Upper School French Teacher

Springside Chestnut Hill Academy; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 10,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

An established educational institution is seeking a passionate Upper School French teacher to inspire students through dynamic language instruction. This role involves creating an engaging curriculum that fosters communicative skills and cultural understanding, while also supporting students' academic and emotional growth. The ideal candidate will possess a strong background in teaching French as a second language, demonstrate enthusiasm for language learning, and embrace diversity in the classroom. Join a collaborative team that values innovative teaching practices and contributes to a vibrant school community. This position offers an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on students' lives as they navigate the French language and culture.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in French or related field required.
• Prior teaching experience in independent schools preferred.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and deliver engaging French lessons across all levels.
• Evaluate student performance and provide feedback regularly.
• Maintain communication with students and parents.

Skills

Teaching French as a Second Language

Classroom Management

Cultural Competency

Communication Skills

Interpersonal Skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in French or Teaching French

Master's degree in French (preferred)

Tools

Technology for Remote Learning

Job description

Position Purpose:

The Upper School French teacher prepares a dynamic program that amplifies and guides our students' communicative curiosity in the language and about the cultures of the French-speaking world. The teacher coaches students towards meaningful action using the target language as the main vehicle and driver. This position starts on August 22, 2025.

Essential Functions

• Demonstrates flexibility to teach all levels of French; from Levels 1 through 5 Advanced Placement.
• Immerses students in 90-100% comprehensible French input.
• Encourages students to listen actively, speak often, and take risks while acquiring the language.
• Embraces the idea that errors are an expected part of acquiring language and builds opportunities for feedback, reflection, and goal setting while explicitly modeling a growth mindset.
• Helps students to develop interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills in French embedded through community-building activities, comprehensible input, scaffolded tasks, intercultural French competency units, guided readings, and storytelling.
• Prepares course materials such as Integrated Performance Assessments, meaningful homework, and purposeful/authentic tasks that help students negotiate meaning in the target language.
• Initiates, facilitates, and moderates engaging, interactive, and purposeful classroom tasks, as well as local and global community partnerships.
• Plans how to deliver comprehensible course content, create materials, and employ varied measures of instruction in collaboration with other French teachers to create, support, and maintain parity among parallel courses as well as vertical alignment.
• Adopts a learner's mindset ready to prototype and workshop with team members when implementing innovative teaching practices.
• Keeps abreast of developments in the field by participating in professional development, sharing findings with colleagues, and reading current literature.
• Embraces and employs best practices as described by national second language experts when creating lessons, units, and curricula. Some examples include ACTFL's Proficiency Guidelines, NCSSFL-ACTFL's Can-Do Statements, and Partnership for 21st Century Skills 4 C's.
• Maintains student attendance records, grades, and regular written and verbal feedback on graded assignments.
• Maintains contact with students and parents with regular communication and regularly scheduled evaluations.
• Evaluates students' class work and assignments.
• Advises a small group of students, provides academic and emotional support, and communicates regularly with parents and guardians of advisees.
• Participates and attends Parent/Admissions events as required.
• Other duties as assigned by the Language Department Chair and Division Heads.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or post-graduate work in French or in teaching French as a second language; master's degree preferred.
• Prior teaching experience and understanding of the independent school environment preferred.
• Superior skills in teaching French as a second language to children.
• Demonstrated enthusiasm for teaching and learning.
• Demonstrated sensitivity, knowledge, and understanding of the diverse backgrounds of community members with a continuous focus on healthy relationship building.
• Demonstrated deep understanding of cultural competency skills and enthusiasm for issues of diversity, inclusivity, and active anti-racism.
• Compassionate and knowledgeable in delivering content to students with diverse learning styles.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills in French and English.
• Effective classroom management strategies.
• Organized, detail-oriented, dependable, and capable of taking initiative.
• Comfortable using technology both on-site and in remote learning environments.

Physical Requirements and Work Environment

• Must work effectively in a demanding environment where deadlines, unexpected student issues, and varying challenges compete for one's attention.
• Able to move around the classroom and other school environments.
• Work in a traditional climate-controlled environment.
• Able to regularly use close and distance vision.

Application Procedures To be considered, candidates must upload a cover letter, resume, statement of educational philosophy, and information for three professional references through our online platform.

Springside Chestnut Hill Academy is an Equal Opportunity Employer