EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AT OCA
Ohr Chadash Academy (OCA) is a Torah-driven Orthodox Jewish day school for boys and girls in early childhood through 8th grade, where the divine spark and unique worth of each individual is celebrated.
OCA, with approximately 325 students and over 65 faculty members in preschool through 8th grade, is known for its strong sense of community and joyful approach to learning. There is a tangible sense of warmth and care among our students, faculty, and staff.
OCA is committed to ensuring equal employment opportunity. It is our policy to recruit, hire, train, and promote individuals, as well as administer any and all personnel actions, without regard to race, color, religion (except where there is a bona fide requirement for the position), creed, age, sex, national origin or ancestry, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, status as a disabled or other eligible veteran, status as a qualified individual with a disability, or any other category covered by applicable law.
OCA now offers a range of employment benefits for qualified employees.
If you are interested in being part of our warm, growing, dynamic school community, please submit your cover letter and resume to employment@ocabaltimore.org.
Director of Development
We are seeking an experienced, dynamic development professional to lead the fundraising efforts for our growing school community.
Position Overview:
Reporting to the Head of School, the Director of Institutional Advancement and Finance is responsible for participating in the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of prospects, including expanding parent and grandparent donor base, and providing day-to-day leadership for annual campaign and special events. This job is accomplished through the individual’s own direct efforts as well as through managing a team of professional staff and effectively leveraging the skills and volunteer contributions of parents and Board members. The Director of Institutional Advancement and Finance is also responsible for identifying and overseeing process of obtaining grant and loan opportunities in partnership with staff grant writer and controller.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
DEVELOPMENT
- Overseeing annual campaign, special events, and grants to meet or exceed annual fundraising goals.
- Partnering with the Board of Directors to establish and achieve fundraising goals and identify new individual and business funding prospects.
- Identifying and researching prospective donors and grants, including individuals, foundations, and governmental programs.
- Developing and overseeing strategies to cultivate, recognize, and maintain relationships with donors and foundations, and ensuring that timely steps are taken toward solicitation.
- Recruiting and training parent volunteers to support development efforts.
- Overseeing the recording of gifts in a database management system according to all IRS specifications, and School policies and procedures in a timely, organized, and accurate manner.
- Overseeing the tracking, reporting, and analyzing trends in development data to evaluate current fundraising strategies and methods and recommend changes as appropriate.
- Providing updated biweekly reports of development activities to the Head of School, including individual donor gifts, events being planned, and development-related costs.
- Acknowledging gifts in writing on behalf of the School in an accurate, timely, and professional manner.
- Working proactively with the Director of Marketing to prepare solicitation materials and development-related communications
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree
- 5-7 years’ experience in fundraising; demonstrated ability to achieve increasing annual development goals.
- Shomer Shabbat candidates, preferred
- Shared commitment to, and ability to articulate, the mission and core values of the School and the Board’s and Head’s vision for the strategic direction of the institution.
- Thorough understanding of principles and techniques of development activities, including annual giving, targeted giving, planned giving, event planning, and grant procurement.
- Innovative and entrepreneurial approach, designs creative solutions to complex issues.
- Highly organized, proactive, detail-oriented, and able to manage and follow through on multiple projects simultaneously; maintains accurate records.
- Strong management and leadership skills, and a demonstrated ability to build, manage, mentor and motivate an effective team of professionals and volunteers
- Great people skills – is engaging, collaborative, well-liked, and respected.
- Able to adapt to changing environments and priorities; works well under pressure.
- Strong oral and written communication skills.
- Exercises sound judgment, maintains strict confidentiality, and ensures the highest level of ethical decision making at all times; follows guidelines of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and Prizmah.
