SYAcademic Specialist

About DC Prep

DC Prep is a high performing network of public charter schools serving over 2,100 preschool through 8th‑grade students across six campuses in Wards 5, 7, and 8. We’re proud of the high bar we set for ourselves to achieve results—our students deserve our best! We recognize that how we support our students to be successful is just as important as the results we achieve, which pushes us to reflect on questions such as:

• How can we facilitate our students’ academic, social, and emotional development?
• How can we support our team members’ professional growth and personal ability to do this work long‑term?
• How can we engage our students’ families as our own?

Role Type:
Full‑Time, 12 Month

Location:

Washington, DC

FLSA Status:
Exempt

• Rigorous academic focus. Our Preppies receive the highest level of academic preparation through standards‑based instruction, daily targeted interventions, and meaningful assessments.
• Social‑emotional learning. We have always had a dual mission of academic and social‑emotional skill development. Our research‑based SEL curriculum is integrated into daily instruction, helping students leverage their personal values to strengthen their self‑awareness, social awareness, and responsible decision‑making skills and create a school‑wide culture of empathy and reflection.
• Commitment to reflection and refinement. Our results tell us that we are moving in the right direction, but there’s further to go to ensure that every student receives a transformative education. As a team, we regularly reflect on our programmatic model to see what’s working and where we can get better.

The Academic Specialist is charged with modeling and building a positive, productive and joyful learning environment to ensure a high‑quality experience for all children, most specifically for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The Academic Specialist collaborates frequently with members of the special education department and leadership team to design rigorous specialized instruction for students on their caseload. An effective Academic Specialist is highly data‑driven and relentless in designing specialized instruction that holds high expectations for students with disabilities while meeting a wide range of academic needs in collaboration with co‑teachers.

As a key member of the school leadership team, the Academic Specialist functions on a 12‑month schedule as a teacher‑leader and reports to the campus Special Education Coordinator.

You absolutely love to teach and have a strong track record of differentiating instruction that supports your students in making academic leaps and bounds. You are unwavering in your belief that ALL students can–and should–pursue rigorous academic goals. Your colleagues know you as a team player and model teacher and think of you as the “go‑to” in your school when they want to know “What else can I do to support this student academically?”.

Because of your content knowledge, strong instructional delivery and commitment to data‑driven instruction, you are able to clearly identify exactly what a student needs at a particular moment in order to make significant academic gains. Additionally, you have a track record of working collaboratively with others to ensure that every student in your classroom is making academic progress. Above all, you’re passionate about the need for students from underserved communities to learn without limits, the importance of addressing the intersection of race and public education in the U.S., and the transformational power of talented, mission‑aligned people working together to advance a goal.

You’re open to feedback, eager to grow, and bring your best to everything you do. You look for joy in your day‑to‑day and want to work with others who do, too!

• Providing Tier 3 interventions to students with IEPs
• Designing and implementing literacy and math instruction for multiple special education pull‑out groups daily
• Designing and delivering standards‑aligned, student‑centered instruction to meet rigorous academic goals for students with disabilities
  • Using data to develop…