MKA's challenging, engaging, and innovative academic program provides a vibrant and transformative education. Our faculty's deep and genuine understanding of our students as individuals and as learners fosters their ethical development, intellectual growth, and personal success. MKA's diverse, collaborative, and inclusive community inspires students to lead lives of noble character, purpose, and distinction. MKA is seeking a Junior Kindergarten Classroom Teacher beginning the 2026-2027 school year.

Description: 

Primary responsibilities include teaching and advising up to eighteen 4-5-year-old students in a co-teaching environment. The Junior Kindergarten curriculum is ever-evolving as topics of study come from students’ interests and curiosity. Through hands-on projects and active discovery, students are encouraged to notice and wonder, form their own hypotheses, ask questions, and initiate explorations that fuel learning. 

Classroom teachers actively participate in all required school meetings, activities, and Primary School community responsibilities and duties. Classroom teachers work collaboratively and consistently communicate with their grade-level team members, the Student Support Team, the administrative team, and students' parents to forge strong partnerships in student learning. 

As guided by its Strategic Plan, MKA is committed to promoting multicultural education grounded in equity, anti-bias education, and social justice. Multicultural education is a process of inquiry, reflection, and engagement that honors students’ narratives, provides a safe environment to explore and discuss multiple perspectives, and helps transform students and faculty, school culture and curriculum, community, and society.  We actively seek candidates who share our commitment to this process.

Reports to: Head of Primary School

Contract: 10 month

Qualifications:

• A Bachelor's / Master's degree in Early Childhood Education
• A minimum of three years of classroom teaching experience at the early childhood level
• Experience teaching literacy and mathematics at the early childhood level
• Experience in scaffolding students' social and emotional development
• Experience with the following curricular and social-emotional learning frameworks preferred: Reggio Emilia Approach, Responsive Classroom, Handwriting Without Tears, and integrated literacy and math instruction
• Familiarity with technology integration practices for teaching and learning
• Experience in supporting students' digital documentation of learning

Skills:

• Passion, enthusiasm, and energy for working with young children and their families
• Commitment to creating a welcoming, inclusive learning environment for all students
• Ability and desire to establish a strong rapport with students and parents
• Ability and desire to maintain strong parent partnerships through consistent communication
• Communicates effectively through various modes: email, phone calls, digital platforms, in-person conferences, and narrative reports.
• Engage classes in developmentally appropriate lessons using various modalities and materials
• Practical knowledge of child development and early childhood/elementary education pedagogy
• Strong interest and proficiency in planning and implementing a child-centered, hands-on curriculum using varied modalities and materials that meet student needs and interests
• Understand the importance of play and collaboration for children’s learning and development
• Awareness of different learning styles and experience with differentiating instruction
• Commitment to the development and implementation of a multicultural curriculum that includes diversity, inclusion, and social justice
• Experience in assessing students and demonstrates a strong understanding of using formal and informal assessment data to inform instruction. 
• Implements effective and supportive classroom management strategies
• Demonstrate and model flexible problem-solving skills with students and colleagues 
• Desire and ability to work as a member of collaborative teams
• Commitment to lifelong learning and a desire to continually reflect, grow, and share this learning with others
• Outstanding interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills, including communicating effectively in writing
• Willingness and ability to engage with colleagues to contribute positively to the Primary School community 

About Montclair Kimberley Academy

Montclair Kimberley Academy is one of New Jersey’s leading co-educational independent day schools, with over 1,000 students, on three campuses in Montclair. As guided by its Strategic Plan, MKA is committed to promoting multicultural education, grounded in ideas of equity, anti-bias education, anti-racism, and social justice. We see multicultural education as a process of inquiry, reflection and engagement that honors students’ narratives, provides a safe environment in which to explore and discuss multiple perspectives, and helps transform students and faculty, school culture and curriculum, community and society, and we seek candidates who share our commitment to this process. It is MKA's policy to provide equal employment opportunity to all qualified persons regardless of age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, or disability not related to the requirements for being a successful employee at MKA.

Connections working at Montclair Kimberley Academy