Long-term Substitute (Middle School Design Teacher thru 13026), Collins Middle School, Salem Public Schools, Salem, MA [SY 2025-2026]

Long-term Substitute (Middle School Design Teacher (through 1 / 30 / 26)Collins Middle School Salem Public Schools Salem MA SY 2025-2026

About Salem Public Schools where belonging leads to opportunity.

Salem is a small diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history. Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district enrolling nearly 4000 students in 11 schools. Our vision is to ensure that all students will be locally engaged globally connected and fully prepared to thrive in a diverse and changing world. We hold dear our core values of belonging equity and opportunity in everything we do. We seek individuals who are passionate about urban education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement for all students regardless of ability economic status gender / gender identity language race / ethnicity sexual orientation or other backgrounds. We invite you to learn more about our strategic plan and core priorities on our website at

Reimagining Middle School :

To bring this vision to life the middle schools in Salem have committed to reimagining the student experience. Over the past three years the district designed piloted and scaled innovative work in partnership with our students families and educators to reach this vision. The goal is to create relevant learning experiences that connect middle schoolers to the community empower them to be independent learners and offer appropriate challenges and supports. We are committed to continuing to build our muscles as a learning organization - to continue to empower student voice to be intentional as we scale what works and to continue to innovate as we feel there is still so much more to learn and do. We are also committed to expanding access to the strong foundation and the new opportunities explored in the pilot to now serve the full middle school. As such we scaled the learning strategies of the pilot across the 8th grade in 2024-25 and are now working to reach all middle schoolers. To learn more you can read about the first year of our work in this Transcend Case Study or in this Boston Globe op-ed .

Key components of the reimagined middle school experience include :

• Design Studio : This hands-on learning block engages students in solving complex challenges through collaboration and creativity. Studio projects are intended to build life-skills such as communication teamwork creative problem solving and responding to feedback. These interdisciplinary projects can last from one day to ten weeks as students engage in rigorous learning through the arc of the project. For an example here is a summary of our extended fall studio Transitopia .
• Learning Immersions : Leaving the walls of school to learn is a core pillar of the 8th grade experience. Whether hiking in the forest or debating policy at the State House field immersions allow students and families to broaden their understanding of what learning can look like. We talk about community-based learning and learning immersions not field trips to emphasize the academic and social-emotional goals of this type of learning. Students develop a deep understanding of responsibility as each field site has its own set of learning norms.
• Learner Profiles : Supporting students understanding of themselves their interests and how they learn is critical for us to help reach our vision for middle school. Learner profiles are a new and evolving tool we are using to help build the habits and skills of learning in middle school.

The team has built a strong foundation of these learning elements; the goal of the design educator is to build from this foundation and scale the learning to all 8th grade students. To do so you will lead the Design block in the 8th grade schedule. You will lead this learning for all 250 8th grade students (with class meeting every other day) in 60 minute blocks. Each week you will be responsible for developing 2-3 core lessons that you will lead teach across the grade. You will also lead the design of specific lessons that will be implemented across the grade level (for example on half-day Wednesdays or days students go on learning immersions); these lessons will be prepared by you and taught by all teachers on the 8th grade team. The design educator is deeply supported by the Dean of Innovation and Innovation manager and also receives some support and collaboration from the WPS Institute the non-profit that has helped to design and launch the pilot program and will continue to partner with SPS to support the scale of this work.

Core Responsibilities :

Culture & Community :

Design- and Project-Based Learning

Collaboration with Team & Partners throughout the Community

Who you are :

What Youll Bring :

We are looking for candidates who have diverse backgrounds and experiences are inspired by our mission and are highly motivated to change childrens lives through education. Youll be right at home here if you are a reflective practitioner who values collaboration with colleagues and pushes yourself your work and the people around you to the next level. We expect our SPS employees to :

What Well Provide :

As part of this work the Middle School Design Teacher will participate in summer professional learning with the 8th grade team of up to one week (paid at $45 / hour) leading to the start of the new school year (up to 35 hours for a stipend of up to $1600). This role also requires weekly after school professional learning on Wednesdays. All sessions in excess of the contractual 25 hours of teacher meetings will be compensated at $45 / hour for up to $500 extra for the year. Opportunities for additional professional development and support will be provided through district and school based coaches and the Dean of Innovation.

Job Requirements :

Duration : This assignment is to cover a teacher on leave

Salary : TBD

Benefits : This position does not include benefits.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Salem Public School District is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race color religion national origin pregnancy gender identity sexual orientation marital / civil union status ancestry place of birth housing status age citizenship status veteran status political affiliation genetic information or disability as defined and required by state and federal laws. Additionally we prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose such discrimination and harassment or who participate in an equal opportunity investigation.

Key Skills

Integration,Advocacy,Animation,Back Office Support,Bid Management

Employment Type : Full-Time

Experience : years

Vacancy : 1