JEWISH STUDIES / JUDAIC STUDIES TEACHER (PART-TIME)

About the role

Part-Time Founding Teaching Position * Reports to the Principal * Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s preferred in Jewish Education, Judaic Studies, Jewish Studies, Rabbinics, or a related field * Deep textual grounding in Tanakh and rabbinic literature required; courses are taught in English * Hebrew proficiency preferred * 3+ years of secondary (grades 6-12) teaching experience preferred; high school (grades 9-12) teaching experience highly preferred * Jewish day, Jewish communal, or faith-based education experience is a plus. Fewer years but exceptional craft? We hire for mastery, not seat time.

Are you a Jewish educator who brings Torah and the Jewish bookshelf alive for teenagers? Do you believe Jewish text study belongs at the same level of rigor as any discipline in a college-preparatory school? Are you excited to teach the founding Jewish Studies course of a proudly Jewish new high school? If so, Davis School Chicago wants to hear from you.

The Dream Team

Davis School Chicago is a proudly Jewish, college-preparatory high school opening in fall 2027 in downtown Chicago, in a state-of-the-art building at the heart of a great city for learning. Every adult at Davis Chicago is an educator and a culture-builder. We hold two expectations at the same time: deep human warmth and uncompromising intellectual excellence. High health and high results, never one at the cost of the other. This is a summary of the characteristics that describe our dream team.

To thrive here you are

• Warm and intellectually formidable. Genuinely kind and seriously bright. We hire for intellectual horsepower; only sharp minds grow students to their full potential.
• You bring the room to life. Passion people feel, loud or quiet, with the range to teach, support, and lead.
• A builder who owns it. Startup grit, a real growth mindset, open about mistakes, gives the gift of feedback, and the drive to create what doesn’t exist yet.
• Teach how to think, not what to think. Rigor, evidence, and a love of hard questions, including the controversial ones. Students reach their own conclusions.
• Rooted in tradition, built for what’s next. Ancient wisdom and modern tools, AI included, aimed at today's problems.
• Unapologetically Jewish. Israel has a right to exist; that is not up for debate. Everything else is fair game, including spirited debate about Israel’s actions. You’re excited to help build a proudly Jewish, pro-Israel school.

What Davis Chicago Needs

Davis Chicago is hiring a part-time Jewish Studies Teacher for the founding year. Sections are drawn from Principles of Jewish Learning and its Honors variant, the ninth-grade foundation of a four-year Jewish Studies sequence, taught in English with honest placement so every student is challenged where they actually are. If you are interested in a full-time role and are ready to lead Jewish life schoolwide in addition to teaching Jewish Studies, Davis School Chicago is also hiring a founding Dean of Jewish Life & Studies This role leads Jewish life and Jewish learning at the school and teaches in it.

Who Thrives in This Role

• Warm, Relational, and High-Performing - Kind, emotionally intelligent, intellectually rigorous, and committed to excellence.
• A Text-Rich Educator - Brings Tanakh and rabbinic literature alive for teenagers.
• A Big-Tent Teacher - Honors the diversity of Jewish thought in one rigorous classroom.
• An Entrepreneurial Builder - Thrives in ambiguity, solves problems, and creates programs, systems, and traditions from the ground up.
• A Curious and Courageous Thinker - Embraces learning, evidence, critical thinking, and meaningful debate.
• Rooted and Forward-Looking - Honors tradition while embracing innovation, technology, and AI.
• Committed to Jewish Life and Community - Values Jewish identity, the diversity of Jewish thought, and meaningful engagement in Jewish life.
• A Collaborative Culture-Builder - Balances accountability, care, and results while elevating everyone around them.

The Role

The Jewish Studies Teacher is responsible for delivering engaging, rigorous, and student-centered instruction in Principles of Jewish Learning and its Honors variant. This educator will develop students’ textual skills, interpretive habits, and sense of ownership of the Jewish bookshelf, meeting every Jewish background a founding class brings without watering anything down.

The successful candidate will teach Jewish text at the same level of rigor as any discipline in a college-preparatory school and will connect that learning to students’ lives, questions, and identities. As a founding faculty member, the Jewish Studies Teacher will help shape curriculum, establish traditions, contribute to the Jewish life of the school, and collaborate closely with colleagues across disciplines to create a vibrant and integrated educational experience.

