First Grade Teacher

Job description

The Odyssey School of Denver is a diverse, K-8 Expeditionary Learning (EL) charter school. We believe in teaching students how to learn by focusing on academic achievement, critical thinking, and social responsibility, preparing them for high school and beyond. Our EL curriculum is supported by a robust outdoor Adventure program that all students and staff participate in. Crew Lead teachers work with staff and students to design, implement, and support the educational program of the Odyssey School of Denver in a manner that is true to the principles of EL Education and the mission and vision of the school.

We are hiring one first-grade crew lead.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Building Crew & Character
  • Build school culture and foster character through practices that bring the community together, promote shared understanding, and encourage all community members to become crew, not passengers.
  • Ensure equity and have high expectations by creating and adapting structures to ensure that all students have access to a comprehensive and challenging curriculum.
• Learning Expeditions
  • Design, develop, and document content-based literacy learning expeditions that use the EL Education Literacy curriculum as the backbone. Core elements of the learning expedition framework include standards, compelling topics and understandings, guiding questions, fieldwork, high-quality student work, service, assessment, and documentation.
• Planning, Instruction, & Assessment
  • Develop compelling unit and daily lesson plans for crew, expedition, math, and literacy.
  • Consistently use instructional practices that are engaging and promote equity and high expectations through reading and writing across the disciplines, utilizing inquiry-based approaches and effective instructional practices that make rich content come alive, ensure all students think and participate, and allow the teacher to know all students and their thinking well.
  • Utilize effective assessment practices to analyze student work and evidence of student thinking to understand learning and to shape instruction.
• Family Communication
  • Make families feel welcome, get to know them well, actively engage them in the life of the school, and communicate regularly with them.
  • Use effective classroom management practices and communicate challenges and celebrations to parents.
• Professionalism & Responsibilities
  • Participate in a strong professional culture that is sustained via collective leadership and action.
  • Observe and support the Odyssey staff community courtesies and Habits.
  • Work with Adventure Director to schedule, plan, and support facilitation of two overnight trips per year, as well as a variety of Adventure days throughout the year, and coordinate parent chaperones.
  • Attend and participate in all Staff Council and professional development meetings.
  • Be prompt for school, meetings, and other school responsibilities.

Job requirements

• Must be a self-aware, mission-driven, solutions-oriented team player looking to become an expert learner.
• Commitment to outdoor education and adventure programming for students.
• Certified teacher with 2 or more years of experience leading a classroom
• Experience with EL curriculum or project-based learning is a plus but not required

This is a full-time position (191 days as described in the school calendar) between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027. Compensation is based on experience and includes health and retirement benefits.

(see payscale here)

Includes health and retirement benefits.