- A hard-working self-starter with the ability to work productively and meet benchmarks and goals on time
Bookkeeper (F/T)
Hours:
28-30 hours per week, 9am-3pm M-Th and 9am-1pm F.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Accounts payable/receivable
- Assist ED in maintaining financial accounts of the school
- Work with admissions staff on enrollment
- Tuition payments management and account corrections
- Quickbooks recording, reconciling, and pulling reports as needed
- Assist with grant reporting and annual audit
Qualifications:
- 3-5 years of experience required
- Proficient in Quickbooks, Word, Excel, and Google Docs
- Experience with FACTS tuition management system preferred
Early Childhood Center Lead Teacher (F/T)
Position Overview:
The mission of the Ohr Chadash Early Childhood Center (ECC) is to support the individual development of each child through a Torah-driven, developmentally appropriate, child-directed approach. Attentive to each individual child’s different abilities, interests, and needs, we use a variety of multisensory teaching tools and materials to ensure that our environment is stimulating and relevant to the growth and potential of each child. Our classrooms are equipped with centers and materials that encourage open-ended exploration within an integrated Judaic and general studies curriculum. Embracing empirically-based teaching strategies and experiential learning opportunities, our program supports children’s growth through play and small/large group activities.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or content-related skills, preferred
- Five years early childhood teaching experience required
- Warm, nurturing, flexible, and joyful approach to teaching
- Ability to integrate age-appropriate Torah-based Judaic and general studies content and skill building into a play-based classroom
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Excellent written and oral communications
- 90-Hour Child Care Certification, to be completed within first yea
- Basic Health and Safety, CPR/First Aid Certification, COVID Training
Responsibilities:
- Design and implement interdisciplinary instructional units and daily lesson plans following the Creative Curriculum
- Differentiate instruction to meet the needs of a range of learners
- Use various assessment tools to evaluate each student’s capabilities within the classroom
- Support children in developing age-appropriate cognitive, physical, and social-emotional skills and skills of independence
- Establish a positive relationship with parents by providing regular and positive communication
The successful candidate will possess:
- A reflective, growth mindset with an interest in professional growth
- Sincere passion for early childhood education
- Strong leadership and classroom management skills
- Collaborative approach to decision making
- Passion for helping nurture children’s curiosity and love of learning
- Ability to skillfully balance an array of responsibilities in a busy school environment
- Engage in ongoing professional development
Early Childhood Center Assistant (F/T)
The mission of the Ohr Chadash Early Childhood Center (ECC) is to support the individual development of each child through a Torah-driven, developmentally appropriate, child-directed approach. Attentive to each individual child’s different abilities, interests, and needs, we use a variety of multisensory teaching tools and materials to ensure that our environment is stimulating and relevant to the growth and potential of each child. Our classrooms are equipped with centers and materials that encourage open-ended exploration within an integrated Judaic and general studies curriculum. Embracing empirically-based teaching strategies and experiential learning opportunities, our program supports children’s growth through play and small/large group activities.
Qualifications:
- High School Diploma
- Experience as an assistant teacher in early childhood a plus
- 90-Hour Child Care Certification, to be completed within first year
- Basic Health and Safety, CPR/First Aid Certification, COVID Training
- Medical Clearance and Immunization Records
Responsibilities:
- Assist lead teacher in preparing an environment conducive to learning and child-centered exploration
- Assist lead teacher in creating developmentally-appropriate learning activities
- Assume teacher responsibilities if the lead teacher is absent
- Maintain ongoing dialogue with other teachers, substitutes, and parent volunteers
- Work with individual children to gauge abilities and work towards developing their abilities
- Create a calm and quiet learning environment
- Use various assessment tools to evaluate each student’s capabilities within the classroom
- Maintain classroom supplies, inventory and materials
- Support children during toilet learning
- Supports and maintains classroom cleanliness and organization
The successful candidate will possess:
- Warm, nurturing, flexible, and joyful approach to working with young children
- Passion for helping nurture children’s curiosity and love of learning
- Ability to work well both independently and with direction
- Interest in learning and growing
- Ability to skillfully balance an array of responsibilities in a busy school environment
- Strong organizational skills
- Have the physical capacity to work with toddlers and preschoolers
- Ability to lift and or move up to 50 pounds as well as sit, stand, walk, climb or balance; kneel, crouch, bend, twist and reach with hands and arms
Elementary School Assistant
We are seeking engaging, collaborative individuals to support classroom learning by working in concert with the lead teacher or by filling in for classroom teachers when they are absent.
Qualifications:
- High School Diploma
- Experience as an assistant teacher a plus
Responsibilities:
- Assist lead teacher in preparing an environment conducive to learning
- Assume teacher responsibilities if the lead teacher is absent
- Work with individual students or small groups to support students’ success in the classroom
- Create a calm and quiet learning environment
- Prepare learning materials and maintain classroom organization
The successful candidate will possess:
- Warm, nurturing, and joyful approach to working with students
- Passion for helping nurture children’s curiosity and love of learning
- Flexible, adaptive, and positive mindset
- Ability to work well both independently and with direction
- Interest in learning and growing
- Ability to skillfully balance an array of responsibilities in a busy school environment
- Strong organizational skills
Elementary School 3rd Grade Judaic Studies Teacher (F/T)
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s or the equivalent in education or related field
- Minimum 2-5 years’ experience in elementary school classroom teaching, preferred
- Warm and engaging style, passion for nurturing children’s curiosity and love of learning
- Strong classroom management skills
- Creativity, flexible thinking, growth mindset
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Proficiency with technology integration
Responsibilities:
- Teach Chumash (L’havin U’lehaskil), Ivrit (iTalam), Tefilla (Ani Tefillah), Kriyah, Parsha, Chagim
- Design interactive learning experiences for individual students, small groups, and the class, as a whole
- Differentiate instruction to meet the needs of a range of learners
- Collaborate with colleagues within and across subject areas
- Actively communicate with parents and student support team
Elementary School Science Teacher (P/T)
Position Overview:
Ohr Chadash Academy, an empirically-based, Torah-driven Orthodox Jewish day school for boys and girls, is looking to hire a warm, creative, and energetic part-time elementary science (1st and 2nd grade) educator who can design interactive learning experiences that will inspire curiosity and exploration in science.
