Everett High School Connections English Language Arts Teacher

Everett High School Connections English Language Arts Teacher

Position Type: Full-Time

Location: Everett High School, Everett Public Schools

Position: Connections Program English Language Arts Teacher

Vacancy Status: Current Vacancy

Salary/Benefits: In accordance with the Everett Teachers Association collective bargaining agreement

Position Overview:

Everett High School is seeking a highly skilled, student-centered, and emotionally steady English Language Arts teacher to serve in the Connections Program. This is a current vacancy in a specialized in-house alternative setting designed to support students in grades 9-12 who require a more structured, relationship-based, and coordinated academic environment due to social, emotional, behavioral, attendance, or other school-related challenges.

The Connections Program provides students with an integrated academic, therapeutic, and behavioral support model. The goal of the program is to help students make meaningful academic progress, strengthen self-regulation and coping strategies, rebuild productive school routines, and, when appropriate, successfully transition back into general education settings. The ELA teacher in this role must be committed to both rigorous literacy instruction and the intensive relationship-building required to support students who may have experienced academic failure, trauma, dysregulation, disconnection from school, or inconsistent access to learning.

This position requires an educator who believes that students in alternative settings deserve access to grade-level texts, high-quality instructional materials, explicit literacy instruction, academic language development, and meaningful opportunities to read, write, speak, listen, think, and produce work every day.

About the Connections Program:

The Connections Program is a small, supportive, team-based program within Everett High School. It is designed to function as a close-knit school community within the larger high school setting. Students in Connections need adults who are consistent, respectful, trauma-informed, and able to balance warmth with clear expectations.

The successful candidate must understand that teaching in Connections requires more than content knowledge. It requires the ability to build trust, maintain structure, de-escalate conflict, communicate proactively, collaborate with counselors and support staff, and respond to student needs with discretion, professionalism, and care.

This role is best suited for a teacher who is flexible, reflective, resilient, collaborative, and willing to receive and implement feedback. Candidates should be prepared to work with students who may struggle with attendance, task initiation, emotional regulation, peer/adult relationships, academic stamina, and consistent work completion. The teacher must be able to create a classroom environment where students feel safe, respected, held accountable, and expected to learn.

Instructional Expectations:

The Connections ELA teacher will plan and deliver standards-aligned instruction using approved Everett High School ELA curriculum and high-quality instructional materials, including district-approved resources such as Savvas and/or StudySync. Instruction must align with the Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Frameworks, Everett Public Schools' instructional priorities, and the needs of students in the Connections Program.

In alignment with the Everett Public School's Instructional Priority, the teacher will intentionally implement student-centered literacy instructional strategies with HQIM to provide targeted, rigorous instruction that leads to improved reading fluency, comprehension, writing, and academic language development, especially for students with disabilities and multilingual learners.The teacher is expected to consistently incorporate student-centered literacy strategies such as:

• Annotating text to support comprehension, analysis, and evidence-based thinking
• Academic conversations that build speaking, listening, reasoning, and academic language
• Partner reading and reciprocal teaching to support fluency, comprehension, prediction, questioning, clarification, and summarizing
• Two-column notes and other structured note-taking tools to help students organize key ideas, evidence, vocabulary, and questions
• Jigsaw and collaborative learning structures that increase student agency and peer-to-peer learning
• Summarizing strategies that require students to identify central ideas and express understanding in their own words
• Writing strategies that provide frequent opportunities for students to process learning, develop claims, use evidence, explain reasoning, and build writing stamina

The teacher must be able to move beyond passive compliance and ensure that students are actively producing evidence of learning during class. This includes written responses, annotations, discussion notes, summaries, constructed responses, revised writing, and other visible artifacts of student thinking.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

The Connections English Language Arts Teacher will:

