Teacher - Affective Needs

Adams 12 Five Star Schools; United States; On-site; USD 48,000 - 69,000; Full time

Job summary

Independence Academy, part of Adams 12 Five Star Schools, seeks a Special Education Teacher focusing on affective needs to provide academic and social/emotional instruction in a dedicated program.

You will collaborate with classroom staff and specialists, implement IDEA/IEP requirements, and differentiate instruction to meet diverse student needs in a 40-hour workweek. This is a replacement–permanent/regular position located in Thornton, CO.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher.
• Must be at least 18 years old.

Responsibilities

• Advocate for students with disabilities to ensure access to learning opportunities and equity in discipline processes.
• Assess and determine eligibility of students with disabilities; develop SMART learning goals and progress monitoring.
• Ensure IDEA/ECIA compliant, legally sound IEPs and district procedures.
• Differentiate instruction and implement social-emotional learning for students with disabilities; participate in ongoing professional development.

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Job description

• Position Type: Teaching: Special Education/ Teacher-Affective Needs
• Date Posted: 11/9/2026
• Location: Independence Academy
• Closing Date: 11/16/2026

SALARY INFORMATION: SEE CERTIFIED SALARY SCHEDULE
STANDARD HOURS PER WEEK: 40
FTE: 1.0
MONTHS PER YEAR: 9
JOB CODE:175099
POSITION TYPE: REPLACEMENT – PERMANENT/REGULAR
LOCATION: THORNTON, CO.

Independence Academy is looking to fill this position with a candidate who is highly qualified and/or experience in the area of teaching math preferred, but not required.
Adams 12 Five Star Schools is deeply committed to a community of excellence, equity, and inclusion in everything we do. We commit to eliminate the predictability of who is included in excellence and who is not. Adams 12 Five Star Schools puts students first and supports our district's mission to elevate student success for every student every day in every classroom. Candidates who can contribute to our goal are encouraged to apply and to identify their strengths in this area.

SUMMARY

Special Education Teachers at Independence Academy provide academic and social/emotional instruction to students with disabilities in a separate school program and demonstrate competencies in advocacy, assessment, collaboration and compliance.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Advocacy

• Advocate for students with disabilities to ensure access to learning opportunities and equity in discipline processes
• Model and promote inclusive language

Assessment

• Assess and determine eligibility of students with disabilities
• Develop and monitor progress of SMART learning goals for each student
• Conduct Functional Behavior Assessments and develop and monitor Behavior Intervention Plans
• Develop and monitor incentive plans, point sheets, data collection systems
• Supervise, schedule and monitor Registered Behavior Technicians
• Collaborate with classroom teachers, school psychologists, speech/language pathologists, school social workers and other special education service providers to develop integrated plans for students with disabilities
• Collaborate with families to ensure students' strengths, needs, services and progress are regularly communicated
• Collaborate with outside entities to support the growth of students

Compliance

• Implement IDEA and ECEA regulations
• Develop and implement legally compliant, instructionally sound IEPs
• Ensure IEP implementation across settings
• Abide by all district/policies/procedures

Instruction

• Identify students' current social-emotional instructional levels
• Develop appropriately ambitious trajectories toward CASEL standards
• Plan lessons incorporating evidence-based practices and identify resources for instruction
• Implement specially-designed instruction
• Understand or be willing to learn to how to plan and implement social-emotional learning for students with disabilities
• Differentiate instruction for learners with diverse needs
• Demonstrate and model an understanding of student behavior and classroom management structures
• Participate in ongoing professional development sessions

EDUCATION AND RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE

• -Bachelor's degree or higher.
• -Must be a minimum of 18 years old.

LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS or CERTIFICATIONS

• -Criminal background check required for hire.
• -Must possess the required license and endorsement for the position, or be able to obtain, or be in process with, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) for a valid Colorado Educator License within 30 days of hire.
• -Preference given to candidates with ELL Training and/or an ESL or (LDE) Linguistically Diverse Education Endorsement.

SALARY INFORMATION (FOR EXTERNAL CANDIDATES)

All salary placement on our Certified Salary schedule is dependent on the employees' education and/or work experience.
Special programs teachers of students with significant support needs, structured learning services or affective needs, audiologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, school nurses, school psychologists, school social workers, and speech language pathologists shall receive experience credit for each full year of previous experience and are not limited to ten (10) years as described in Appendix A, Item 3.
Additionally, one (1) step for each full year, as described in this Appendix, of service in the district as a contracted certified, classified, in-building substitute, and/or administrative employee for educators beginning a new certified contract or returning to a certified contract. For further explanation of salary placement please refer to our Certified Master Agreement that can be found on our district website.

BENEFITS INFORMATION

Adams 12 Five Star Schools is committed to providing an environment that promotes a healthy employee population able to serve our students at the highest level. We offer a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision and life insurance as well as other programs for benefit eligible employees. The employee assistance program, voluntary life insurance through PERA, and 401(k), 403(b) & 457(b) plans are available to all employees regardless of hours worked and are available immediately (upon hire date). Tolearn more about our benefits including paid time off, please see our Benefits Overview .