Job Description:

Who We Are Looking For:

Are you the Special Education Teacher we have been looking for? In this position, you will be able to convey your passion for helping others with a dynamic team by bringing an energetic and positive approach while working with our students!

The Susan Wayne Center of Excellence (SWCE) and the River Run Academy offer intensive residential, educational, medical, and clinical services for adolescent boys and girls who are mild to moderately cognitively impaired with concurrent behavioral, mental health, and medical issues. The education program at River Run Academy the clinical day school at the Susan Wayne Center of Excellence, offers intensive educational, vocational, and clinical services for mild to moderately cognitively impaired students. We are located on thirty-eight acres of property in beautiful Thompson, CT. Thompson is centrally located, 25 minutes south of Worcester, MA and 40 minutes west of Providence, RI.

Educators are vital to our mission at River Run Academy - they provide care, support, education, and guidance to our students every day. Our students present with unique learning needs and challenging mental health issues, and our educational staff work in collaboration with a highly trained body of multidisciplinary staff members to provide cutting-edge, trauma-informed interventions. We provide individualized instruction to meet each student’s unique educational needs, and provide a six to one student-teacher ratio. In addition, instructional assistants are present in all classrooms to provide support to students with individualized needs.

Schedule: In this role, you will work Monday - Friday, 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM. You will also work a school year calendar, which means you will have all school vacations and holidays, as well as the time you accrue - an additional 10 days a year!

What You'll Do:

• Support all efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of students, staff, and the program including providing crisis interventions to assist the students in feeling safe and observing all risk precautions and safety plans for each student.
• Provide emergency coverage for the program when needed.
• Comply with all safety regulations and policies, including transportation and community safety policies.
• Report safety/maintenance concerns to Safety Officer and/or Education Director.
• Assist in developing Special Intervention Plans for students in the classroom.
• Establish classroom safety for purpose of instruction, observing student’s risk precautions, Special Intervention Plans, and Safety Plans.
• Support and follow all P.P.T. recommendations in conjunction with Treatment Team decisions. You will serve as a member of the P.P.T. and Treatment Team for assigned students.
• Implement all program rules and policies consistently, uniformly, and fairly; utilizing positive feedback and behavioral consequences in accordance with program policy and setting reasonable limits that reflect the student’s developmental and emotional abilities.
• Participate in the physical management of dysregulated students engaging in dangerous behaviors when required.
• Complete Educational Assessments in an accurate and comprehensive manner including making educational, behavioral, and social skills recommendations for IEP which can be worked on in a classroom situation.
• Provide daily educational preparation and instruction as assigned in: activities of daily living skills, language skills, socialization and community skills, vocational skills, academic skills, elementary, junior high, and high school curriculum.
• Provide tutoring or GED preparation when applicable.
• Teach students a variety of subjects according to the IEP and teach lessons on day to day basis for individual students in accordance with their goals and objectives.
• Assist in the development of overall curricula and align lesson plans to Ct. Common Core State Standards.

Why JRI?

• Work within a small but diverse team that values your input!
• Opportunities to advance your career!
• Be who you are! JRI is strongly committed to providing an inclusive, diverse and welcoming environment for our employees and the people we serve.
• We offer a $2,000 bilingual bonus to new hires who speak a second language other than English!
• Reimbursement is available for employees to cover the registration costs and annual fees for any professional license required for work such as LMHC, LCSW, LICSW, RN and more!
• Access to our excellent Blue Cross medical and Delta Dental benefits.
• Retirement benefits including 401K matched up to $800 a year and pension after 5 years of employment.
• Professional development opportunities such as tuition reimbursement up to almost $4000 per year and discounted tuition rates to select partnership colleges and universities!
• Wellness benefits including access to employee resource groups (including multicultural affinity groups, LGBTQ+ advocacy, employee engagement groups, etc.), self-care resources, and an Employee Assistance Program.
• Generous paid time off up to 19 days for full time employees in your first year and much more!

Requirements:

• Applicants must have a minimum of a Bachelor's degree and a Connecticut State Certification as a Special Educator.
• Applicants with at least one year teaching experience in a residential setting with adolescents are preferred.
• Applicants must be knowledgeable in growth and development; able to obtain and interpret information in terms of the needs of emotionally disturbed, mentally ill, or adjudicated adolescents; and understanding of the range of interventions and treatment required by this population.
• Applicants must maintain a valid driver’s license.
• Applicants should be able to work alone in an unsupervised environment.
• Applicants must be able to become certified in BCC and American Red Cross CPR/First Aid.
• Applicants must be able to pass a pre-employment physical examination.
• Background and driving record checks will be performed.

JRI is strongly committed to providing an inclusive, diverse and welcoming environment for our employees and the people we serve. Persons from diverse backgrounds including women, communities of color, the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply. JRI is an equal opportunity employer.