Middle School Humanities Teacher

Prospect Sierra is an independent, coed TK–8th grade school located on two campuses in El Cerrito, California, serving 440 students. Prospect Sierra gives students the tools to build a better world by integrating rigorous academics with a deep understanding of human emotions. Every day our exceptional teachers connect students’ academic experiences to ethics, empathy, and social and emotional intelligence. The result is deeper intellectual engagement, greater self-knowledge, and compassionate relationships. Prospect Sierra students develop the courage to become more than great students, but great people. 

Overview of Position

This position is for either 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th grade advisor and humanities teacher, beginning August 2025. This teacher will report to the Middle School Division Head and will work in close collaboration with the grade level team that they are assigned to and the Humanities Department. This is a full-time teaching position.

Responsibilities

• Plan, deliver, and evaluate daily lessons for humanities classes – approximately two groups of 18 students – in a way that incorporates that grade level’s humanities curriculum. 
• Work closely with the other humanities teacher in your grade to ensure all students in that grade have a similar experience and meet the same benchmarks. 
• Create meaningful relationships and an inclusive classroom community. 
• Conduct effective ongoing communication with a diverse group of parents. 
• Organize and facilitate student-teacher conferences. 
• Write narrative reports twice per year.
• Lead an advisory: plan and lead daily morning meetings, communicate with advisee families, provide academic/social-emotional support for advisees, and partner with other teachers and staff as needed to support each advisee in their overall success at school. 
• Collaborate with your grade level team to ensure coordinated support of the needs and challenges of the entire grade, including grade-wide experiences around field trips, service/partnership experiences for students, etc. 
• Chaperone, plan, and support an annual overnight field trip. 
• Proctor study hall. 
• Teach a weekly elective. 

Required Qualifications

• Passionate commitment to creating an innovative, joyful learning environment
• Appreciation for and desire to work with upper middle school students
• Demonstrated understanding of best practices in upper middle school education 
• Ability and desire to design lessons and deliver a dynamic curriculum 
• Ability and desire to co-create new curriculum that is aligned with the school’s mission 
• Ability and desire to collaborate with teachers in the other disciplines to support 8th grade students holistically
• Ability and desire to design, facilitate, and assess project-based learning
• Ability and desire to use and/or learn how to use various tech platforms such as Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Forms), Slack, ParentSquare, Classkick, etc. 
• Ability and desire to guide students through a multi-step writing process from ideas to revision in a variety of formats (expository, thesis driven, literary analysis, creative) 
• Ability and desire to guide students through the research process using books, interviews, and on-line resources
• Ability and desire to foster strong parent connections to support students and curriculum
• Awareness of differentiated learning and teaching styles and ability to work with Learning Specialists to support a diverse student body
• Knowledge of the essential role social-emotional literacy plays in the workplace and interest in application of SEL within the educational setting 
• Knowledge of identity safety and anti-bias practices and ability to create an inclusive classroom community that allows for a range of perspectives to be heard and respected
• Ability and desire to take initiative, work passionately and joyfully, take on leadership roles as needed, and collaborate effectively with diverse constituencies
• Ability and desire to communicate effectively both in written and verbal modalities 
• Flexibility
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Organizational skills 

In addition to required qualifications, desirable additional skills include:

• Master’s degree in education, or relevant coursework or certification indicating advanced knowledge in areas related to the responsibilities of the job
• Training in or familiarity with using 6+1 Traits of Writing and Teachers College Reading & Writing Project  
• Nuanced understanding of DEI/social justice knowledge from a personal or programmatic perspective

School-wide Duties

• Participation on committees as needed and appropriate
• Ancillary duties include responsibilities that are part of middle school life, e.g., team and staff meetings, committee work, attendance at school functions, chaperoning school trips/events, recess duties, etc. 

Salary

Salary is competitive. Benefits included. Our 2025-26 salary schedule can be found here.

How to Apply

Email a resume, a one-page cover letter, and a list of three references with contact information to:

Nathan Tanaka, Middle School Division Head
Email: avisjobs@prospectsierra.org (include “Middle School Humanities Teacher and Advisor” in the subject line)

Prospect Sierra School is an equal opportunity employer. Our community is diverse in many ways, inclusive of race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender spectrum, age, ability, and more. We welcome and value the same in our faculty and staff.