MetWest is Hiring for 2008-2009

METWEST HIGH SCHOOL OVERVIEW

MetWest High School is a small, innovative high school in the Oakland Unified School District. In 2007-08, (our sixth year), we serve 134 9th -12th grade students who travel to our campus from all corners of Oakland. MetWest’s approach to learning is grounded in a commitment to educate one student at a time. Our structures and practices are dramatic departures from what is commonly known as “traditional” high school education.

In conjunction with their teachers (called advisors) and family members, each student designs a customized learning plan focused on their interests and passions, which includes two days a week at an internship and three days of academic study and project work on campus. The internships give students a deep sense of how their interests play out in the adult world, and provide an authentic environment and audience for their work. The courses our students take at MetWest and Laney College support academic rigor in the internship-based and independent projects they develop.

MetWest High School is a member of the Big Picture Schools network based in Providence, Rhode Island. You can learn more about Big Picture and MetWest at www.bigpicture.org.

We are committed to providing an inquiry-based academic environment in which students take charge of their own learning. We seek teachers who are willing to work as guides, resources, and inspiration rather than as deliverers of facts. MetWest teachers are as excited about being learners as they are about being teachers, and enjoy working side by side with students to learn together.We believe that all students can and want to learn. When students pursue interests of their own, and develop projects borne out of those interests, they naturally seek to understand and master academic standards. We take time to assess our students’ interests, talents, prior achievement, goals, hopes, and dreams. Together, we ensure that all students master the academic skills they need to complete inquiry-based projects, and to be eligible and ready for success in four year colleges. At the end of each quarter, our students demonstrate their learning through public exhibitions. They answer questions and receive feedback from their peers, teachers, parents, mentors, and community members.

At MetWest High School, each Advisor (teacher) works closely with 17 students and their families over a 2 year period, to develop exciting, uniquely challenging educational programs for each student each semester.

We visit our students’ homes, meet and speak with their families frequently, and get an understanding of them as whole people.

Our students spend two days a week working with a mentor at an internship of their choosing, learning professional expectations, communicating effectively with adults from different backgrounds, and producing real world work. Student internship sites have included Youth Outlook magazine, University Pet Hospital, Oakland Collision autobody shop, Oliveto restaurant, Lawrence Berkeley Labs, Oakland City Council, HSM Real Estate, Mission Grafica screenprinting shop, La Raza Centro Legal, and the West Oakland Health Council.

As an Advisor, you will teach Advisory to your 17 students Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. Advisory class includes community building activities, project development, and academic units in your content area that are specifically designed to teach the skills and habits in our five Learning Goal Areas: Empirical Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Social Reasoning, Communication, and Personal Qualities and our school wide Learning Objectives.

The rest of MWF are spent in one-on-one meetings with your advisees, discussing project work, coaching them on individual assignments, checking in about life. As an Advisor, you are part teacher, part project manager, part social support. You will conduct regular meetings and phone conferences with your students’ family members regarding the progress of their student. You will coordinate academic opportunities for students inside and outside of school for the school year and the summer.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are spent visiting students’ internship sites all over the Bay Area, meeting with them and their mentors to plan, troubleshoot, reflect on and evaluate project work and internship work. We coach our students through the search process, from creating professional resumes, to making cold calls, to conducting informational interviews. You will develop, support, and monitor in-depth, multi-disciplinary projects with students and internship mentors.

As a Math Teacher, you will teach interactive, standards and problem-based mathematics to 4 groups of 17 students. Math classes at MetWest prepare our students for college-level math classes, standardized tests, and help them develop problem-solving skills and mental habits. Math classes are taught Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays throughout the day, and Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

Tuesday and Thursday afternoons are flexible, you may work with small groups of students in need of acceleration, or you will team with Advisors to plan Quantitative Reasoning curriculum connections.

You will work as part of the 9th grade team to plan and run the grade level orientation, retreat, to conduct home visits, and to offer connected curriculum.

The staff of MetWest works together weekly to create curriculum, reflect on our teaching and our students’ learning, evaluate our results, and plan for school-wide improvement. We plan and implement multi-disciplinary curriculum in grade level teams. We share our best practices and our teaching dilemmas in a creative, collaborative, respectful environment.

Summer work prepares us for an excellent school year, through home visits to students, student orientation days, and 10-13 days of professional development which includes integration of new staff into our professional learning community, collaborative curriculum planning time, and whole-school focus work (based on our year-long school wide focus).

As part of the Big Picture Company network of schools, we receive training and support from Big Picture coaches, a wealth of curriculum, technological tools, and the opportunity to collaborate with staff at other schools around the network through video conferencing and small group convenings.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

San Francisco Chronicle article: Click here

Edutopia articles and links:

Article One: Here

Article Two: Here

Please send the following to the MetWest Hiring Committee. We begin reviewing candidates in March 2008.

1. A resume with references

2. Two letters of recommendation (one from a recent supervisor and one from a student or student’s parent)

3. A cover letter that describes:

a. Why you would be a good fit at MetWest

b. Your interests and passions beyond teaching

c. How you have supported improved student achievement

d. Ways you have participated in a professional learning community

You can email or send your application packet to:

MetWest High School

Attn: Hiring Committee

314 East 10^th Street, Huerta Hall

Oakland, CA 94606

(510) 879-0235

metwesthighschool@yahoo.com