Utah Connections Academy- Upper Elementary Teacher, School Year 2024-2025

Company Summary

Utah Connections Academy (UCA) is a tuition-free, online public school that serves students in grades K-12 throughout Utah. UCA is authorized under state law by the Utah State Charter School Board and governed by an independent Board of Directors. The school is operated by Utah Connections Academy, a nonprofit corporation, through a contract with Connections Academy of Utah, LLC, to provide its educational program and other services. UCA is accredited by the Northwest Accreditation Commission, an accrediting division of AdvancED.

Utah Connections Academy strives to create an inclusive environment that welcomes and values the diversity of the people we serve. We foster fairness, equity, and inclusion to create a workplace environment where everyone is treated with respect and dignity.

Position Summary and Responsibilities

Working from your home office within Utah, as a certified teacher you will utilize the Pearson Online Classroom to support and motivate 6th grade students in working through their curriculum, deliver synchronous instruction, provide intervention and enrichment, and use data to diagnose student learning needs.

The Upper Elementary teacher will be responsible for the successful completion of the following tasks:

• Represent a commitment to equitable practice in all areas within the job description; this includes use of evidence to make decisions, holding high expectations for all students and committing to providing individualized support to all students to meet those expectations;

• Support the instructional program with asynchronous recorded lessons and synchronous instruction, along with individual communications and intervention;

• Provide clear, constructive, and consistent feedback for all student work, create progress reports and conduct parent conferences in a timely manner;

• Communicate with parents, students and other teachers on a regular basis to develop and update Personal Learning Plans and schedules, score assessments, provide feedback on student work, suggest instructional approaches and strategies, monitor completion of assignments and coach special projects;

• Develop a general knowledge of the entire program's K-12 curriculum and a very detailed knowledge of the grades for which responsible;

• Operate within the Response to Intervention/Multi-Tiered System of Supports model, using data and evidence to provide Tier 1 differentiated instruction to all students while working with a team of teachers to develop and implement Tier 2 and 3 interventions;

• Support students and parents with alternate lessons, assessments, and strategies and provide additional assistance with daily assignments and projects in order to meet individual learning goals;

• Build strong relationships with students and families to provide direct instruction and intervention that meets the needs of the individual student;

• Work collaboratively with other staff within a professional learning community to ensure that all students are successfully progressing through the program, that parents have a central point of contact, and that tasks are distributed among staff;

• Collaborate within the school's professional learning community to continuously monitor student data to make strong instructional decisions that have direct impact on student learning;

• Collaborate with other teachers, team members and staff learning specialists to develop alternate interventions and extensions to students' programs to ensure all students learn at relatively high levels of achievement;

• Keep student records and data up-to-date, including cumulative files, online student and family information, attendance accounting, and logging all student and parent contacts;

• Work with Elementary Leadership and School Counselor(s) to ensure students and families are receiving appropriate communications, students are making adequate progress and established goals are being met;

• Work with other teachers to coordinate and attend social activities, required school events, and relevant field trips for students, making consideration for integrating these trips into the curriculum;

• Actively engage with students and families at school events and field trips;

• Devise and implement virtual methods of creating and maintaining a "school community";

• Attend required professional development, in addition to seeking professional growth within curriculum field(s) of study;

• Participate in the organization and administration of State Testing, as directed;

• Participate in student recruiting sessions and other marketing efforts that require teacher representation; and

• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

• Utah residency required

• Highly qualified and certified to teach Upper Elementary in Utah

• Experience teaching Upper Elementary

• Strong technology skills (especially with Microsoft Office products and Google Suite)

• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written

• Highly organized and punctual

• Student and family focused approach

• High degree of flexibility

• Demonstrated ability to work well in fast paced environment

• Team player track record

• Strong interpersonal skills which include the ability to work effectively with students, parents, staff, and community members from diverse backgrounds.

• Willingness to travel for marketing and state testing events (may require occasional overnight travel)

• Ability to work some occasional evening hours, as needed to support some families

• Ability to work remotely

• Must be able to use a personal electronic device and email address for 2-step authentication