Middle School Self-Contained Special Education Teacher | 2026-27 School Year

Special Education teachers are critical to helping our students who have IEPs meet their learning goals. As a teacher in a specialized program, you will regularly collaborate with a variety of related service providers, leaders, and paraprofessionals to make sure that students' needs are being met in and out of the classroom. Our Special Education teachers must be certified or working towards certification and work to ensure that our students have the necessary skills to meet the mission and vision of our Discovery Plus Program.

Position Responsibilities

• Designs individualized lessons that lead to LA Connector standards mastery and are aligned to expectations/learning connectors for students with disabilities and end-of-year assessment Provides feedback to scholars by asking pertinent, scaffolded follow-up questions that affirm correctly understood content, clarify misunderstood content or extend scholars’ thinking Respond to student data and make adjustments to lessons as needed Implement assistive technology and other individualized student supports throughout school day Establishes effective classroom routines and manage students effectively using a variety of strategies to meet the unique needs of students in the Discovery Plus program Inspires and invests students in achieving their goals and in believing that goals are achieved through effort and not innate abilities Seeks out and constructively responds to feedback from and engages in problem-solving with others Ensures compliant IEP documentation for all students on caseload by facilitating IEP development, FBA/BIP development and implementation, transition planning, and maintaining other supporting documentation related to service delivery (logs, progress reports, Extended School Year, etc) Oversee a team of paraprofessionals and manage schedules to best meet the needs of students Collaborate closely with related service providers to implement push in and pull out services for students Attend weekly professional development with other self-contained teachers Join SELF’s Low-Incidence one-year
• Cohort
• Other duties as assigned
• Education &
• Experience: 2 or more years of lead teaching (as the teacher of record) for students with cognitive needs Demonstrated success working with students in an urban, open admissions schoo A BA or BS A strong background in and command of content area Louisiana Teacher Certification (SPED) Completed or in progress (or be eligible to hold for our out-of-state applicants) in the specific disability/grade levels served, as necessary Experience using UNIQUE curriculum preferred Believe deeply in the mission and values of FirstLine
• Schools and
• Discovery
• Plus
• Program
• Desired
• Qualities &
• Characteristics: Believe in every student’s ability to achieve in a rigorous college or career prep curriculum Achieve results based on agreed-upon expectations Take personal responsibility Highly detail-oriented Open to learning and evolving with AI as a tool at work Collaborate effectively with a range of stakeholders Share a commitment to creating great schools in New Orleans Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to embed and model the
• FirstLine
• Commitments: We Keep Learning, We Work Together, We Are Helpful, We Are the Safekeepers of our Community, We Share Joy, We Show Results!
• Physical
• Requirements: The physical demands described here represent those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. Occasional physical exertion is required, including exerting up to 20 pounds of force as needed to move objects.

About FirstLine Schools

In 1998, FirstLine Schools started the first charter school in New Orleans. FirstLine now operates several (Pre)K-8th grade schools. Our mission is to create and inspire great, open-admissions public schools in New Orleans. Our staff is a diverse and talented group dedicated to our students’ success and to their own growth. Our schools are led by leaders who hold themselves accountable for student achievement and teacher development.

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. FirstLine Schools offers a comprehensive benefits package including a 403b plan.

FirstLine Schools is an equal employment opportunities (EEO) organization.