The Benjamin School seeks an experienced Upper School Learning Support Specialist to work with our Student Services team, support Upper School students with documented learning differences through daily, hands-on academic coaching, and assist teachers in their efforts to encourage success for students with varied learning needs within the classroom. Additional responsibilities include working with outside professionals to create additional support for the Upper School community, and participation in student life (e.g. club sponsorship, coaching).
Qualified candidates will demonstrate a broad-based intellectual curiosity, a passion for shaping confident students empowered with the learning skills, perseverance, and ability to navigate both a challenging college preparatory curriculum and life beyond. In addition, this candidate must also possess the ability to work within a team, the skills and desire to engage and inspire students in the pursuit of learning, an understanding of the various roles that an independent school teacher must assume, a commitment to ongoing professional development, and a sense of humor.
PLEASE NOTE: This is an immediate opening for Spring 2023; however, candidates interested for Fall 2023 are still welcome to apply. Please note your start date availability on your cover letter.
General Professional Qualifications:
The most desirable candidates will have the following background or comparable experience:
A bachelor’s degree in Education, Special Education, Diagnostics, or a related field is required; an advanced degree preferred is required.
Minimum of three to five years of learning support/academic counseling experience, particularly in a rigorous, college preparatory program at the Upper School level; experience working in independent schools is a plus.
Strong educational background; facility with best pedagogical practices and teaching/remediating for proficiency.
Ability to develop knowledge of the program’s curriculum maps, scope and sequence, and grade-level curriculum in each content area taught, including the essential information, concepts, and skills, so as to better support students and assist both students and classroom teachers
Desire to work in conjunction with the Academic Dean/Student Services team to recommend tutors, psychoeducational evaluators, etc;
Passion to seek out new and innovative curricula, texts, and technological applications for implementation in our curriculum
Experience integrating technology into the curriculum.
Collegiality and collaboration with colleagues on advancing the school’s strategic initiatives is essential.
Interest in and experience with students outside of the classroom in co-curricular activities: sports, arts, social service, etc.
Contact Person: Please email a resume and letter of interest to [email protected] Please, no telephone calls.
General Information: The Benjamin School is an independent, non-affiliated day school for 3-year-old pre-kindergarten to 12th-grade students in Palm Beach County. The School resides on two campuses; the 14 acre Lower and Middle School campus in North Palm Beach and the 50 acre Upper School campus in Palm Beach Gardens. Approximately 155 teachers and associates are responsible for about 1060 students. The Lower School currently serves 455 students in grades Pre-K 3 through 5; the Middle School enrolls 203 in grades 6-8, and the Upper School has 403 students in grades 9-12. The School’s rigorous and varied program prepares its students for acceptance to 4-year colleges.
The Benjamin School’s core is academics, with a balanced emphasis on athletics and the arts. The Lower School challenges students with an academic program that includes, among other strong elements, highly developed research-based instruction in language arts and mathematics and a strong Pre-K 3 to 5th-grade world language program. In the Middle School students are challenged with a wide variety of college preparatory courses including advanced world language instruction, Algebra I and Geometry and advanced ...science programs. At the Upper School campus, the faculty offers courses on three levels: regular, honors, and AP.
Each May the School administers 600 or more AP examinations to all of the students enrolled in its 22 AP courses. In May 2017 eighty percent of those tests received qualifying scores of at least a 3, and 89 percent of the students taking the tests earned at least one 3 or better. More than 200 students took one or more AP exam. The Upper School also has more than 50-semester electives. Students can study Spanish, French, and Mandarin Chinese to satisfy their language requirement.
In all three divisions, students have many opportunities to be involved in dance, instrumental (including strings) and vocal music, drama, and the visual arts. Students in all three divisions also have a physical education program, and those in the Middle and Upper Schools must participate in one or more team sports.
The School makes extensive use of technology in its programs. All classrooms have an interactive whiteboard (Smartboard or Epson), and all computers on both campuses have internet access via school-wide Wireless access. The third, fourth, and fifth-grade students bring iPads to school each day. The Middle School has a BYOD program, and in the Upper School, all students own and use laptops or iPads. The School also provides specialized computers for video editing, digital graphics, desktop publishing, and the computer lab.
Mission Statement: The mission of The Benjamin School is to provide a challenging college preparatory education to a diverse student body in a structured, nurturing community environment. The School motivates students to master the skills of learning, communicating and evaluating choices, encourages them to grow intellectually, socially, morally, aesthetically, and physically to their fullest individual potential. Benjamin inspires in its students a coherent set of values that include a love of learning, personal responsibility, self-motivation, concern for others and a desire to serve society.
