Social Studies Teacher - Grades 7-12

Salary: TBD, Based on Experience, education and certifications

Who we are

Maple Lake Academy is a residential treatment center for adolescents (boys and girls 13 to 18) on the autistic spectrum.  Our students are high functioning dealing with deficits in social skills, life skills, inability to understand their own emotions or put their emotions in to words.  Many of our students are emotionally fragile or don’t have strong emotional intelligence.  We provide a safe and nurturing home like environment for our students to learn skills that push them in the areas mentioned above. Our team works with our client population daily, hands on, and in one on one situations.

Maple Lake Academy sets ourselves apart in the mental-health industry by using an attachment-based approach, focusing on relationship building and modeling what healthy, secure relationships look and feel like. As a member of the MLA team, you'll be trained extensively in attachment styles, and how to best help teens in our program to build healthy relationships with themselves, their peers, and caregivers. We seek to create a safe environment for students and employees to learn, grow, develop, explore, make mistakes, and build lasting impactful relationships with those around them. 

The Social Atudies Teacher (FT) position

Empower students who experience Autism, ADHD, and other learning differences to gain skills, learn about their strengths, understand what accommodations they need to be successful leading to improved independence and productivity.  We expect our teachers to exhibit qualities of teamwork, accountability, flexibility, and attentiveness.  We are a small school setting grades 7-12 with students at different abilities.  We are accredited by Cognia.  Our mission is to help our students feel successful and find that learning can be fun and rewarding.

Our Students

Our students come from a variety of backgrounds, but all are working on building stronger skills to thrive socially, academically, and within their families. As mentioned, our students are on the Autism Spectrum and may be working through anxiety, depression, self-esteem issues, various non-verbal learning disorders, reactive-attachment, and a number of other challenges. Our students are bright with great potential to succeed far above the level of functioning they demonstrate before coming to Maple Lake. Because of our intensive clinical programming, verbal abilities of our boys and girls are of average ability or above. Maple Lake Academy offers a supportive environment for learning one success at a time, and includes structured individual, group, and family therapy, recreational therapy, an accredited secondary education program, an equine program, fine arts, and a variety of other activities.

Read more at https://www.maplelakeacademy.com/our-students/

Why Maple Lake Academy?

• Medical and Dental group coverage (Maple Lake covers a high percentage of your premium, so your monthly investment is low!)
• HSA option for health coverage
• Group basic and supplemental Life Insurance
  
• Competitive Paid Time Off benefits to help accommodate work-life balance (Vacation, Sick Time, Parental Leave, Bereavement, 8 Company Holidays)
• Two weeks break winter break, spring break, Thanksgiving break. Not a part of the PTO accrual
• 10 days during summer after one year of employment. Days to be taken between April and October. Not a part of the PTO program
  
• Exposure to working with a team comprised of Academic, Residential and Clinical departments
• Complete and Comprehensive Administrative Support
• Opportunities to work with educational colleagues and to grow professionally
• Part of a Professional Learning Community with a culture of feedback, inclusion, and professional growth
• 6-8 hours of planning time per week
• Small class sizes
  

Position Relationships

• Supervised by: Academic Program Manager
• Interpersonal Relationships/ Personal Contacts: Academic Team, Residential Employees, Clinical Staff

Schedule

Monday – Friday  8am-3pm

Year Round (ESY)

 

Education Requirement

• Active Utah secondary teaching license. Endorsed in subject area (Social Studies)
• Additional Special Education Mild/Moderate endorsement is preferred
  

 

Required Experience

• Teaching experience in addition to student teaching preferred

 

Minimum Requirements

• Ability to pass background check upon hire and complete all required company trainings 
• Meet other training requirements required by Department of Human Services Office of Licensing and Maple Lake Academy policies to work with student clients
• Must be willing to give a 12-month commitment.

 

Responsibilities and Duties:

• Teach and keep records for up to 27 students total
• Knowledge of a variety of teaching methods and willing to be creative with teaching
• Use excellent communication skills both written and verbal
• Ability to teach multiple grades in one classroom through differentiation
• Plan and prioritize work effectively and timely
• Create effective lesson plans for daily teaching and for substitutes
• Create and implement effective classroom management
• Adaptable to the variety of learning and emotional needs of students
• Basic word processing skills and the ability to use on-line programs
• Follow Utah core curriculum for subject area
• Attend 4 Company trainings during after school hours
• Provide opportunities in and outside the classrooms (experiential learning)
• Assist students in learning, provide accommodations, support individual learning, understand and implement an Individualized Education Plan
• Evaluation pre and post assessment results and modify instruction as necessary
• High level of self-awareness, and demonstrate ability to self-regulate in stressful situations
• Provide culturally competent services, and ongoing commitment to training and development in a timely manner as directed by the company

Technology Requirements

• Copy/Fax machine: Basic
• Computer Skills: Intermediate
• Microsoft 365: Intermediate
• Video Conferencing: Intermediate
• Active Board: Intermediate

 

Communication- Collaboration, organization, documentation via email, text, phone calls etc.  When communicating will avoid sharing confidential information and will maintain professionalism with assignments and responsibilities.  HIPAA compliant.

Decision-making skills. Teachers must be able to balance the strengths and weaknesses of different options and make the best decision. Many decisions have a significant impact on students.

Interpersonal skills. Teachers need strong interpersonal skills because they regularly interact with people. They will often collaborate in teams and must develop positive working relationships with their co-workers. 

Leadership skills. Teachers must be able to direct/lead the residential staff and team and oversee the implementation of therapeutic interventions for their students. They must coordinate and communicate well.

Organizational skills. Organizational skills are essential for teachers. They must be able to manage several students throughout the week and prioritize tasks.  Maintain close communication with the team, and the clients they work with, giving pertinent and important information that helps each family to move forward in the therapeutic process. 

Speaking skills. Teachers rely on speaking skills to give presentations, teach, and direct classroom instruction. They must clearly communicate information and instructions to the staff and other employees who are helping them in their classroom.  Must exhibit confidence and have the ability to encourage others.  Teachers must understand how to communicate and work with the clients/families they serve, especially in difficult situations.

 

 

THE MAPLE LAKE ACADEMY TEAM

Being part of the MLA team, you'll work with a talented group of mentors and professionals who are first and foremost dedicated to the well-being of our clients. You will receive both structured and on-the-job training and have opportunities to learn about our Attachment Theory approach to care, where the focus is always on building trusting and safe relationships. We value our employees and do our best to create a rewarding and appreciative environment.

An ATTACHMENT Approach

Most youth residential treatment programs use a behavioral approach to therapeutic and residential support, but we set ourselves apart for our students by using an attachment-based approach. Everything we do is through the lens of attachment theory. As a member of the MLA team, you'll get great training in attachment styles, and how to best help teens in our program to build healthy relationships with themselves, their peers, and caregivers. Additionally, we focus on helping students identify the core issues behind their behaviors and thoughts, and then how to address those core needs. We seek to create a safe environment for students and employees to learn, grow, develop, explore, make mistakes, and build lasting impactful relationships with those around them.

***Interested applicants should apply to this posting, and you can expect an immediate email notification upon receipt of your application. A manager will reach out to candidates who appear to meet our needs within a few business days. If you don't see any emails come through upon submitting the application, or are awaiting a response from the manager, check your SPAM folder. Sometimes emails from our application system get sent there.