Summary Information About Our Program

Who we want
We are looking for passionate, experienced teachers, counselors, and administrative staff to join our team. At Maya Angelou PCS, located in Washington, DC, we have two high school campuses and a middle school campus. See Forever also operates the Oak Hill Academy in Laurel, MD.

Why you should join us
Below we have highlighted some key information about our schools and why we think they are great places to work and grow professionally. We hope you will find the information uplifting and will apply to join our staff.

We're a small, close-knit community: Our schools are small, between 80 and 180 students on each campus, so teachers can really get to know their students and their colleagues. Students and staff often talk about the family-like atmosphere we have created. We are all here with a common mission: to see our students succeed. An extensive student support services team works with students and teachers to help make teaching and learning successful and rewarding.

We use innovative yet well-researched practices that are characteristic of high performing schools

• Teacher leadership. At our schools teachers take on leadership roles and drive school improvement in a range of areas.
  
• Use of data to drive instruction and improve teaching and learning. Each campus has a data team that works with all staff to develop solid practices around the use of data to inform how and what we do day-to-day.
  
• Teacher-created curriculum and assessments. We use the Understanding by Design framework to create curriculum that maps to the DC standards. In addition, we develop and administer interim assessments in key subject areas. Teachers take ownership of both these processes with coaching and support from school leadership.
  
• Professional Learning Community. Our staff works together and supports each, enabling all staff to improve their practice. We all research, reflect, and grow together, with the singular goal of improving student achievement.
  
• Support and focus on literacy and numeracy. Our high schools have math and literacy coaches who work with staff to develop and implement strategies in all classes to help our students improve in these critical areas. At our middle school, our co-principals both have extensive teaching experience, and have completed the New Leaders for New Schools program. They will be supported by a Staff Developer who will also support staff as we strive to improve out students’ literacy and numeracy skills.
  

Our students outperform their peers

80% of our graduates over the past seven years have gone on to college or other post-secondary programs. In contrast, college enrollment rates were 65% for lower-income blacks generally and 28% for students from alternative high schools.

Not only are more of our students going to post-secondary education, of those who go, more are completing their programs. This is profoundly important, as attrition rates in college and other post-secondary programs are an issue of national urgency—when students leave school without obtaining a degree or certificate, their lifetime income prospects are no higher than if they had never gone to school, and they are often saddled with additional debt burdens. In light of this, we are pleased to report that:

• 10% more of our alumni are staying in school to earn their degrees than is the case for lower-income blacks generally.
• More than twice as many of our alumni are going on to earn a bachelor’s degree than is the case for lower-income blacks generally

Click here for a more complete analysis of Maya Angelou PCS Alumni performance

What we offer

• We prioritize professional development and training for staff
  At the high schools, each Wednesday, while students work at internships, staff has a ½ day of professional development. At the middle school, staff will meet once a month for a full day of professional development as well as three weeks in the summer. Workshops include staff-led presentations and discussions as well as workshops and trainings by outside experts.
• We offer teachers a chance to make a real difference in the classroom
  Teachers have the opportunity to work with small classes. At the high schools, classes have fewer than 16 students per class and often as few as 6. At the middle school, class size will average 22, and some classes will have fewer than 10 students. Our staffing plans are designed to give teachers the support they need to teach youth who have not succeeded in traditional schools. Each school has special education instructors on staff who provide support to all teachers so that our students with special needs can be successful.
• We have highly trained, therapeutic counselors on staff
  Our schools have licensed clinical social workers, supervised by a clinical psychologist, on staff. Our counseling staff has goal of helping each student develop the social and emotional skills they need in order to be successful at school. This staff works closely with our teaching corps to support our students who need help in developing pro-social skills so that they can succeed. In addition, this staff provides case management, coordinates services with outside providers, and offers intensive counseling during times of crisis and for students with severe needs.
• We offer teachers the chance to develop one-on-one relationships with students
  At Maya Angelou we know that it is the relationships that students form that keep them coming back to school each day. We sponsor a range of activities that foster positive relationship building among students and staff. At the high schools, this includes all school over night retreats where we focus on teambuilding and problems solving, family nights, trips to visit colleges, and Friday outings. At the middle school, this includes retreats, family nights, daily advisory, field trips, service learning and after school clubs led by staff. In addition, we encourage teachers to explore ways to get out of the school buildings and into the community with students.
• We’re a bureaucracy-free place
  We created Maya Angelou with the notion that talented, creative and dedicated individuals coming together around a shared mission could lead to great results. As we have grown, we have maintained a culture that values creativity and innovation, and keeps paperwork and bureaucracy to a minimum. We strive to provide a balance between freedom in the classroom and instructional support. Teachers are treated with respect and have a voice in school policy and school design.
• We offer competitive salary and benefits
  At Maya Angelou teachers are paid on par with their peers who work for the District of Columbia Public Schools. Starting salary levels are calibrated to the DCPS pay scale, and year-to-year teachers can earn merit increases and cost of living adjustments that actually bring salary levels above DCPS. In addition, the school contributes 5% to each employee’s 403(b) plan after one year of service, offers health care at a minimal monthly cost to staff, and has an industry-standard vacation and sick policies. For information on salary and benefits, click here.
• We belong to a larger movement committed to bringing high-quality education to underserved communities
  There is a strong social justice component to our mission. Most staff members are very interested in education reform, policy and innovation, and we are here doing our part, one student at a time. We are open and supportive of new techniques and ideas. We have created a unique school structure, culture, and support system that many believe is a model for working successfully with urban teens.

What our teachers say
"I like the opportunity that a teacher has to become involved with things outside of the classroom: Committees, hiring, and all other processes that are involved in maintaining and improving school climate and the school's success."

"I feel that I have been given a lot of flexibility and room to do my class the way I feel is best. I always have the power to make suggestions and comments on just about anything."

"I respect why the school was started by David and James. Their commitment to wanting to address the many social issues concerning poor, court-involved black young adults in DC is what inspired me to want to teach here."

"My favorite things about working here are being able to relate with the staff (feeling that they share my same vision, etc.) and being able to inform and teach my students in a way that I think is valuable and being able to politically educate my students about the world openly!"

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