About Us
Brilla Public Charter Schools is a network of K-8th grade schools that currently serves 1,800 students from Mott Haven, University Heights, and other neighborhoods in the Bronx. The network is growing from its current four elementary and two middle schools to five elementary and five middle schools educating some 4,000 students in the Bronx and Paterson, NJ. The Charter Management Organization (CMO) for Brilla Schools Network is Seton Education Partners, an organization inspired by the Catholic educational tradition, that also manages the Seton Teaching Fellows missionary program and El Camino, an optional after-school Catholic faith formation program. At the heart of the Seton educational mission is our dedication to help students become young men and women of good character and spirit who are prepared for excellence in high school, college, and beyond.
Brilla combines a Classical approach to education – an emphasis on a content-rich curriculum, inquiry-driven instruction, and virtue formation that fosters an appreciation of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness – with individualized instructional support. We approach the formation of our students holistically and maintain high academic expectations. Ours is a joyful community that honors the dignity of each student, our staff members, and the families we serve
Position Overview
The primary responsibility of a Brilla elementary school teacher is to cultivate a classroom community of learners in which the imagination is awakened to limitless possibility, the mind is inspired to seek truth, and the heart is stirred by love to embrace goodness. As the model learner, the classroom teacher embodies the virtues of heart and mind that we aspire to nurture in children. The classroom is the seedbed where curiosity and love of learning bear the fruit of shared success. By maintaining a learning environment where every child feels loved and is encouraged to to strive for and meet Brilla’s ambitious targets, students experience personal triumph that is wed to academic accomplishment.
The elementary classroom teacher understands, plans, and executes lesson plans that facilitate the encounter with Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. The teacher couples tried-and-true instructional practices to innovative pedagogical methods, co-teaching cooperation, and data-informed decision-making to foster a deep love of learning in students.
This position requires an enthusiastic, flexible, solutions-oriented, organized, and creative educator prepared to challenge the educational status quo. Brilla teachers must have a deep passion for student-engaged learning, a desire to accept, implement, and seek feedback, and a proven ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks and responsibilities, while inspiring outstanding achievement in children in a joyful and collaborative work environment.
Core Competencies & Responsibilities
Brilla teachers Set the Standard
- Provide Academic, Character, and Cultural formation for students in a classroom setting that is inviting, effective, and growth-oriented in a way that fosters the holistic development of students
- Direct the Academic growth and development of students in a way that is qualitatively and quantitatively demonstrable in alignment with Brilla’s ambitious growth standards.
- Provide classroom instruction that is both academically excellent and character rich.
- Engage students using an inductive, inquiry-driven, collaborative, and rigorous curriculum that aligns with national and state standards and inspires intellectual curiosity, fosters a sense of wonder, enables and inspires depth of insight, reinforces the joy of inquiry and the pursuit of understanding, and prepares students for life-long learning.
- Nurture in students a love of learning that is demonstrated by: Sense of Wonder; Spirit of Inquiry; Depth of Insight; Perseverance; Joy.
- Strengthen a school-wide culture of inquiry.
- Cultivate students’ higher order thinking skills, including their ability to analyze, create, synthesize, and evaluate.
- Establish and maintain high academic and social expectations for all students through a strong sense of personal accountability for student achievement and ongoing child development.
- Use assessment data to inform instruction and targeted intervention that strengthens student achievement.
- Create a joyful learning environment that honors the dignity of all scholars while still pushing them to achieve more than they think possible.
Brilla teachers Honor the Team
- Visibly model the Brilla mission through consistent professional dress, demonstration of core virtues, execution of professional norms, and enthusiastic, regular engagement in ongoing professional development and community-building.
- Develop meaningful relationships with students and families that inspire kids to love learning and achieve exceptional academic success.
- Forge and maintain productive, collaborative, and collegial working relationships with colleagues, parents, and community members.
- Contribute to a disciplined, dignified, and joyful classroom and school culture through consistent implementation of behavior management strategies, attendance at Brilla-sponsored Culture Events, and regular, professional communication.
- Attend regular, mission-critical programming including summer development sessions, ongoing professional development, data days, parent workshops, parent-teacher conferences, and other activities.
- Embrace professional development opportunities to benefit from targeted, in-the-moment feedback on instruction.
- Work toward network targets and school-wide goals in alignment with Brilla’s mission and professional evaluation rubric.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Brilla teachers Make it Count
- Establish and communicate standards- and content-based objectives and regularly evaluate student progress towards mastery.
- Reflect on and analyze student academic and character achievement in collaboration with AP and Instructional Specialist in order to inform and differentiate instruction.
- Implement the individualized learning technology programs and corresponding data used by all students on a consistent basis.
- Maintain accurate and complete student files and academic records.
- Demonstrate preparation and skill in working with students from diverse cultural, economic and ability backgrounds.
- Organize and manage time and commitments efficiently to maximize productivity and intentionality throughout the school day and school year.
Brilla teachers know It Starts with Them
- Provide a model of courage, justice, wisdom, and self-control, while championing a positive, flexible attitude and solution-based approach to challenges.
- Reflect and seek to understand both individual strengths and areas for growth, maintaining a commitment to continuous professional growth.
- Be prepared to challenge assumptions and beliefs about teaching and learning in order to best meet the needs of students and the mission of the organization.
- Give professional feedback, both positive and negative, to supervisors and members of the network Schools team about matters related to curriculum, instruction, and school culture.
- Deepen content mastery of Classical education by reading Classical texts and exploring elements of Classical pedagogy.
Qualifications
- The confidence that education can awaken the imagination to limitless possibility, stir the heart to love what is good, and inflame the mind to seek understanding of truth.
- An unwavering, confident, and enthusiastic commitment to the educational mission of the Brilla Schools Network in service to the school community.
- A relentless dedication to providing all students with an academically robust, inspiring, and joyful learning experience.
- Bachelor’s Degree or higher from an accredited institution.
- Excellent spoken and written communication skills.
- Possession of current teaching certification as an elementary school teacher (preferred).
- Relevant urban, elementary teaching experience with demonstrated student results (preferred).
- Special Education credential and experience (highly desirable).
- Spanish language proficiency (preferred).
Brilla provides equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees.
Pay may vary within a salary range depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. A full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits will be provided. A sign-on bonus of $2,000 upon completion of 90 full days of work will also be offered.