• INSTRUCTION AND CURRICULUM
• Teach sections of Principles of Jewish Learning, including the Honors variant, as assigned.
• Design and implement engaging, text-based lessons that teach students how to read, question, and interpret Tanakh and rabbinic sources with rigor.
• Teach Jewish text skills in English, building the interpretive habits that carry students through the Davis Chicago Jewish Studies sequence.
• Differentiate instruction across the wide range of Jewish educational backgrounds a founding class brings.
• Promote inquiry-based learning, chavruta study, analytical writing, discussion, research, and project-based experiences, including immersive and experiential approaches - simulation, role-play, performance - where they deepen mastery.
• Connect Jewish learning to students’ lives, questions, and identities, and to the diversity of Jewish thought.
• Integrate Jewish history, ethics, Israel, and contemporary Jewish issues into instruction where the text leads there.
• Utilize educational technology and innovative teaching methodologies to enhance student engagement and achievement.
• Assess student progress through a variety of formative and summative measures and provide timely, meaningful feedback.
• Develop authentic assessments that measure student growth and mastery.
• Collaborate with the Dean of Jewish Life & Studies on the vertically aligned Jewish Studies curriculum and its placement mechanism.
• STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
• Foster a classroom environment characterized by curiosity, respect, inclusion, and intellectual challenge.
• Build strong relationships with students and serve as a trusted mentor and advisor.
• Support students’ academic, social, and emotional growth.
• Encourage student leadership, confidence, and active participation in Jewish life at school.
• COMMUNITY AND CULTURE BUILDING
• Contribute actively to the vibrant Jewish culture and mission of Davis School Chicago.
• Partner with colleagues to support school-wide Jewish programming, celebrations, and community initiatives.
• Help create opportunities for students to engage with Jewish learning beyond the classroom.
• Serve as an ambassador for Jewish learning within the school and broader community.
• Showcase student achievement through presentations, learning events, and public celebrations of Torah.
• Participate in faculty meetings, professional development, and community events as scoped for a part-time role.
• Help moderate student clubs and activities where scope allows.
• FAMILY ENGAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION
• Communicate regularly and effectively with families regarding student progress and learning goals.
• Collaborate with colleagues across departments, including Hebrew and the humanities, on interdisciplinary learning.
• Partner with faculty and school leadership to advance school goals, curriculum development, and student success initiatives.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s preferred in Jewish Education, Judaic Studies, Jewish Studies, Rabbinics, or a related field.
• Text: Deep grounding in Tanakh and rabbinic literature; courses are taught in English; Hebrew proficiency preferred.
• Experience: 3+ years of secondary (grades 6-12) teaching preferred; high school (grades 9-12) teaching experience highly preferred; Jewish day, Jewish communal, or faith-based settings preferred.
• Craft: Evidence of teenagers who came to love serious Jewish learning in your classroom.

Core Competencies

• Instruction: rigorous, text-rich Jewish learning in English.
• Range: meets every Jewish background without watering anything down.
• Assessment: growth students can see, feedback students can use.
• Community: Jewish learning visible in the life of the school.

Compensation and Benefits

The anticipated compensation for this position is $13,000-$18,000 per section, per year, aligned to the same step-and-lane logic as the school’s established Faculty Salary Schedule.

Placement within the range is determined by a combination of relevant experience and educational attainment, including Bachelor's, Master's, Master's + additional graduate credits, Education Specialist (Ed.S.), and Doctoral (Ed.D./Ph.D.) degrees, with the upper band reserved for advanced degrees, exceptional depth, and hard-to-staff assignments. The number of sections is agreed annually with the master schedule.

Paid leave and paid sick leave accrue as required by law; this position is not eligible for the school’s benefits package.

How We Hire

Our process is thorough and we believe that hiring is a dual decision-making process; you are vetting us as much as we are vetting you. Our process includes focused conversations with the people you would work with, a battery of assessments we use for your development as much as for selection, and interview rounds both in-person and virtually. We use artificial intelligence tools in our recruitment and hiring process to help review and organize applications; every hiring decision is made by a person.

Is This You?

This isn’t for everyone. If it’s you, it may be the best work of your life.