1st Grade Lead Teacher

A Day in the Life

Your day is 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Reading workshop opens the morning — guided-reading groups based on running-record data, decodable and leveled texts, fluency practice. Word study connects to phonics: vowel teams, magic-e, R-controlled vowels, common suffixes. Math: place value to 120, addition/subtraction strategies (counting on, making 10, doubles), simple word problems. Halaqa-style discussion grows up — students respond to each other, not just the teacher. Quran with the specialist mid-morning. Lunch and recess at midday. Wudu and in-class Dhuhr in the early afternoon. The afternoon brings writers' workshop in genres — narrative, opinion, informational — and dismissal at 3:00 PM.

Qualifications

Required

• • Bachelor's degree.
• • Authorization to work in the US (we do not sponsor employment authorization).

Preferred

• • 3+ years lead-classroom experience teaching K–3 (with at least one year leading 1st or 2nd grade).
• • Structured-literacy training (LETRS, Orton-Gillingham, FUNdations, or similar).
• • North Carolina K-6 teaching license, or in the process of obtaining one.

Key Focus Areas

Skills, Duties, and Responsibilities

• • Runs daily reading workshop with guided-reading groups based on running-record data.
• • Teaches advanced phonics: vowel teams, magic-e, R-controlled vowels, common suffixes (-ing, -ed, -s).
• • Builds reading fluency with attention to accuracy, rate, and prosody.
• • Teaches addition/subtraction strategies within 20 (counting on, making 10, doubles, fact families).
• • Develops place value understanding to 120; introduces telling time to the half-hour and US coin recognition.
• • Leads halaqa-style discussions where students respond to each other, citing evidence from the text.
• • Drafts paragraph-level writing in narrative, opinion, and informational genres with editing routines.
• • Establishes a safe, orderly classroom and a culture grounded in Akhlaq.
• • Manages classroom behavior using a graduated, restorative approach. Public shame and physical discipline are not used.
• • Walks students to wudu and leads in-class Dhuhr prayer daily. Reinforces Islamic etiquette throughout the day.
• • Knows and applies the NC Standard Course of Study and Common Core State Standards for 1st Grade; develops lesson plans aligned to them.
• • Conducts formative and summative assessment routinely; adjusts instruction within days, not months.
• • Differentiates instruction across reading levels, math fluency, and home-language background.
• • Submits weekly lesson plans, mid-quarter check-ins, and quarterly report cards on time.
• • Communicates proactively with parents through school-approved channels.
• • Collaborates with grade-level peers and subject specialists during weekly faculty meetings.
• • Participates in school-wide events.
• • Open to feedback from administration and peers. Participates in professional development.
• • Other duties as assigned by the Head of School.

Faith Expectations

Lead teachers are not required to be practicing Muslims. All faculty are expected to respect the school’s Islamic mission, support daily prayer and Islamic etiquette in the classroom, and adhere to the dress and conduct standards in the Staff Handbook.

Compensation & Benefits

• • Salary: competitive, based on experience and credentials.
• • Benefits: paid school-year holidays and breaks (including Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha), professional-development budget, and tuition discount for staff children enrolled at Al-Razi School.