SY26-27 Lead Teacher

AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation

Washington (District of Columbia)

On-site

USD 52,000 - 70,000

Full time

6 days ago

Be an early applicant

Application generator

Stand out for this role — generate a tailored resume and cover letter in about a minute.

Get past ATS filters

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Health benefits

Fully covered Dental

Paid time off

Job summary

AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation seeks a Lead Teacher to guide a classroom of Preschool/Pre‑K students on-site in Washington, DC. The role emphasizes growth across social, emotional, and cognitive domains, using the Every Child Ready model with a dedicated teaching team and supervision by the Principal.

You will implement rich, engaging environments, support diverse learners, and collaborate with families to advance school-wide goals and professional development.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in elementary education or related field
Two+ years of professional teaching experience
Praxis II: Early Childhood Education score by start date
Demonstrated sensitivity to linguistic, cultural, social, economic and individual differences

Responsibilities

Create safe, engaging, centers-based classrooms that encourage exploration and complex play
Implement the Every Child Ready instructional model with fidelity
Collaborate with coach and principal to ensure RTI implementation
Differentiate instruction using multiple data sources to meet all learners’ needs
Support families and collaborate with related service providers to meet student needs
Foster a respectful, inclusive classroom community and professional development for staff

Education

Bachelor's degree in elementary education or related field

Job description

About AppleTree

AppleTree’s mission is to close the achievement gap before students get to kindergarten. To accomplish this mission, we focus exclusively on Preschool and Pre‑K education. We provide free, full‑day public charter school programming for three‑ and four‑year olds in 12 locations across Washington, DC, employing our innovative and award‑winning instructional model, called Every Child Ready (ECR). This instructional model provides educators with tools and resources for “What to Teach”, “How to Teach” and “How to Measure Success.” Our instructional model is also used with partners across the nation. We continuously test and improve this model through feedback from AppleTree educators, partners and other stakeholders to ensure that children are learning and exploring through play and appropriate instruction.

About AppleTree

Position Summary

The Lead Teacher, with the support of a teaching team, is responsible for the growth and development of a classroom of students. The Lead Teacher uses his/her knowledge of the development of young children, the ways in which young children learn and scientifically based practice to provide instruction and support the social, emotional and cognitive development of young children. Lead Teacher is a non-supervisory position, and reports to the Principal.

This is an on‑site position based in Washington, DC.

What you’ll do…

Establish Rich And Engaging Physical Learning Environments

Create a safe, clean, thematically based, attractive and engaging centers‑based classrooms that encourage both exploration and complex play

Ensure the classroom contains sufficient supplies and materials for the weekly plans and for all components of the day, and that unit materials are inventoried before and after each unit

Encourage children’s ownership and contributions to the classroom environment

Create environments and instructional opportunities that meet the needs of diverse learners:

Implement the Every Child Ready (ECR) instructional model with fidelity and collaborates with the coach and principal to ensure fidelity

Demonstrate an understanding of the problem‑solving Response to Intervention (RTI) Instructional model

Actively seek out available resources and supports for children who are not making expected progress, provides additional support for students in need of remediation and differentiation in the classroom

Use a variety of observational and direct assessment tools in collaboration with ECR standards to determine children’s varying needs and opportunities

Use information and data from a variety of sources in order to differentiate instruction for all children

Establish clear behavior expectations, rules and procedures to maximize learning time. Ensures effective implementation of universal behavior management systems as well as targeted plans to support student behavior

Actively support the diversity of learners in their classrooms (e.g. cultural, linguistic and academic diversity)

Foster tolerance and a sense of community in their classrooms, modeling and explicitly teaching acceptance and appreciation of others

Collaborate and cooperate with related service providers and student support staff (SPED, ELL, PBS, etc.) to ensure the needs of all children are met, as needed

Support The Development Of Young Children

Plan adequate time for student talk and encourages children’s language use throughout the day

Plan and integrates instructional activities that promote children’s understanding of the way things work and the world around them into the thematic curriculum

Skillfully and systematically motivate students to participate in activities that support the development of their early literacy skills

Implement instructional activities that encourage children’s abilities to analyze, conceptualize, synthesize and evaluate

Intentionally provide modeling and support for children’s expressive and receptive language throughout the school day

Intentionally and systematically implement direct instructional opportunities and provides modeling and practice opportunities for activities that promote children’s social and emotional development throughout the school day

Plan and implement intentional, systematic, playful and engaging activities that support the development of the above skills

Collaborate with families and communities to support children’s social, emotional and cognitive development:

Actively seek to make connections with their children’s family members and other important people in their children’s lives

Solicit parents and community members to share their skills, experiences and cultures in the classroom

Regularly communicate the school’s and individual children’s educational goals and progress to families

Support school‑wide family engagement activities (i.e. planning, communicating, and/or leading) and participates in at least one family event each month

Contribute To a Community Of Practice

Plan collaboratively and shares ideas and resources with instructional team

Share best practices with others throughout the network and with AppleTree leadership

Actively participate on at least one site‑wide committee

Provide informal and formal feedback on instructional materials, school‑wide practices and professional development/coaching

Guide professional development and growth of teaching assistant and helps team members meet professional goals

Actively participate in school and network based professional development opportunities provided and seeks out additional professional development

Incorporate coaching and feedback from regular observations conducted by Instructional Leader and AppleTree Leadership Team members

Communicate professionally and constructively with colleagues

Fulfill the standards of professionalism including appropriate dress, attendance and timeliness

Participate and collaborate with families in Kindergarten Transition process and is informed of local DCPS and Public Charter Schools and private schools within the District (Pre‑K teachers only)

Note

The preceding description is not designed to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities required of the Lead Teacher. All employees may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.

What we’re looking for…

Bachelor’s degree in elementary education, reading, psychology, human development, early childhood education or a closely related field

Two or more years of successful professional teaching experience

Demonstrated leadership experience, organizational skills and communication abilities to lead or co‑lead the instructional team

Must receive a passing score on the *Praxis II: Early Childhood Education (test code 5025) by the start of the school year or within 60 days of hire date, whichever comes first. *Previous Praxis Early Childhood or Elementary Content Knowledge accepted) (10014)