Jobs

Beaver Country Day School—an independent day school located just outside of Boston, serving grades 6-12—seeks a future-focused, passionate educator who can nurture a culture of innovative thinking in the area of computational thinking. The Computational Thinking & Computer Science Teacher is a full-time faculty position for the 2024-2025 school year and will report directly to the Director of Technology and the Director of the Research + Design Center. 

About Our School & Our People:

We are not your typical independent school. Education is not traditionally seen as forward-thinking. But that’s not the case at Beaver. We welcome change and seek feedback to continuously improve. Our “Launch, Test, Refine” mindset promotes flexibility, risk-taking, open-mindedness, and innovation. Our business is providing a future-focused education rooted in real-world context and experience and our clients are our students. 

The Beaver mindset and approach to teaching place our students at the center of learning experiences in all settings, curricular and co-curricular.  

• Our students in grades 6-12 are interesting and passionate individuals, who, above all, are genuinely happy to be at Beaver. We provide students with opportunities to be co-creators of their learning, making it a deeper, more meaningful experience.  We are committed to providing an educational environment in tune with the real world and doing authentic work.  
• Our teachers and educational leaders are committed to—and excited about— expanding the nature of school, and igniting and fueling the passions of all our students.  
• Our mindset is to make excellent mistakes, launch/test/refine, and not be defined by binary thinking. Instead, we look to approach things from a both/and outlook: tradeoffs don’t have to be the answer and instead, that’s where creativity comes in. We are a community of creative thinkers and doers. 
• Our values include collaboration, partnership, and above all, creating a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment for our community. This work is a priority and steadfast commitment. It is never “done”, and we will always make decisions with this at the core of who we are. For all Beaver students to feel a sense of belonging, it’s important that they see themselves reflected in the community, curriculum, and all our programming. 
• Our goal every day is to create a school that is making an impact – for our students, and for education as a whole. We don’t take that work lightly, we need people that are relentlessly committed to it and excited to do this work—together.

About the Position:

The Computational Thinking & Computer Science Teacher will help maintain and build momentum in efforts to incorporate computational thinking into the curriculum in both the Middle and Upper School. Beyond just teaching classes on these topics, this position will collaborate closely with other Beaver faculty to incorporate computational thinking into other subject areas to teach these vital concepts in an interdisciplinary way. Beaver seeks to move beyond just code and ensure that students understand the inherent capabilities of and limitations of technology, recognize that algorithms can inherit the bias of the systems and people in which they were created, understand how data is collected and used, and not only navigate but influence their digital world. This position will be part of the Research + Design Team that works to imbue their work throughout the school, in and out of the classroom.

Responsibilities:

• Teach computational thinking/computer science classes, as well as workshops, professional development sessions, and other formats as needed.
• Develop new course offerings that provide for deeper exploration of CT/CS such as Algorithms and Data Structures, First Principles: NAND to Tetris, as well as other interdisciplinary applications. 
• Work with students on Student Directed Projects (SDPs) related to computational thinking and projects that include programming in Python, P5, Javascript, Swift, and other programming languages.
• Work with the Director of Technology, the Director of Teaching, Learning, and Innovation, and other key stakeholders to define what computational thinking means to Beaver.
• Collaborate with other faculty to identify meaningful ways to leverage CT/CS/AI to extend and enhance learning goals and incorporate computational thinking concepts into their courses.
• Partner with academic leadership (Division Directors; Director of Teaching, Learning, and Innovation; Chief Engagement and Inclusion Officer; Department Heads, etc.) to help identify needs, priorities, and next practices in CT/CS/AI and to shape a mindset about technology that is equitable, empathetic, and flexible.
• Serve as a member of the Research + Design Team. Support school needs/events hosted on the Research + Design Level, as well as engage in the development and execution of Research + Design programming for students and colleagues.
• Collaborate with academic leadership on faculty professional growth opportunities in CT/CS/AI.
• Coordinate opportunities for growth in the CT/CS/AI space, providing exposure, support, and training for tools in the classroom and beyond—and the encouragement for students and faculty to try new things. 
• Facilitate conversations with—and collect feedback from— faculty to fully understand their CT/CS/AI experience, needs, and goals. 
• Serve as an advisor to a small number of students, club advisor, or other student support roles as needed or assigned.
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

Approach to teaching and learning:

The successful candidate will have a commitment to:

• Aligning the work of computational thinking to the BVR Mindset and New Basics as critical to the Beaver Student Experience.
• A future-focused education with an understanding of the complexity and ever-changing nature of the world our students are inheriting.
• A “next practice” mindset that understands how teaching and learning are changing and how practices should adapt. 
• Student-centered, culturally proactive, and responsive pedagogy in which all students are met where they are, and see themselves represented and valued.

Additional things to know:

• Breakfast and lunch are provided, as well as coffee and snacks.
• Generous Benefits (Health, Dental, and more). For more information visit our website.
• Free parking and close to the MBTA Green Line D.