Job Description
TOP SALARIES!
As we move into our 3rd year with our new middle school, it's time to add additional teachers to our program. Our adolescent program is authentic and magical. The students raise hens and sell fresh eggs, enjoy beekeeping, grow and sell organic sprouts, and so much more. Our middle school has a commercial kitchen and a laundry room! More importantly, our teachers have an enormous amount of trust and autonomy as well as infinite support. Teacher input is invaluable to our team. They have generous annual budgets, and we enjoy attending dinners and conferences together and reminding one another to laugh often.
At MSC, you can practice authentic Montessori for a competitive salary. Each class is allotted an extensive annual budget, and our teachers have their own school credit cards to purchase materials or book going out trips. We believe in efficiency. Our middle school consists of 7th and 8th graders, and the only exams we administer is MAP testing, three times a year. Teachers may access their classrooms any time, and they leave them intact at the end of each school year.
Ideal teaching candidates will be organized, friendly, responsible, patient, professional, mature, and kind. We want teachers who work well with others, have a deep sense of social responsibility, and love people and animals. They must have a positive attitude and excellent writing and communication skills.
Established 40 years ago, the Montessori School of Columbia is a warm and wonderful, not-for-profit school. We are accredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) and we are the ONLY school in South Carolina to be accredited by the American Montessori Society. We have a mix of AMS and AMI teachers, and both the Head of School and Assistant Head are Montessori certified and have worked as teachers.
Located on 3 wooded acres in the heart of the capital of South Carolina, we are five minutes from the University of South Carolina and Downtown Columbia and two hours from the mountains and the beach. We follow a 9.5-month school year. Our teachers have two paid months off in the summer, as well as paid holidays. We offer competitive salaries, ANNUAL increases, 80% paid health benefits, 3% matching retirement, tuition remission, opportunities for career advancement, opportunities for professional development, an authentic Montessori environment, fully equipped classrooms, generous material budgets, teacher autonomy, administrative support, a beautiful campus, and a group of loving, committed coworkers that collaborate with grace and courtesy. We know that our teachers make our school great.
Start Date: Salary begins on July 1, 2023; Teachers start on Monday, July 31, 2023; Students begin on Wednesday, August 16, 2023.
Training: We are willing to sponsor Montessori secondary training for the right candidate.
Moving Expenses: If applicable, we will help with relocation costs within the United States.
In 1982, a group of six Columbia families faced a dilemma. Each family had a kindergartener attending one of the two Montessori preschools in downtown Columbia, and these children were reading and doing math that put them far ahead of peers in traditional kindergarten. These six families decided to start an elementary Montessori school. One of the parents and a teacher who had worked in traditional schools, volunteered to attend Montessori training in New York during the summer of 1983. That fall the school opened with a class of six first graders at a local church. The school remained there for a year and a half until one of our parents found a building for sale on Oceola Street in the Rosewood neighborhood.
In 1999 MSC expanded to offer a preschool program located at a church. It became clear that the school needed a consolidated campus and a bigger space. The board and staff looked at undeveloped property and existing buildings for many years. Eventually in 2006, the school began purchasing residences directly beside the elementary school. At that point the board decided that the school should remain in its existing neighborhood.
Today, MSC has approximately 160 students, ages 3-14, in seven buildings on a quaint, 2.5-acre campus in the heart of the Rosewood neighborhood.
At MSC we strive to develop the unique capabilities of each child. Guided by the work of Dr. Maria Montessori and informed by current research, our committed staff honors the natural curiosity of children. Our academically rigorous, self-paced curriculum allows children to work according to their own development levels.
In multi-age classes, children discover the dignity of work as well as the importance of caring for themselves and others. Since we attract families from a rich array of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, MSC students learn to be citizens of the world. Our mission is to foster a love of learning that will guide and sustain children throughout their lives.