Teaching Fellowship

Overview

Named in honor of Louise Thaden, a pioneering aviator from Bentonville, Thaden School opened in the fall of 2017 with just 50 students in Grades 7 and 9. With its well-resourced Indexed Tuition program, the School has grown steadily, and enrollment is over 380 students in Grades K-2 and 5-12 for the  academic year. Designed by a world-class team of architects, the School’s 35-acre campus in downtown Bentonville will support as many as 600 students.

By the 2026-27 academic year, Thaden will offer Grades K-12.

Thaden School contributes to the development of future independent school leaders as a partner of the Independent School Teaching Residency (ISTR) of the Penn Graduate School of Education (GSE).Each year, we will welcome a cohort of Penn Fellows to our teaching faculty and support their learning as they pursue their Master of Science in Education (M.S.Ed.) from Penn GSE. The ISTR curriculum distinguishes itself through its intentional integration of cutting-edge research and an immersive teaching fellowship at partner schools.

Our fellows will work in collaboration with a discipline-specific mentor. Led by our Head of Middle School, Dr. Mary Cathleen Smith, our program strives to empower our Penn Fellows to contribute meaningfully and with a positive impact to the student experience at Thaden School.

• Teach a modified course load.
• Coach, lead, and/or advise at least two co-curricular, student-facing programs per year, which usually include coaching a sport and sponsoring a club.
• Lead a student advisory group with the support of the assistant head for the duration of the fellowship.
• Attend and participate in all faculty meetings and school/division-wide assemblies as members of the Thaden faculty.
• Meet regularly with the Head of Middle School to apply learning from the ISTR curriculum to their teaching and learning at Thaden School.
• Meet weekly with their faculty mentor to collaborate on pedagogy and curriculum relevant to the fellow, the mentor, and the ISTR curriculum.
• Conduct classroom and campus-wide observations as determined by the fellow and their faculty mentor, the Head of Middle School, and the Independent School Teaching Residency (ISTR) faculty of Penn GSE.
• Participate in their evaluation process with the Head of Middle School, with input from relevant collaborators (mentors, co-advisors, athletic director, etc.), using indicators appropriate for and designed by the Independent School Teaching Residency (ISTR) program in conjunction with Thaden School expectations for faculty.

• Positive personality and love for children.
• Strong desire to learn about the art of teaching.
• Highly collaborative and collegial manner.
• Consistent, highly professional behavior, including discretion, judgment, and integrity.
• Dedicated work ethic: proactive, responsible, reliable, punctual, and attentive to deadlines.
• Effective time management skills with the ability to manage, organize, and prioritize work.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Flexibility with the special needs associated with an academic calendar and schedule.
• Ability to display strong initiative, internal motivation, and a willingness to take on responsibilities beyond those explicitly defined. Committed to professional learning and growth.
• Undergraduate degree in the content area being taught.
• Candidate must also complete the required background check.

• Job frequently requires standing, walking, and handling objects with hands.
• Job occasionally requires reaching, climbing, stooping, kneeling, pushing, pulling, and lifting up to 25 pounds.
• Some work is performed outside and may require exposure to changing weather conditions.

Based on the duties and requirements above, this position will be paid as a salaried exempt employee.

Please submit a statement outlining your interest in teaching, detailing subject matter expertise and extracurricular areas of experience, transcripts, two reference letters, and a resume to Mary Cathleen Smith, Head of Middle School. The start date is the summer of 2026. Thaden is an equal opportunity…