• Plan and facilitate daily ELA lessons aligned to Massachusetts ELA standards, Everett High School curriculum expectations, and district-approved high-quality instructional materials.
• Provide explicit, structured, and engaging literacy instruction that supports reading comprehension, vocabulary development, academic discourse, writing development, and preparation for required assessments.
• Use student-centered strategies to create lessons that engage students in active reading, writing, speaking, listening, collaboration, and meaningful work.
• Maintain a classroom environment that is predictable, respectful, trauma-informed, and academically focused.
• Establish clear routines, expectations, and systems that support student engagement, emotional regulation, work completion, and productive classroom behavior.
• Assess students' academic strengths and needs through classroom data, student work, common assessments, diagnostics, MCAS-related data, IXL data, and other relevant measures.
• Use data to plan targeted instruction, reteaching, intervention, enrichment, and individualized supports.
• Collaborate regularly with the ELA Director, Connections Program staff, special education staff, multilingual learner staff, counselors, administrators, social workers, behavior/clinical staff, and other related service providers.
• Participate in professional learning communities, department meetings, student support meetings, and program-based meetings focused on student progress, instructional planning, communication, and intervention.
• Support the development and implementation of individualized student success plans, behavior plans, academic intervention plans, IEP accommodations, 504 accommodations, and other student support structures as appropriate.
• Communicate proactively and professionally with students, families, colleagues, counselors, and administrators regarding student progress, concerns, attendance, behavior, and academic needs.
• Follow all school and district communication protocols, especially when concerns involve student safety, mandated reporting, serious behavioral incidents, family communication, or sensitive student matters.
• Use language, tone, body language, and classroom responses that promote dignity, de-escalation, conflict resolution, problem solving, and positive student behavior.
• Address sensitive student issues discreetly and professionally, working through the appropriate support staff and administrative channels.
• Implement inclusive practices and Sheltered English Instruction strategies to support multilingual learners and students with disabilities.
• Provide students with consistent opportunities to engage with grade-level texts, academic vocabulary, writing tasks, oral language practice, and evidence-based analysis.
• Administer and use common assessments, IXL diagnostics, unit assessments, MCAS-related tasks, midterm and final exams, and other required assessments as directed by the ELA Department and school leadership.
• Support students in developing the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral skills necessary for success in high school and transition to post-secondary education, employment, training, or other future pathways.
• Participate in district and school-based professional development, including training related to literacy instruction, student-centered strategies, trauma-informed practice, crisis prevention/intervention, behavior support, special education, multilingual learners, and alternative education.
• Demonstrate professionalism, emotional regulation, dependability, confidentiality, and a willingness to seek and accept feedback.
• Contribute to the overall success, stability, and culture of the Connections Program and Everett High School.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in English, English Education, Literature, Language Arts, or a related field
• Valid Massachusetts teaching license in English Language Arts, grades 8-12 or 5-12, as applicable
• SEI Endorsement
• Demonstrated ability to teach high school English Language Arts using standards-aligned curriculum and assessments
• Ability to work effectively with students who have significant social, emotional, behavioral, attendance, and/or academic needs
• Strong classroom management skills grounded in positive behavior supports, relationship-building, consistency, and de-escalation
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Ability to collaborate with teachers, counselors, administrators, families, and support staff
• Willingness to participate in district-required training, including crisis prevention/intervention or Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Schools training, as required

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in English, Education, Special Education, ESL, Reading, Literacy, Counseling, or a related field
• Three or more years of successful high school ELA teaching experience
• Experience teaching in an alternative education program, therapeutic program, substantially separate setting, or structured student support program
• Dual licensure in Special Education and/or English as a Second Language
• Experience working in an urban public school setting
• Experience supporting students with trauma histories, emotional disabilities, behavioral needs, attendance challenges, or interrupted schooling
• Experience using HQIM such as Savvas and/or StudySync
• Experience using student-centered literacy strategies, academic discourse routines, structured writing supports, and data-driven instruction
• Familiarity with MCAS preparation, IXL, common assessments, and standards-based grading practices
• Bilingual or multilingual skills preferred

Qualities of a Strong Candidate:

The strongest candidate for this position will be someone who:

• Believes students in alternative settings deserve rigorous, grade-level instruction and not watered-down work
• Can build strong relationships without lowering expectations
• Maintains calm, professional, and respectful communication during stressful situations
• Understands that student behavior is communication but still holds students accountable for learning
• Uses structure, routine, and clear expectations to help students feel safe and successful
• Is comfortable working as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Communicates early and clearly when students need additional support
• Protects student dignity and confidentiality
• Responds to feedback with professionalism and follow-through
• Can create a classroom where students produce visible academic work every day
• Understands that success in Connections depends on both strong instruction and strong adult collaboration

Working Conditions:

The Connections Program serves students with complex needs. The teacher should expect to work in a setting that requires flexibility, patience, emotional steadiness, and active collaboration with other adults. Students may demonstrate avoidance, frustration, dysregulation, refusal, conflict with peers or adults, inconsistent attendance, or difficulty completing academic work. The teacher must be prepared to respond with calm, structure, appropriate support, and clear expectations.

This position requires consistent attendance, timely communication, active participation in meetings, and close collaboration with program and school leadership.

Equal Opportunity Statement:

The Everett Public Schools, in accordance with its nondiscrimination policies, does not discriminate in its programs, facilities, employment, or educational opportunities on the basis of race, color, age, criminal record inquiries only, disability, homelessness, sex/gender, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, genetics, military status, or any other protected category. Everett Public Schools does not tolerate retaliation, bias-based intimidation, threats, harassment, or conduct that demeans individuals' dignity or interferes with their ability to learn or work.