Teacher/General Down-At-School Staff Job Description
Description of school: Arthur Morgan School is a small, alternative boarding and day school for 27 students in grades 7-9. Our 100 acre campus, located in the Black Mountains of North Carolina, consists mainly of woods and meadows, with creeks and a pond; it is surrounded by National Forest. The school fosters a loving, energetic living/learning community dedicated to supporting individuality while teaching group cooperation. A balance is sought between academics, outdoor activities, and meaningful work. Experiential learning and responsible participation in community are emphasized throughout. Boarding students live in homes with two or three staff members, and the entire community actively shares work, study, play, and decision-making.
General Responsibilities: It takes a lot of energy to work here. We have intense work schedules–usually 60 plus hours per week. Our work calendar generally follows a conventional school year calendar, with some additional work required during students’ breaks. AMS is staff-run by consensus; we have no director or headmaster. All staff are expected to attend our two weekly staff meetings, two of our four Board Meetings, and to participate in running the school cooperatively. Everyone is also expected to attend our weekly student-run All School Meeting and to participate in work projects with the kids. Most of the staff is also involved in planning and leading backpacking/outdoor trips, our 18 day field trips, and any other special field trips or projects/activities we might plan to do.
Additional Responsibilities: This position will consist of a variety of daily duties, including teaching electives (performing or visual arts, outdoor skills, woodworking, or sports and games); supervising chores, free time, and studio time; cooking; and farm chores. Candidates with teaching experience may be asked to team-teach a Social Studies/Science class on a given theme in preparation for an 18-day field trip centered around that theme. For the coming year, this position does not include houseparenting (living in a boarding house with students). However, our distribution of staff duties changes every year, and candidates must be willing to houseparent in future years, if the need should arise.
Requirements: You must be committed to alternative education; be interested in learning: enjoy being around teenagers; be able to work cooperatively with other adults; and enjoy a simple lifestyle that includes physical work and outdoor activities. Experience in the position for which you are applying is an asset. Willingness to learn about and work within the consensus process is essential. Flexibility and a sense of humor are also very important. We ask for at least a two year commitment from new staff members, as it takes a year for new staff to become acclimated to our program.
Benefits: AMS offers a progressive compensation package. Staff receive room and most board, excellent health coverage including vision and dental, and various other benefits, as well as a salary of about $15,000.
To Apply: Please send a resume with a cover letter stating why you want to work at AMS, how AMS fits into your on-going interests, and describing any relevant past experience. Call for specific job descriptions, information about openings or with questions. We typically review resumes and letters of interest every few weeks and phone interview several persons chosen from the pool of applicants. After a positive phone interview, we invite applicants to interview in person on our campus for two days and two nights. This visit includes time for both formal and informal interviews with applicants and includes the opportunity for applicants to work with students and staff as we progress through our daily schedule. During this process we are interested in staff and student interactions with and observations of the applicant, and we are interested in the applicant’s questions and observations of our program.
The Arthur Morgan School, Inc. is committed to equality of educational
opportunity and does not discriminate against applicants, students or
employees based on race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion or
sexual orientation or preference, gender identity or expression, or economic status.
