STEM Program Coordinator and Computer Science Faculty

STEM Program Coordinator and Computer Science Faculty
Girls Preparatory School
Chattanooga, Tennessee

About Girls Preparatory School:
Girls Preparatory School (GPS) was founded in 1906 to provide girls with the necessary courses to pursue a college education. GPS has proudly graduated almost 6,000 young women. Currently, 130 faculty and staff serve nearly 600 girls in grades 6-12 with a college preparatory curriculum that includes a full complement of humanities, arts, and STEM courses and co-curricular programs of leadership development, athletics, and community engagement. 

About our STEM Program and the Role of the Program Coordinator:
As the global economy has developed, the need for knowledgeable, experienced, and ethical citizens to take leadership roles in our business communities has grown exponentially. Specific competencies related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and the need for STEM-related fields to have an equal representation of men and women engaged and leading in them has also grown beyond GPS Founders’ initial objectives. While GPS has played a meaningful role in preparing Chattanooga girls for careers in STEM fields, the school is poised to take a national leadership role in filling the pipeline with exceptional students in STEM disciplines who demonstrate resiliency and possess a strong work ethic and moral character as well as extraordinary interpersonal and 21st-century skills. 

GPS has committed to growing a nationally recognized secondary STEM program that prepares all students with the basic knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering, and math that enable each girl to have success in a selective/highly selective liberal arts college program, and she will be prepared to live a productive life in a technologically connected global society. Additionally, the STEM program will inspire some girls to develop excellences that will attract academic and professional organizations to recruit these girls for leadership roles in their organizations because of their knowledge, practice, interpersonal skills, and character. GPS seeks a STEM Program Coordinator to continue the development of this program and to grow it to reach its fullest potential, both regionally and nationally.

Key Responsibilities:

• Identify ways to position GPS as a leader in preparing girls for STEM majors and careers.

• Be a connector in the Chattanooga region and nationally for our faculty and students to build various academic, research, and corporate STEM relationships and a resource for students and parents in regards to STEM programming opportunities within GPS and outside the school.

• Seek out STEM-related competitions and match existing teachers, courses, and afterschool programs that can support students participating in these efforts. 

• Track graduates who pursue STEM majors and periodically survey alumnae to ensure the GPS program’s quality for university preparation in coordination with the Director of Alumnae and Community Engagement and the Department of College Counseling

• With the head of school, co-create and support the GPS National STEM Advisory Board. This is a group of STEM professionals, business owners, and academics who will be asked to advise GPS faculty on our STEM program, make connections for GPS students and faculty for opportunities, and be an audience that provides feedback to students on STEM-related projects/research. The Head of School will drive this initiative but will want connections/ideas from Coordinator.

• Create programming related to the Million Women Mentors initiative for our students and coordinate with our Director of Alumnae and Community Engagement to support alumnae in this area. Additionally, provide and coordinate rich and meaningful opportunities, both on- and off-campus, for students to engage with and learn from women with careers in STEM-related fields. 

• Work with Department of College Counseling to find summer STEM programs, scholarships, and research opportunities for our students to pursue. 

• Sponsor Computer Science Club and oversee other STEM clubs and afterschool activities in an effort to track GPS students’ co-curricular activities, promote them, and find ways to encourage students with either an affinity or aptitude for STEM-related fields to participate.

• Develop a required signature STEM program for GPS students in collaboration with the Academic Department Chairs, and create an elective STEM diploma certification. 

• Work with math, science, and computer science departments’ curricula to find ways that the content and skills can be better sequenced/support each other. Support should include some intentional interdisciplinary projects.

• Oversee the curriculum development and teaching of the Middle School STEM class for seventh- and eighth-grade students. Provide necessary support—content, professional development, resource acquisition—for the teachers facilitating this class.

• Teach middle and/or upper-level courses in the Computer Science Department. Course descriptions can be found here and on the GPS website.  

• Other duties as proposed or assigned by the Head of School or Division Heads.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or post-graduate work in Computer Science or Engineering or another STEM-related field; 

• MA or MEd is highly desirable;

• Background knowledge and ability to teach AP Computer Science A is preferred but not required. Please see the College Board’s course description here.

• A minimum of five to seven years of teaching experience is required. Experience teaching computer science or engineering is preferred;

• Three years of management or leadership experience desired;

• Understanding and commitment to the instructional and educational practices that support, guide, and inspire girls and young women to identify their strengths and hopes for their futures; 

• Demonstrated commitment to building cultural competencies and empowering students to engage across differences;

• Excellent planning and organizational skills that create/ensure a balance in managing administrative and teaching responsibilities; and 

• Outstanding and varied written and verbal communication skills that are effective with demonstrated leadership and facilitation skills.

It is the School’s policy to provide equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, genetic information, veteran status, or disability or any other characteristic protected under federal, state, or local anti-discrimination laws. It is the intent and resolve of the School to comply with the letter and the spirit of the law in the implementation of all facets of equal opportunity. The School’s equal employment opportunity practices extend to recruitment, hiring, selection, compensation, benefits, transfer, promotion, training, discipline, and all other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

All employees are responsible for complying with the School's equal employment opportunity policy.