High School Humanities Expert

Summary

Join Sora, a virtual middle and high school, as a full-time, contract-to-hire faculty member. This fully remote role involves serving as a House Advisor, guiding students' academic journeys, and facilitating engaging learning experiences. You will develop and improve learning modules, track student progress, and contribute to the overall growth of the school. The position requires experience in secondary or postsecondary education, subject matter expertise, and a student-focused approach. A generous benefits package, including health insurance, retirement plan, stock options, and paid time off, is offered upon conversion to a full-time employee. The initial contract runs from January 30th, 2025 to June 20th, 2025, with the possibility of becoming a full-time employee with benefits starting August 1st, 2025.

Requirements

• Experience: Experience should be at the secondary or postsecondary level in 2 or more of the following areas is desirable: Honors level experience with Literature, World and/or U.S. History, Philosophy, and Ancient and/or Modern Cultural Studies including Art and/or Music
• Student focused: Experience working high school students and a belief that adolescence is a special time of life with its own specific joys and opportunities. You’re honored to be a part of it and respect our students’ ability to drive their own education, with our support
• Subject matter expertise: A broad, demonstrated understanding of the academic area, with clear expertise in various component parts
• Sora academic model & philosophy alignment: Appreciation for and experience with student-led, progressive education and a desire to build something new for students and for the world
• Excited to build a new school and education model: Interested in being part of a unique hybrid school-tech start up model and excited to dive straight into ambiguity (and resilient when we learn more and change course)
• Critical thinking: You are intellectually curious, with strong critical thinking skills, and a deep interest in furthering your own learning
• Communication skills: Responsive, professional, and understand working with widely ranging stakeholders both kids and adults; proactive at building relationships in a remote setting
• DEIB Investment: Invested in furthering diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at Sora through curricular design and implementation as well as participation in the Sora community. We take seriously our commitment to build and support a widely diverse community of students, families, and team members and look for faculty members who believe that this is vital to education, and ideally have experience fostering it in the classroom

Responsibilities

• Serve as a House Advisor and coach students one-on-one: Faculty members serve as House Advisors to 18-20 students, meeting daily with the group to provide academic guidance and support. Additionally, faculty actively collaborate with students and their families throughout their time at Sora to identify and supply necessary resources and support, serving as their first point of contact and primary support person, offering feedback on their progress, and generally facilitating their educational journey at Sora
• Facilitate learning experiences (Expeditions, Activities, and Independent Studies) for students: Expeditions are six-week learning modules for our students, helping them develop knowledge and abilities while allowing them to explore interests. We have a growing library of expeditions developed by faculty and curriculum designers and work with faculty on developing new offerings. Activities are student self-guided learning experiences where faculty provide feedback and assessment. Independent Studies are student-developed learning experiences where faculty assist in providing expertise, coaching, feedback, and assessment
• Develop new learning experiences and improve current expeditions: Faculty members will develop new learning experiences with the guidance and support of curriculum staff on an annual basis. Faculty will also continuously improve current expeditions on an ongoing basis in collaboration with curriculum staff
• Track student progress and goals: Using our internal software and other tools, ensure students meet their learning goals and document feedback for students, parents, and Sora team members. Provide ongoing feedback on student performance to all stakeholders
• Support overall school, community, and company growth: We are a new school and organization, and we look to each team member to help us build the right model, culture, processes, and policies. We are growing and will need you to grow and change with us!
• Communicate with the team, students, and guardians: As a fully remote workplace and school, we expect each community member to communicate proactively and thoughtfully. We use internal software, Heartbeat, Zoom, and other technology to enable this

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with virtual learning
• Passion for independent learning
• Familiarity with a variety of tech tools and platforms
• Experience in a startup environment

Benefits

• Health, dental, vision, and life insurance
• A retirement plan with company matching
• Stock options
• Generous Paid Time Off
• Remote work