Expert Teacher - Houston, Texas

BACKGROUNDArcadia High School is an open-enrollment public charter school in Southwest Houston designed to serve the diverse communities of Alief and surrounding neighborhoods. · Our founding team has decades of experience opening and leading high-performing schools that prepare ...

Job description

BACKGROUND

Arcadia High School is an open-enrollment public charter school in Southwest Houston designed to serve the diverse communities of Alief and surrounding neighborhoods.

Our founding team has decades of experience opening and leading high-performing schools that prepare students for college, career, and leadership.

As we build toward opening day, we are investing early in authentic partnerships with families, including the many Pashto-speaking families in our community, to ensure Arcadia reflects and serves the community's strengths, needs, and aspirations.

MISSION

Arcadia High School students are empowered to achieve their highest potential and graduate prepared for college, careers, and leadership in their communities.

Through a research-based team-teaching model, high-quality instruction and student-centered learning, we provide consistent, targeted support to meet the unique needs of every student.

Our collaborative classrooms inspire academic excellence, critical thinking, and passion for lifelong learning, equipping students with the skills, confidence, and resilience to succeed.

Teachers receive continuous professional development, fostering exceptional instruction and a thriving educational community. Strong partnerships with families and the community ensure students benefit from a supportive environment that drives achievement and growth.


SCHOOL VALUES
Arcadia's school culture and daily work are grounded in four core principles:
Aspiring for Big Dreams - We believe every student can set and achieve ambitious goals for their future.

We hold high expectations for academics, behavior, and leadership, and we support students in turning those big dreams into concrete plans and actions.

Building Deep Connections - Strong relationships are at the heart of our work. We invest in knowing students and families well, creating a community where everyone feels seen, respected, and valued.

Providing Relentless Support for Excellence - We do not give up on students or each other.

We use data, feedback, and targeted supports to help every student and adult grow, and we follow through consistently to ensure excellence in both effort and results.

Preparing for the Real World - We connect learning to life beyond high school through internships, enrichment, and real-world problem solving.

Students build the skills, habits, and mindsets they need to thrive in college, careers, and their communities.


ROLE OVERVIEW

The Expert Teacher is the lead instructor and instructional coach on a Teacher Team, providing both best-in-class classroom instruction and daily embedded coaching to a Lead Teacher and Teaching Fellows.

Expert Teachers deliver high-quality, TEKS-aligned instruction and simultaneously develop the adults on their team through modeling, co-teaching, and targeted feedback.

In Arcadia's model, each core content team (e.g., English, Science, Social Studies) includes one Expert Teacher, one Lead Teacher, and multiple Teaching Fellows.

The Expert Teacher leads lesson internalization and rehearsal, facilitates data meetings, and supervises the ongoing growth of the Lead Teacher and Teaching Fellows, creating a strong pipeline of future instructional leaders.

Expert Teachers are part of the Instructional Leadership Team and work closely with the Principal and Assistant Principal of Teacher Teams to ensure that classroom instruction, adult development, and the school's academic vision are tightly aligned.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

Instructional Excellence and Classroom Leadership:

• Serve as the primary instructional leader on a Teacher Team, providing highquality, standardsaligned instruction in a core content area.
• Design and internalize rigorous lessons aligned to TEKS, Arcadia's selected highquality instructional materials (HQIM), and longterm course goals.
• Coplan and coteach with the Lead Teacher and Teaching Fellows, ensuring each adult has clear roles during the double core class blocks.
• Use a variety of instructional strategies to engage students in gradelevel content, promote critical thinking, and support language development for Emergent Bilingual students.
• Create and maintain a classroom environment that is safe, structured, positive, and conducive to deep learning.

Coaching and Development of Teacher Teams:

• Supervise and support the Lead Teacher and Teaching Fellows on the team, providing clear expectations, ongoing feedback, and development aligned to Arcadia's instructional vision and the T-TESS rubric.
• Lead daily or biweekly 1:1 coaching sessions with team members using Arcadia's coaching tools.
• Provide live coaching in classrooms, including realtime feedback, modeling, coteaching, and practice to help Lead Teachers and
• Teaching Fellows rapidly improve specific skills.
• Intentionally create leadership opportunities for the Lead Teacher and Teaching Fellows (e.g., leading parts of lessons, facilitating small groups, owning interventions) and support them in meeting stretch goals.
• Partner with the Instructional Leadership Team to align coaching priorities, share progress data on teachers, and codevelop professional development for the Teacher Team.

Data-Driven Instruction and Planning:

• Lead weekly data meetings and student work analysis blocks for the Teacher Team, using Arcadia's data systems to analyze student performance, identify trends, and plan responsive reteach and extension.
• Facilitate the regrouping of students for the second half of the double class block based on demonstrated needs, ensuring targeted support and challenge for all learners.
• Lead weekly lesson preparation time for the Teacher Team, including lesson internalization, rehearsal, and anticipating misconceptions.
• Use formative and interim assessment data to monitor student progress towards TEKS mastery, AP and ACT readiness, and course outcomes, and adjust plans accordingly.
• Support team members to maintain accurate, timely records of student data in the Learning Management System (LMS).

School Culture, Relationships, and Family Partnership:

• Model and reinforce Arcadia's mission, values, and discipline policy, including proactive relationship-building, restorative conversations, and clear, consistent expectations for students.
• Collaborate with the Director of School Culture and Counselors to implement advisory, student support plans, and gradelevel culture systems.
• Communicate regularly with families about student progress, classroom expectations, and upcoming learning experiences.
• Participate in family events, open houses, and community meetings as a visible, trusted member of the school community.

Professionalism and Contribution to the School Community:

• Participate fully in Arcadia's professional development calendar, including summer training, quarterly PD days, weekly team meetings, and coaching sessions.
• Engage actively in T-TESS goal setting, formal observations, and feedback cycles, using input to continuously refine practice.
• Serve as a member of the Instructional Leadership Team as assigned, contributing to schoolwide decisions related to curriculum, assessment, and teacher development.
• Uphold all school policies and professional expectations, including attendance, communication, confidentiality, and mandated compliance requirements.
• All members of the Arcadia team will perform other jobrelated duties as assigned to meet the needs of the school and our students.