Teachers

At LEAD Academy, we believe that a passionate, well-trained teacher can be the lever that changes a child’s life. With that belief, comes an inordinate amount of work: from recruiting and hiring dedicated individuals, to providing them with the training, information and support they need to be effective, to supporting each other’s professional and personal development.

To say that we take this work seriously is to underestimate how deliberately we work to create a rich, intellectual life for faculty, from our teaching excellence program that supports a teacher’s individual needs–from lesson planning to diagnostic assessment and daily instruction—to honoring instructors not just on staff appreciation day but everyday in providing the materials, resources, and support they need to be successful.

At LEAD Academy, you will have the opportunity to build relationships with the best-trained, most motivated teachers, administrators, and support staff in the country.

Additionally, all staff can expect:

• A Professional Work Environment: LEAD Academy is serious about treating instructors as scholars and professionals. The school provides instructors with office space, computers, phones, and administrative assistance from college interns.
• Lesson Coaching: Instructors are encouraged to practice lesson autopsy—the meticulous design, dissection, observation and analysis of a lesson or unit with a peer or Grade Level group. Through this collaborative practice, communities of instructors enhance their skills by thinking deeply together about teaching and learning.
• Collaborative Weekly Planning Time: Grade level instructors have common planning time every day and meet as a grade level at least once per week to collaborate on lesson planning, analyze student work, and review assessment data. Every Wednesday afternoon, school releases early so that all LEAD staff have the opportunity to share instructional challenges as well as their most effective instructional strategies.
• Peer Observation and Feedback: LEAD Academy embraces a culture of feedback as a means to improve instruction. Instructors at LEAD Academy regularly observe other instructors within the school and consult with one another regarding strategies that are contributing to student achievement. A protocol guides the feedback provided to one another. Faculty members observe peers across grade levels and disciplines.