Time commitment is 4 hours/week teaching time.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in education or science
- Passionate about helping nurture children’s curiosity and love of learning
- Strong classroom management skills
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
Responsibilities:
- Design hands-on learning experiences for individual students, small groups, and the class, as a whole
- Differentiate instruction to meet the needs of a range of learners
- Collaborate with colleagues within and across subject areas
- Actively communicate with parents and student support team
The Successful Candidate Will:
- Value joining a warm, mutually supportive, and innovative faculty culture
- Be self-reflective and committed to professional growth
- Possess an understanding of current teaching best practices and child/adolescent development
- Demonstrate fluency with technology integration
- Create a stimulating, challenging, and supportive learning environment for all students according to their current skill and abilities
- Develop a strong rapport with students
- Establish excellent classroom culture incorporating the use of fair and consistent standards
- Develop lessons that engage students in higher order thinking
- Provide a safe learning environment in which students freely take intellectual and creative risks and see failure as a critical part of the learning process
- Create an environment that fosters a growth mindset
Elementary School Ivrit Teacher (P/T or F/T)
Position Overview:
We are seeking a passionate, dynamic, professional educator to join our faculty to inspire our students to love Ivrit and Israel within our skills-based program.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent
- Passion for helping nurture students’ love of learning Hebrew and of Israel
- Minimum of 3-5 years’ teaching experience in early childhood through middle school
- Excellent written Hebrew and native oral language skills
- Strong written and oral communication skills in English
- Warm, approachable demeanor
- Proficiency with integrating technology into instruction
Responsibilities:
- Design opportunities to infuse Hebrew and Israel into the school year-round through assemblies,
programs, bulletin boards, etc. - Create learning activities and deliver instruction to students across a range of ages and skill levels
- Assess student learning on an informal and ongoing basis to inform lesson design
- Communicate with parents about student progress
The successful candidate will:
- Value joining a warm, mutually supportive, creative, and innovative faculty culture
- Be committed to building a high-quality Hebrew language program
- Create a joyful, stimulating, challenging, and safe learning environment for all students
- Develop and maintain positive, supportive relationships with children and parents
- View students through a positive, strength-based lens
- Possess an understanding of current teaching best practices and second language acquisition
- Be self-reflective and committed to professional growth
Middle School ELA teacher (P/T)
The objective of this course is to build an understanding and applicable skill-set relating to written and oral components of English Language Arts:
- Reading comprehension & analysis (through the use of fiction and non-fiction literature)
- Vocabulary (demonstrated in both oral and written form)
- Writing skills (emphasis on structure of a five-paragraph essay, fundamentals of a persuasive essay, research and documentation skills, sentence structure)
- Speaking & listening (focus on participating in an informed discussion, developing oral presentation skills)
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in education or related field
- Minimum 2-5 years’ teaching experience
- Passionate about helping nurture children’s curiosity and love of learning
- Strong classroom management skills
- Creativity, flexible thinking, growth mindset
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Proficiency with technology
Responsibilities:
- Design interactive learning experiences for individual students, small groups, and the class, as a whole
- Differentiate instruction to meet the needs of a range of learners
- Collaborate with colleagues within and across subject areas
- Actively communicate with parents and student support team
Middle School Math Teacher (P/T)
Position Overview:
We are seeking an enthusiastic, experienced, and supportive math teacher.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in education or related field
- Warm and engaging style, passion for nurturing children’s curiosity and love of learning
- Strong classroom management skills
- Creativity, flexible thinking, growth mindset
- Proficiency with technology integration
Responsibilities:
- Design interactive learning experiences for individual students, small groups, and the class, as a whole
- Differentiate instruction to meet the needs of individual learners
- Actively communicate with parents and student support team