Upper School STEAM and Science Teacher (Parental Leave Position)

Renbrook School (West Hartford, CT), an independent day school for children age three to grade eight, currently seeks an educator to teach a STEAM elective to students in grades 6, 7, and 8 and teach Grade 5 Science from September through December, 2025. The teacher will work alongside our current teacher in September just prior to her departure to build culture, set expectations, and deliver instruction, and then lead the class from approximately late September to the start of Winter Break.

Renbrook’s STEAM classes emphasize creative design and problem solving. Fifth-grade science is inquiry-based and focuses on chemical reactions and properties of matter, ecosystems, and food webs. 

The successful candidate will have many of the following: 

• Experience: Teaching children in independent, day, college preparatory, or similar school settings, with strong references highlighting teaching ability, student connection, and subject mastery.
• Passion and Mindset: A love of teaching, infectious optimism, playful sense of humor, and a growth mindset focused on continuous improvement.
• Collaboration and Relationships: Positive peer-to-peer collaborator, skilled in building relationships with students, parents, and faculty, and appreciating diversity in social and academic development.
• Child Development: Strong understanding of child development and the unique needs of middle schoolers, with experience teaching inquiry-based science and cross-curricular projects.
• Technical Skills: Experience or willingness to learn Adobe Illustrator, block coding, laser cutting, 3D printing, CAD software (TinkerCAD), and teaching the engineering and design process.
• Flexibility: Someone who is flexible and willing to learn new tools to help students with integrated, student-centered projects.

Qualifications:

• A master’s degree (preferred) or bachelor’s degree in elementary education or related field.
• Experience teaching upper elementary or middle school STEAM or science.
• Experience with student-centered teaching, project-based learning, integrated curriculum planning, and authentic measures of student learning.

Responsibilities:

• Deliver inquiry-driven Science and STEAM curricula.
• Create a classroom space that is differentiated, engaging, and responsive.
• Integrate technology to support learning. 
• Identify and respond to individual students’ academic, social, and emotional needs, including learning differences in collaboration with Student Support Services.
• Implement authentic assessment of student progress.
• Advise a group of 6-8 students, draft midterm comments, and conference with parents.

The review of candidates will begin immediately with an expected start date in September 2025.

Please submit a cover letter, resume, philosophy of teaching, and three letters of reference included together in one PDF document, to employment@renbrook.org with “STEAM & Science Maternity Leave Position” in the subject line.

Renbrook School is an affirmative action – equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religious creed, age, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, present or past history of mental disability, intellectual disability, learning disability or physical disability, including but not limited to blindness, veteran status, sexual orientation, and other protected classes.

Renbrook School will make a reasonable accommodation to known disabilities of a qualified applicant or employee, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on its operation.