Cajal Academy seeks a passionate, Elementary General Education Teacher to deliver hands-on, interdisciplinary project-based learning

Cajal Academy is a small, nonprofit K-12 special education school for children who have very high analytical reasoning skills, coupled with an area of learning, social-emotional, physio or chronic medical differences. We are developing new educational approaches that align to what scientists now know about how children learn, socialize, develop and grow. Cross-disciplinary project-based learning is at the core of this model.

We are looking for an elementary level general education teacher who is passionate about delivering cross-disciplinary project-based learning in collaboration with an expert team of academic and licensed therapeutic experts.

This will be an in-person teaching position, working with a small group of just 12 kids, within a facility offering space for social distancing. All staff members must also be prepared to provide instruction via remote learning if and as required. All staff members must be fully-vaccinated for COVID-19 by the time of their start date, and all staff and students will be required to wear masks when indoors. The position will initially be part or full-time, depending on applicant fit, and will evolve into a full-time teaching position with advancement opportunities.

About Our School

Cajal Academy is an innovative, nonprofit small special education school for bright and gifted students with high analytical reasoning skills, along with a wide range of learning, social-emotional, neurophysiological and/or chronic medical conditions. This includes first-of-their-kind programs for under-served cohorts of high intellect students, including dyspraxia and heritable connective tissue disorders such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.  

Cajal Academy is a new kind of special education school. Cajal Academy was co-founded by an occupational therapist and a social entrepreneur who is mom to two very bright but neurophysiologically complicated children and with direction from a recognized neuropsychologist. Together, we developed a novel approach that moves beyond accommodation to actually reduce children’s disabilities, by leveraging the connections between children’s neurophysiology and their learning and social-emotional experiences. PT and OT therapies are integrated into academic and social-emotional therapeutic approaches, such as increasing core muscle strength to improve academic focus; pairing movement with academic instruction to increase learning retention (embodied cognition) and increasing a child’s capacity to perform targeted cognitive tasks by pairing them with gross motor movements (neuroplasticity). Meanwhile, cranio-sacral therapies provided by our team of manual PT experts and coaching to help children learn how to self-monitor, self-manage and self-advocate for autonomic and sensory regulatory challenges are a core piece of our social-emotional learning. 

Ours is a small school with a mixed-age cohort of bright, gifted and twice exceptional students in grades 3-12, growing towards a full K-12 school. Instruction is provided in small groups of 6 students or fewer; total enrollment for fall, 2023 is not expected to exceed 15 students. Over time we hope to grow the school to a total of approximately 50 students. All staff members form close and nurturing relationships with each of our students, using a trauma-informed approach. Cajal Academy is not a "behavior management" or ABA school and does not implement ABA approaches. We do not accept students who are physically aggressive towards staff or peers.

Cajal Academy was granted Candidacy status by NEASC in June, 2023 and will strive to achieve full accreditation over the coming year.

Responsibilities of the Position

This is a unique opportunity to develop and deliver differentiated instruction implementing Connecticut state academic standards through new pedagogical and social-emotional approaches developed by our team that leverage modern neuroscientific understanding to unlock students’ gifts. Our elementary generalist will provide continuity, support and primary instruction for our youngest learners (approximately grades K-2). This will be supplemented and supported for our older elementary school students by our math, STEM and language arts academic content specialists, as appropriate. Content across all grade levels is developed through a collaborative team approach to deliver standards-based academic instruction through cross-disciplinary, project-based learning that give bright, creative students deep dives to examine real world problems through multiple lenses.

Our Elementary General Ed Teacher will work with other academic specialists and members of our clinical team to develop curriculum implementing standards-based academics.

Responsibilities will include:

• Designing, implementing and analyzing assessments for each child’s current knowledge, strengths and weaknesses, and monitoring their progress

• Developing, modifying and delivering individual lesson plans combining a variety of traditional and non-traditional learning modalities, including traditional, kinesthetic, visual and blended learning programs

• Developing cross-disciplinary project-based learning in collaboration with other academic teachers and members of our therapeutic staff to deliver standards-based instruction.

• Fostering a love of science and supporting students who have academic anxieties and/or freeze-fight-flight reactions to academics through a trauma-informed approach to help them monitor and eventually reduce these reactions

• Implementing Cajal Academy protocols for growth mindset and social-emotional coaching, and support children’s growth by prompting students to utilize personalized self-regulation strategies provided by our clinical team

• Keeping parents and team members informed through written and oral communications, and expanding teacher and parent understanding of each child’s development

• Designing and administering assessments and maintaining appropriate records of student progress and performance

Requirements

Our ideal candidate will be a passionate, high-energy teacher who is excited to deliver standards-based elementary instruction within a highly-collaborative environment for a cohort of complex and very bright kids.

All Cajal Academy team members must be flexible thinkers with very high analytical skills and strong attention to detail. The successful applicant will have a strong grasp of a range of instructional strategies. Teacher certification and credential for special education are desirable but not required. Regardless of background, (s)he must be able to flexibly adapt educational strategies and/or develop new ones to respond to the needs of this cohort or of a particular child.

The successful candidate must also be a team player who is comfortable working both independently and collaboratively in a fluid environment. (S)he will be intellectually curious, and eager to learn from expert colleagues about the science of how children learn, develop and grow and to apply the new pedagogical and social-emotional approaches that the team has developed. (S)he must be comfortable with the fluidity that is required to provide highly-responsive, quality education to children with complex needs.

The successful applicant must also be passionate about empowering and inspiring bright and gifted children to develop into future thought leaders. (S)he must be prepared to support children struggling with anxieties and prior school-based traumas, which may display as “behavioral differences,” with collaborative problem-solving and unconditional support, applying Cajal Academy’s Neuro- and Trauma-Informed Approach, for which training will be provided.

In addition, the ideal candidate will…

• Have experience developing and delivering competency-based instruction at the elementary level

• Be experienced developing and delivering standards-based instruction through project-based learning, or be eager to develop this expertise

• Be effective at communicating both verbally and in writing with professional colleagues, staff, students and parents

• Have experience both developing and implementing Connecticut general education curriculum at the elementary level

• Have a bachelor’s degree or higher; teacher certification is desirable but not required

• Have knowledge and experience working with children who have a range of special needs, including learning disabilities, social-emotional challenges, sensory processing disorder, atypical neurological development and/or trauma; special education certification is desirable but not required

• Be comfortable providing live, synchronous remote instruction using a range of technological platforms

Finally, we are looking for candidates who are effective communicators with students, parents and staff. This extends to providing engaging instruction through remote instruction if and as required.

All candidates must be fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a valid medical exemption by the time of their start date.

How to Apply

Interested applicants should complete the Employment Application available on the Cajal Academy website, including a resume and 3 references. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.