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High School Historical Perspectives Teacher for a Liberatory Education

Who We Are

Launching the first public charter school network to serve the incredibly vibrant and diverse South Nashville community, in 2010 our team set out to do what everyone told our Founder couldn’t be done: provide a rigorous, inquiry-based STEM education for Nashville’s structurally underrepresented subgroups, preparing each student, regardless of home language or immigration status, to graduate from college. Nearly a decade after our doors opened to our founding 5th grade class, we operate two fully built out high-performing schools serving the highest percentage of limited english proficiency students in our sector: STEM Prep Academy Middle School (grades 5-8) and STEM Prep High School (grades 9-12). In 2014, we expanded our impact to launch one of the largest newcomer programs in the country, the Nashville Newcomer Academy, serving new arrival immigrant and refugee students and their families from around the world.

Today, our team is comprised of over 100 of the most tenacious, persistent, and mission-aligned teachers, leaders, and support staff working to secure the college-graduation mission for each and every one of our students and their families. By 2025, we aim for the diversity of our staff to mirror the population we serve. We have the ACT scores and national growth data, the accolades and awards, the parent testimonials, the college scholarship funds, and the founding alumni, the college-graduating class of 2023, to prove that what we set out to do is in fact possible. We show up for our students and for each other every single day, motivated by the incredibly hard work it takes to give our students what they deserve (what everyone said couldn’t be done).

Join us.

"If the Lion does not tell his story, the hunter will." --African Proverb

We are seeking a historical perspectives teacher that knows how to empower students to think critically and ensure that all sides of history is told. The teacher we are looking for is not for the feint-hearted. We want someone who knows how to love big and tell the truth. In this way we hope to inspire our scholars to take their learnings outside of the classroom and apply it to the social injustices we see every day. You will work on a team of people that value liberty to create and implement a curriculum that ignites a passion for action with our students and don't believe in continuing the narrative of white washed history. If you are tired of just telling history from the victor's point view, then we're looking for you.

Who You Are:
  • You have a strong belief that history should be taught in a way that includes the stories and perspectives of diverse populations
  • You are passionate about providing a curriculum that provides historic, political and civic content from diverse, anti-racist perspectives.
  • You believe that this curriculum is important because it honors the stories of all students and develops student agency, voice, critical thinking, and advocacy skills to effect change in the community.
  • You are committed to collaborating with other educators to ensure that the curriculum taught to students is truly anti-racist. You know how to play on a team whether that's as a leader or a follower. You know how to make all voices heard.
  • You value student-led advocacy. You are okay with releasing control to your students especially when it helps them understand their own lived experiences.
  • You are flexible and okay with change. You know that the first year teaching will have its twists and turns. You take it all in stride and are okay with not knowing what is not known.
  • You are a data geek. You examine your student data every day, motivated in equal parts by the gaps yet to be closed and the mastery already attained. Because you’re so data-driven, your students are too. Your students are able to articulate their own strengths and areas for growth because data is such an integral part of every lesson you teach.
  • You are seeking a feedback culture - a place where admin and teachers alike are in your classroom every day, pushing you to grow and improve.
  • You probably have experience working with English Learners (ELs) (over 80% of our network comes from a Non-English Language Background). Maybe you come from a Non-English Language Background yourself. But if you don’t have this experience, you are a fit if you fully believe our country’s ELs can, will and want to achieve, and that it’s our honor and responsibility to ensure they do.
  • When faced with a challenge, your default is to be solutions-oriented.
  • You are in this for the long-haul, feel called to work with this specific community, at this specific school. Our kids deserve consistency, and you are committed to providing that for them.
  • You have the data, qualitative and quantitative, to show that you get results.
  • Your classroom is warm, highly structured, and safe: each student knows exactly what is expected of them at all times, and they model with peers the care you enact.
  • You seek to partner with the parents of every student you teach because you know that collaboration is vital to the success of this work.

The Top 3 Reasons You Choose Us.

1. WE SEE OPPORTUNITY WHERE OTHERS SEE IMPOSSIBILITY. STEM fields are the future. And our kids will be leading them.

Our students are achieving unprecedented success on a national scale.
-Since its first year of operation, our Middle and High School students have outperformed the district and state every year in both reading and math.
-On average, the number of our students performing on or above grade level in both English/Language Arts and Math is more than double that of zoned schools.
-Our newest arrivals have been ranked in the top 1% nationally for growth in reading and math on the NWEA MAP assessment.
-Nashville Newcomer Academy students made 11x the expected growth in math and 15x expected growth in reading.

College graduation.
-Last year, our founding class, the college graduating class of 2023, earned over 3 million dollars in scholarships.
-We secured funding and college access for every single one of our undocumented students.

2. YOU COMMIT TO INVESTING DEEPLY IN OUR KIDS. WE COMMIT TO INVESTING DEEPLY IN YOU.
Weekly professional development and personalized coaching.

Leadership development. Whether you want to lead as the best ELA teacher in the state or as the School Director, we have a pathway for that.

Competitive compensation & benefits.
-Annual Salary: On average, our teacher’s salaries are 10% higher than traditional district and choice sector teachers.
-Stipend eligibility (early decision, competitive roles, graduate school)
-Referral bonus ($1,000 for every teacher and leader candidate we hire)
-Licensure support
-Unlimited classroom supplies

Family & Wellbeing
-Paid Parental Leave
-Private nursing room for new moms.
-Child care supplement for PD days
-Retirement counseling
-Health center access
-Mental health counseling

3. THEY WANT GROWTH. WE WANT IMPACT.
We don’t believe in growth plans with goals around how many buildings we operate or how large our network is. We run through the wall to develop deep and lasting community partnerships that will transform the lives of our kids and families for generations to come. Our growth plan isn’t oriented towards meeting a financial goal or reaching a specific size. We are whole-heartedly committed to deepening our impact in this specific community. Here are some examples of our community-based efforts and impact so far:
-Health programs to make sure our moms get their mammograms.
-Home ownership classes no none of our families are in a predatory rent culture.
-English classes three times a day for all parents, including those who work third shift.
-When there is a family in crisis, we are the first people they call.
-When there is a quinceanera, every teacher is there.
-We have the largest mental health staff of any network (and a really great therapy dog).
-Our alumni are here almost every day of the week, drinking coffee in the breakroom, seeking feedback on their latest essay, and attending parent-teacher conference with their younger siblings.
We're different from the other guys. Our aim is to continue this level of deep impact and advance the outcomes, education and otherwise, for all students and families in the neighborhoods we serve.



STEM Preparatory Academy believes it is critical for leaders in urban education to reflect the urban communities they serve. We actively recruit people of color to join our team. We support equal opportunity for all people and we strongly encourage diverse candidates to apply for open positions. STEM Prep does not discriminate in its hiring or employment practices.