About this role
DISTRICT OVERVIEW Holyoke Public Schools is a PreK-12 public school district serving nearly 4,800 students, of whom 80 percent are Latino/Latina, in 11 schools. We employ nearly 1,300 people who together educate and support a richly diverse community of learners. We are committed to recruiting and retaining top-quality educators who believe all children can and will learn and who strive daily to make school a joyful place of discovery, support, and belonging. Holyoke Public Schools' strategic plan, “Moving Forward Together,” builds on the strengths of our past while serving as a call to action to accelerate student learning by thinking differently about how we teach, how we work together, and how we support students' well-being. Many successes contributed to Holyoke's return to local governance after 10 years in state receivership. These include:
• The highest graduation rate on record of 77.1 percent, an increase of more than 15-points over 10 years
• Meaningful, applied learning opportunities for high school students, including theme-based academies, career vocational technical education programming, work-based learning, and advanced coursework
• A comprehensive approach to early literacy that includes strong core instruction and one-on-one tutoring, contributing to more students reading at grade level
• A thriving dual language English/Spanish program, where nearly 900 students are on their path to becoming bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural
• More than one-third of Holyoke teachers identify as people of color, a 19-point increase over 10 years. Many partnership programs support staff to earn licensure or additional certification.
Please visit the Holyoke Public Schools website to learn more about us, our recent accomplishments, and our commitment to equity. - PERSPECTIVA GENERAL DEL DISTRITO Las Escuelas Públicas de Holyoke son un distrito escolar público que cuenta con 11 escuelas de prekínder a 12.° grado y acoge a casi 4 800 estudiantes, de los cuales el 80 % se identifica como latino o latina. Empleamos a casi 1 300 personas que, en conjunto, educan y apoyan a una comunidad de estudiantes altamente diversa. Estamos comprometidos a contratar y retener educadores de alta calidad que creen firmemente que todos los niños pueden aprender y aprenderán, y que se esfuerzan diariamente por hacer de la escuela un lugar alegre de descubrimiento, apoyo y pertenencia. El plan estratégico de las Escuelas Públicas de Holyoke , “Avanzando Juntos”, se basa en nuestras fortalezas previas y, al mismo tiempo, sirve como un llamado a la acción para acelerar el aprendizaje estudiantil a través de una nueva perspectiva sobre cómo enseñamos, cómo trabajamos en colaboración y cómo apoyamos el bienestar de los estudiantes. Existen numerosos logros que permitieron a Holyoke recuperar el control local después de 10 años de administración judicial. Entre estos logros se encuentran:
• La tasa de graduación más alta registrada, del 77.1 %, lo que representa un aumento de más de 15 puntos porcentuales en 10 años
• Oportunidades significativas de aprendizaje práctico para estudiantes de secundaria, que incluyen academias temáticas, programas de educación técnica y vocacional, aprendizaje basado en el trabajo y cursos avanzados
• Un enfoque integral de la alfabetización temprana que combina una sólida instrucción básica con tutorías individuales, lo cual ha contribuido a que más estudiantes lean a nivel de grado
• Un próspero programa bilingüe de inglés/español, en el que casi 900 estudiantes avanzan hacia el bilingüismo, la biliteracidad, y la biculturalidad.
• Más de un tercio de los maestros de Holyoke se identifican como personas de etnicidad diversa, lo que representa un aumento de 19 puntos porcentuales en 10 años. Diversas colaboraciones con programas que han contribuido a que miembros del personal obtengan sus certificaciones o credenciales adicionales.
Visite el sitio web de las Escuelas Públicas de Holyoke para obtener más información sobre nuestra comunidad, nuestros logros recientes y nuestro compromiso con la equidad. Position Overview: The Kindergarten Teacher creates a joyful, safe, inclusive, and academically rigorous classroom in which every student feels known, valued, and capable of success. Recognizing kindergarten as a foundational year, the teacher develops students' early literacy, numeracy, communication, independence, curiosity, and sense of belonging. The ideal candidate understands early childhood development, maintains high expectations for every learner, builds strong relationships with students and families, and works collaboratively to advance Morgan's commitment to ensuring that all students are seen, heard, loved, and challenged. Job Responsibilities:
• Plan and deliver engaging, developmentally appropriate instruction aligned with Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, district-adopted curricula, and Morgan's schoolwide instructional priorities.
• Provide explicit, systematic instruction in foundational literacy, including phonological awareness, phonics, oral language, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and early writing.
• Develop students' conceptual understanding, mathematical reasoning, problem-solving skills, and ability to communicate their thinking.
• Create a classroom environment that balances purposeful play, exploration, collaboration, movement, and explicit instruction.
• Establish and consistently reinforce clear classroom routines, procedures, and behavioral expectations that promote safety, independence, belonging, and productive learning.
• Build authentic, affirming relationships with students and cultivate a classroom community in which students' cultures, languages, identities, and experiences are valued.
• Communicate clear, student-friendly learning objectives and success criteria for lessons, units, and learning tasks.
• Use modeling, guided practice, independent practice, questioning, checks for understanding, and timely feedback to support student mastery.
• Differentiate instruction and provide appropriate scaffolds, accommodations, and extensions based on students' academic, linguistic, developmental, behavioral, and social-emotional needs.
• Implement Individualized Education Programs, Section 504 Plans, English learner supports, behavior plans, and other required student accommodations with fidelity.
• Regularly assess student learning through observations, screeners, formative assessments, student work, and district benchmarks.
• Analyze student data individually and collaboratively to identify strengths, determine unfinished learning, plan small-group instruction, and provide timely intervention or enrichment.
• Participate actively in MTSS, CST, data meetings, collaborative planning, professional learning, and other student-support structures.
• Develop strong, respectful partnerships with families through consistent, accessible, and culturally responsive communication about student learning, growth, attendance, and well-being.
• Maintain accurate and confidential student records in accordance with federal and state law, district policy, and school expectations.
• Collaborate effectively with grade-level colleagues, specialists, interventionists, special educators, multilingual educators, counselors, paraeducators, and school leaders.
• Provide clear direction and purposeful assignments to paraeducators, student teachers, volunteers, or other adults assigned to the classroom.
• Actively supervise students throughout the school day, including arrival, dismissal, transitions, lunch, recess, assemblies, and other assigned duties.
• Participate in staff meetings, professional development, family events, schoolwide initiatives, and committees as required.
• Reflect on professional practice, respond constructively to feedback, and pursue continuous improvement in service of students.
• Demonstrate reliability, flexibility, professionalism, sound judgment, and a collective commitment to all Morgan students.
• Perform other duties consistent with the role and as assigned by the Principal or designee.
Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
• At least one year of successful full-time teaching experience.
• Strong knowledge of early childhood development and developmentally appropriate kindergarten instruction.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality foundational literacy and mathematics instruction.
• Commitment to ensuring academic, social-emotional, and behavioral success for every student.
• Ability to create a structured, joyful, culturally responsive, and inclusive classroom community.
• Ability to collect, interpret, and apply student-performance data to instructional planning and intervention.
• Ability to differentiate instruction for students with disabilities, multilingual learners, and students with a wide range of strengths and needs.
• Strong classroom-management, organization, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Experience working in an urban school setting and with culturally and linguistically diverse student populations strongly preferred.
• Fluency in Spanish strongly preferred.
Required License(s):
• Valid Massachusetts DESE educator license in Early Childhood (PreK–2) at the appropriate level, or eligibility to obtain the required license.
• Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Teacher Endorsement, or ability to obtain the endorsement within the timeline required by DESE and Holyoke Public Schools.