Common Ground is Seeking a Science Teacher

Common Ground Is Seeking A Full-Time Science Teacher

About Common Ground High School 

Common Ground High School is the nation’s longest-running environmental charter high school, founded in 1997. Our 225 students form an inclusive, powerful community of learners and leaders. These students benefit from a unique learning environment: an urban farm and 20-acre site, home to state of the art school facilities, adjacent to West Rock Ridge State Park, and located in the City of New Haven. We strive to create a learning environment grounded in foundational building blocks: rigor, responsive relationships, relevance that’s rooted in the local community and environment, and real roles & rights. 

Common Ground High School is part of a community nonprofit organization that also operates an urban farm and community environmental education center. As a whole, Common Ground is a center for learning and leadership, inviting people across ages and identities to connect to their urban environment, build community, grow into their full potential, and contribute to a just and sustainable world. We work toward this mission through active, authentic learning rooted in justice and our environment: a farm, in a forest, in a city. 

About the Position

We are seeking an data-driven, compassionate educator to join our team as a Science Teacher. This position is a full time for October 1 through June 2025. Preference for candidates the following certifications: Chemistry  7-12 and/or Physics Teacher. Consideration will be given to those in the process of gaining the endorsement, or candidates with relevant teaching and/or scientific experience. Common Ground offers full time employees a competitive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision and life insurance. Salary is commensurate with Common Ground High School Educator Salary Scale. Placement on that salary scale will take prior work, relevant experience in consideration. Staff members at Common Ground are represented by UAW local 2110 with a collective bargaining agreement in progress.

The Science Teacher will:

• Teach four classes in chemistry and/or physics to students in grades 9-12.
• Plan a rigorous and engaging science curriculum aligned to Next Generation Science Standards standards for grades 10-12.
• Develop materials and lesson plans to deliver effective instruction.
• Regularly evaluate and assess student performance by collecting and analyzing student performance data.
• Maintain strong classroom management and culture.
• Work with co-teachers and special education team to collaboratively plan and instruct students of varying academic abilities.
• Participate in grade-level and content department meetings.
• Promote the engagement of families in their student’s educational progress.
• Manage responsibilities outside of instruction such as advisory and supervision collateral duties.
• Accept and implement feedback from instructional coaches and supervisors.
• Act as guide for a small advisory that meets daily.

We are looking for Science candidates who demonstrate some or all of the following:

• Demonstrated success in delivering effective and engaging instruction to middle or high school aged students.
• Ability to analyze student data to make informed recommendations for instruction.
• Demonstrated success of managing student behavior and classroom routines to maximize learning time and create a positive classroom environment.
• Prior experience and positive record of collaborating with school staff.
• Knowledge of trauma-informed instruction and possesses a belief that all students can learn and be successful.
• A passion for our social justice mission and commitment to equitable and sustainable change.
• Prior experience working with Special Education and ELL students.

We are also excited to consider candidates who have:

• Values and embraces collaboration, communication, and has capacity to work effectively within a team that includes multiple teachers and community partners.
• Experience working directly with racially, economically, academically diverse high school aged young people, and with low-income young people and people of color in particular. Knowledge about and passion for working for an organization that is committed to social justice, the dismantling of systems of oppression, and creating a just, equitable, and inclusive culture.
• Experience working with Google applications, online course management platforms, and other online learning tools.

Application Instructions:

Please submit your cover letter and resume to applications(a)nhep.com Please specify the job you are applying for in the subject line of your email.

Equal Opportunity Employer 

Common Ground is particularly eager for candidates who can help us to fulfill our commitment to building a racially and culturally diverse faculty and staff. Common Ground has a commitment to examining the intersection of social, environmental, and food justice issues; how systems of oppression, including white privilege, impact the organization’s work; and how resistance to those systems can offer windows into a more sustainable society. 

Common Ground is committed to the recruitment and retention of staff that is reflective of the communities we work with. We strongly encourage applicants from people of color, immigrants, women, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ community, people whose native language is something other than English, and other underrepresented and historically marginalized groups. 

It has been the policy and will continue to be the strong commitment of the Common Ground and all contractors and subcontractors who do business with Common Ground to provide equal opportunities in employment to all qualified persons solely on the basis of job-related skills, ability and merit. Common Ground will continue to take Affirmative Action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, mental disorder (present or past history thereof) age, physical disability (but not limited to blindness), marital status, intellectual disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and criminal record. Such action includes, but is not limited to, employment, promotion, demotion or transfer; recruitment or recruitment advertising; layoff or termination; rates of pay or other forms of compensation, and selection for training, professional development, attendance at conferences or other opportunities for advancement. Common Ground, its contractors and subcontractors will continue to make good faith efforts to comply with all federal and state laws and policies which speak to equal employment opportunity. The principles of Affirmative Action are addressed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments of the United States Constitution, Civil Rights Act of 1866, 1870, 1871, Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VI and VII of the 1964 United States Civil Rights Act, Presidential Executive Order 11246, amended by 11375, (Non-discrimination under federal contracts)< Act 1, Section 1 and 20 of the Connecticut Constitution, Governor Grasso’s Executive Order Number 11, Governor O’Neill’s Executive Order 9, the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Law (Sec. 46a-60-69) of the Connecticut General Statutes, Connecticut Code of Fair Practices (46a-7081), Deprivation of Civil Rights (46a-58(a)(d)), Public Accommodations Law (46a-63-64), 

Discrimination against Criminal Offenders (46a-80), definition of Blind (46a-51(1)), definition of Physically Disabled (46a-51(15)), definition of Intellectual Disability (46a51(13)), cooperation with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (46a-77), Sexual Harassment (46a-60(a)-8), Connecticut Credit Discrimination Law (360436 through 439), Title I of the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972. This Affirmative Action Policy Statement re-affirms Common Ground’s commitment to equity in the workplace and the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity.