Lead Teacher

About exalt 
exalt elevates expectations of personal success for youth ages 15-19 who’ve been involved in the criminal justice system.  We inspire youth at a critical crossroads to believe in their worth, from the first steps in contemplation through the journey to create lasting behavioral change.  Our powerful combination of structured classes for tangible skill development, individualized support to navigate the education and justice systems, placement in paid internships and an alumni network of resources equips youth with the tools and experience to avoid further criminal justice system involvement.  At exalt, we empower youth to see a future filled with hope – and we provide the road map to get there. 

Job Summary

Exalt is seeking a Lead Teacher as part of a board endorsed strategic plan for expansion into Syracuse, NY. The Lead Teacher facilitates three components of exalt’s core educational program: 

1.) A four-week daily Pre-Internship Preparation Class, which utilizes a curriculum linking employability skills, educational engagement, and avoidance of justice system involvement to a set of four core skills: critical thinking, communication, creative problem-solving and “resource management.” 
2.) A four-week Internship Phase where the Lead Teacher facilitates weekly “Friday Seminars” to enhance progression in the three key areas where exalt works with its participants – criminal justice avoidance, academic progression and employability. 
3.) A one-week daily Post-Internship Phase during which students synthesize their internship experience with prior classroom learning and develop tangible goals and strategies for post-program justice system avoidance, successful engagement in school, and employability. Essential to the exalt curriculum is the application of a Freire-inspired critical pedagogical approach. This approach validates and builds on participants’ experiences, cultures, skills, and interests. It also builds discipline and accountability, inspiring and enabling youth to internalize and apply exalt’s four core skills to decision-making in a variety of settings – interactions in school, on the streets with peers or police, or in professional environments. 

Responsibilities 
The Lead Teacher will teach program cycles annually for cohorts of youth, aged 15-19. Classes run from 3:00pm-5:00pm. The Lead Teacher will be prepared to: 

• Engage youth typically resistant to educational settings. 
• Assess individual student learning styles, challenges and strengths and tailor instruction to maximize student engagement and comprehension.
• Communicate regularly with Program Coordinator and exalt staff to share students' obstacles, assets and opportunities.
• Enter weekly data in Salesforce database including attendance, performance and notes assessing developmental progress and setbacks of students.
• Devise strategies to address the diverse needs of students at risk of program incompletion.   
• Link all classroom discussion and instruction to exalt long term goals for students: increased investment and persistence in school, employability, and sustained avoidance of further justice system involvement.  
• Conduct all pre- and post- assessments on schedule.
• Collaborate with Program Coordinator to develop individualized goals for students and support their progress towards goals by conducting school visits, attending court, or developing other resources as needed.
• Collaborate with exalt staff on a regular basis to assess and support their ongoing progress and needs, particularly in terms of education, criminal justice system avoidance, and employment.
• Assist other program team staff to manage organizational culture on a day-to-day basis. This includes setting and maintaining the tone for student behavior in the office space, greeting and directing external constituents appropriately, notifying staff of inaccurate or inappropriate office procedures and updating staff on new office policies/procedures.  

Competencies

• Classroom management: Demonstrated ability to manage a classroom of high school aged youth typically resistant to educational settings.  Balance clear structure, accountability and discipline with engaging teaching style to facilitate high participation and interest from students. 
• Adaptability: Able to adapt quickly to new information and unexpected obstacles, and approach change positively. Able to adapt exalt’s curriculum to the specific needs, learning styles and personalities of each cohort of students. 
• Applied learning: Able to learn and apply new position-related information quickly. For example, all exalt youth interface with the juvenile or criminal (adult) justice systems. The Lead Teacher must become familiar with these systems to understand their role in students’ lives and meaning in curriculum. 
• Communication: Clearly and effectively convey and receive information and ideas to/from students and colleagues through a variety of media. Demonstrate strong written, oral and listening skills.
• Planning and organizing: Organize work, set priorities, determine resource requirements and seek input and support from supervisors/colleagues; determine necessary sequence of activities needed to achieve goals.
• Stress tolerance: exalt students face a plethora of obstacles in their lives and often have pending court requirements that put their freedom in jeopardy. Staff must be able to make challenging decisions (e.g., potentially releasing a student from the program who cannot meet standards despite program flexibility) and balance the emotional aspects of working with young people facing severe challenges.

Performance Measures

• Students’ progress in classroom engagement and participation as measured through Likert scales, attendance, adherence to program contract obligations, and progress notes.
• Students’ progress in comprehension, internalization and application of exalt’s four core skills and additional curriculum content as measured through pre- and post-program assessments. 
• Retention of at least 75% of enrolled students in each class through entire four-week pre-internship classroom session, and 55-60% full program completion. 

Compensation

• The Lead Teacher Salary is $60,000 per year.

• exalt offers competitive benefits to all full-time employees that include health, dental, vision, and life insurance; 401k matching; commuter and parking flexible spending; paid time off; and more.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required.

• Bilingual, Spanish-speaking a plus.

• This position is in-person at the exalt location (224 Harrison Street, 7th Floor) in Syracuse, with working hours of 11am-7pm.  All employees are required to be vaccinated.