evaluate evidence and reasoning, and learn to make and defend their own claims. Through engaging in dialogue, debate, simulations, and projects students build competence with active listening, public speaking, clear and effective writing, perspective-taking, collaboration, and leadership. We promote civic understanding, skills, and actions, equipping and empowering students with the knowledge and tools to build a more equal and sustainable tomorrow. By providing opportunities to apply their learning, explore what service means, and act as an ally and advocate, students develop a personal commitment to individual, social, and environmental responsibility. The successful candidate will be an enthusiastic social studies educator who is interested in curriculum development, innovative pedagogy, culturally responsive and collaborative teaching, and working with highly motivated young students.

Specific responsibilities for this position are to: 

1. Teach four year-long sections of social studies courses, which will be some combination of 6th grade (The Silk Road: East Meets West), 7th grade (The American Dream), and 8th grade (Making the Modern World). Class size is 16-18 students per class. Each class meets for fifty minutes 2 out of every 3 days. These courses will be planned, taught, and assessed in collaboration with 1-2 other teachers.
2. Collaborate actively with colleagues to develop curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment that emphasizes project-based, culturally-responsive, student-centered learning.
3. Contribute to the departmental focus on global-mindedness, equity, sustainability, civics, justice, and service. 
4. Serve as an advisor for a small group of students. This involves being present for morning check-in, daily community me in the afternoon, writing bi-annual advisor comments for report cards, and communicating with parents/guardians in fall conferences (and additionally, as needed). 
5. Provide academic support for students outside of class time as needed (e.g., answer homework questions via email, provide extra help during lunch or study halls). 
6.  Attend department meetings , faculty meetings, professional development days, and other all-school events.
7. Participate in the life of the school community, including in distributed leadership roles, and in experiential parts of our program, such as outdoor trips and service learning days.

Requirements and Qualifications

1. A degree in and preferably teaching experience in a social studies-related field (history, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, etc).
2. Have a demonstrated interest in educating adolescents, in or out of the classroom, ideally with experience teaching middle school.
3. Proven ability to differentiate instruction to accommodate different knowledge and skill bases.
4. Have demonstrated experience developing culturally responsive curriculum and assessment.
5. Demonstrates a commitment to hands-on learning; has experience working in an experiential learning environment.
6. Have experience instructing a diverse student population (race, gender, religion, politics, etc.).
7. Enjoys a highly collaborative work environment that values academic rigor, innovation, inclusion and creativity.
8.  Demonstrated cultural awareness, including knowledge of themselves and the cultural lenses they bring to interactions. The candidate will understand different perspectives; interact respectfully with cultures other than their own; and cultivate meaningful relationships with people that have different cultural frameworks.
9. Committed to being a positive and contributing member of the professional community
10. Be flexible and have a sense of humor (seriously, it’s middle school)!
11. Satisfactory completion of three criminal background checks.
12. Proof of COVID vaccination and booster to human resources. Candidates requesting a medical and/or religious exemption should reach out to Human Resources.

 Application Process
Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, and work history via the online application. Candidate cover letters should address the following questions: What attracts you to this job opportunity and what questions do you have about our community?

Salary and Benefits
Salary Range: $68,225 - $119,165

Lakeside School is committed to attracting and retaining outstanding candidates and provides a competitive compensation package. Benefits include:

• Employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance (based on FTE)
• Dependent medical and vision subsidy
• Retirement with generous employer contribution
• Life/disability insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Flexible spending accounts
• Free lunch
• Free parking
• Bus/bike benefits
• Housing assistance program
• Reduced facility rentals
• Passport Corporate membership
• Computer loan program
• Paid holidays and vacation
• Use of school library and gymnasium

Working At Lakeside
At Lakeside we are committed to sustaining a school in which individuals representing diverse cultures and experiences instruct one another in the meaning and value of community.  To learn more about working at Lakeside, including our professional development and mentoring programs, benefits, diversity and inclusion, and opportunities for involvement in non-academic programs, please visit our Careers page on the Lakeside School website. 

Equity in hiring: According to various studies, women and people of color are more likely to not apply for a job if they see themselves as not meeting every requirement of the posting, which means employers miss meeting potentially ideal candidates. Lakeside School is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community where employees from diverse cultures are affirmed and equipped to lead an inclusive learning environment for our students. Please apply even if you don’t meet every single requirement.