Tapestry Charter School, in partnership with Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound, will open a new, small high school in September 2006. The school will admit 48 freshmen in 2006 and 72 freshmen in 2007, with 72 students in the freshman class each year thereafter. By 2010, the school will reach its maximum size of 288 students. The school will be partially funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which will support extensive staff development in the model of Expeditionary Learning and exemplary pedagogy. Teachers will be valued as professionals and will be expected to contribute to school decision making and the creation of school culture.
Expeditionary Learning is a comprehensive school design that emphasizes active and engaging instructional practices that promote equity, high expectations, and rigorous, in-depth curricula. The curriculum is enhanced by learning expeditions, which are characterized by interdisciplinary, literacy-rich, inquiry-based studies that lead a diverse group of students to create meaningful products for authentic audiences. Between trimesters, students will be offered Intensives, which are 5-day elective courses with individualized opportunities for improving academic skills in areas of need. Also central to Expeditionary Learning design are practices that foster school culture and character development. School structures will provide time for effective student and adult learning, and time for knowing students well.
Teachers will be given fixed time in their weekly schedule for communication as a Grade Level Team and for interdisciplinary teaming with other staff members (art, language, etc.). This time will include discussion of student progress and needed support efforts.
General Responsibilities of Teachers
- Collaborate with colleagues to create and implement interdisciplinary
learning expeditions, an enhancement to the curriculum at the school.
Expeditions must align with NYS Learning Standards, the school-wide
curriculum map, and portfolio and graduation requirements.
- Incorporate explicit literacy instruction (reading and writing) into
content-area lesson plans.
- Collaborate with colleagues in the development of the school-wide
curriculum map, school structures, and school culture.
- Design and implement Intensives for delivery during the 5 days between
trimesters.
- Develop and implement detailed plans for Crew, which is a small-group
advisory period that meets at least four times weekly. In Crew, teachers will
work with the same group of 12-14 students for at least 2 years, in efforts that
are supportive of student learning, and in keeping with the school's priorities
and structures (for example, culture building, wellness planning, student-led
conference preparation, portfolio creation, exhibition of student work
preparation, internship support).
- Participate in adventure and Outward Bound wilderness-based activities
with students (including a week-long Outward Bound Course at the end of
summer/start of school year; other wilderness activities during the year).
- Participate in ongoing professional development, which includes a
regularly scheduled study group focusing on effective instructional practice.
- Attend regional and national professional development offerings by
Expeditionary Learning, as appropriate. Spring and Summer training will be
expected in 2006.
- Attend biweekly Design Team meetings from March to July 2006. The
meetings will be 2 hours long and will be scheduled in late afternoon.
Preferred Qualifications for Teaching Positions
- 3 years teaching experience at the high school level.
- Experience with a range of content in your subject area.
- Experience utilizing community experts and community resources to enhance content instruction.
- Experience integrating literacy in your subject area.
- Experience with project-based teaching and learning.
- Experience integrating the arts and technology into your content area.
- Experience with an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning.
- Experience with inclusion of special education students in the general education setting.
- Willingness to oversee/advise extracurricular activities (for example, student clubs or sports activities).
- Willingness to work with students before or after school to support their academic growth.
Staff Reading List
Daniels H, Bizar M, Zemelman S. Rethinking High School: Best Practice in Teaching, Learning, and Leadership. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000, 320 pp. (www.rethinkinghighschool.com)
Daniels H, Bizar M. Teaching the Best Practice Way: Methods That Matter, K - 12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2004, 360 pp.
Delpit LD. Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York: The New Press, 1996, 206 pp.
DuFour R, DuFour R, Eaker R, Karhanek G. 2004. Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don't Learn. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service, 2004.
DuFour R, Eaker R, DuFour R, eds. On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service, 2005.
Kozol J. 1991. Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools. New York: HarperCollins, 1992, 272 pp.
Levine M. Keeping A Head In School: A Student's Book About Learning Abilities and Learning Disorders. Cambridge MA: EPS, 1990.
Levine M. A Mind at a Time. Cambridge MA: EPS, 2002.
Meier D. 2002. The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem. Boston: Beacon Press, 2002, 208 pp.
Sizer TR. 1984. Horace's Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2004, 257 pp.
Sizer, TR. 1992. Horace's School: Redesigning the American High School. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1997, 256 pp.
Sizer TR. The Red Pencil: Convictions from Experience in Education. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004.
