Special Education ScienceTeacher – Grades 6–12

Location: Specialized Day School Setting
Employment Type: Contract
Focus Areas: Special Education,  Social-Emotional Learning

Arbor Associates partners with specialized day schools serving students whose primary needs are social, emotional, or behavioral. These students have experienced barriers that prevented them from succeeding in traditional public school settings. Your role is to help them reset, rebuild, and rediscover their potential in a structured, supportive environment.

This is a contract opportunity through Arbor, but the impact you’ll have on students is long-lasting. This isn’t conventional teaching with minor supports.  You’ll be working with students who may not trust adults yet, who lead with defensiveness instead of confidence, and who will test boundaries long before they show progress. When you show up with consistency and skill, you create the conditions for academic growth, emotional regulation, and meaningful change. Many students eventually transition successfully back to a traditional school environment or on to the next step in their education.

What You’ll Do

• Deliver engaging, structured, trauma-informed instruction in core subjects, with an emphasis on Special Education and/or Math

• Develop and implement individualized learning plans aligned with IEP goals

• Collaborate with clinicians, counselors, program leaders, and support staff to facilitate student progress

• Integrate social-emotional learning and restorative practices into daily routines

• Maintain clear expectations, structure, and predictable routines while responding appropriately to crisis situations

• Foster belonging, stability, and motivation in each student’s academic journey

What Makes This Role Unique

• Small class sizes with high levels of support

• Real-time collaboration with specialized teams

• A mission-driven environment where relationships matter as much as academics

• Students with genuine potential who often haven’t had the right structure or adults advocating for them

What Success Looks Like

• Students are safe, engaged, and making measurable academic and behavioral progress

• Instruction is individualized and responsive, not generic

• Behavior support is proactive, relational, and grounded in empathy

• Communication across teams is open, professional, and problem-solving oriented

• Progress — big or small — is acknowledged and reinforced

What We’re Looking For

• Current Massachusetts Educator License in Special Education or a subject-specific license in Science (Grades 6–12)

• Experience teaching in special education, alternative education, or behavioral/therapeutic school settings

• Demonstrated ability to build rapport with students who have significant social-emotional needs, including those with trauma histories, anxiety, or behavioral challenges

• Capacity to differentiate instruction, scaffold content, and integrate hands-on learning to support diverse learning profiles

• Strong classroom management grounded in structure, empathy, and consistency — not punishment

• Patience, adaptability, and a genuine belief that students who have struggled can still grow academically and personally

• Comfort working in an on-site, team-based environment that includes clinicians, counselors, and residential staff

• Ability to collaborate, communicate, and problem-solve in fast-moving situations

• Commitment to showing up with professionalism and resilience, even on tough days