Special Education Teacher - Specialized Academic Center - 2026-27 School Year Only

Join the team at the Specialized Academic Center (SAC) at Trailhead Learning Center as a Special Education Teacher for the 2026-27 school year. We are seeking dedicated educators to support students with complex behavioral and communication needs in a highly supportive, clinical-instructional environment.

About the Role

The Special Education Teacher - Adapted Curriculum works with students who have intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities, and other educational disabilities. Assignments may include C-BASE (Curriculum Focus Building Appropriate Supports with Evidence), Functional Skills, Community Based Instruction, or Post High programs. Students are typically assessed using the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP).

At the Specialized Academic Center, teaching students with behavioral and communication disabilities requires more than a lesson plan—it requires a village. We offer unrivaled support, including:

• Consistent, on-site assistance from a Behavior Specialist and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).
• Small group focus with a low student-to-teacher ratio for individualized, high-quality instruction.
• A collaborative environment within the Trailhead Learning Community, designed for innovation, empathy, and professional growth.

Location

Situated around beautiful Charlottesville, Virginia—ranked among America’s top university towns and best places to live—Albemarle County is nestled near the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park. Just 100 miles south of Washington, DC, and 70 miles west of Richmond, the area offers easy access to the Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic beaches, and New York via Amtrak. Enjoy the outdoors, a vibrant arts and culture scene, and small-town living with a big-city feel.

Responsibilities

• Teach students content aligned with Virginia’s Aligned Standards of Learning and the Virginia Standards of Learning using research-based curriculum, strategies, and materials tailored to each student’s needs.
• Support students with multiple disabilities, including specific learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, intellectual disabilities, emotional disabilities, hearing impairments, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, autism, deafness and blindness, traumatic brain injury, and other health impairments.
• Implement Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) as written.
• Use various teaching methods, including intensive individualized instruction, problem-solving assignments, and small-group work.
• Provide appropriate accommodations for students to access the environment, curriculum, and assessments.
• Develop lesson plans and instructional materials, providing individualized and small-group instruction.
• Translate lesson plans into engaging learning experiences.
• Deliver culturally responsive instruction to linguistically diverse students.
• Establish a caring, structured, and supportive classroom atmosphere for complex and at-risk students.
• Modify regular and aligned education curriculum to meet individual student needs.
• Maintain a safe and supportive environment in the classroom, on campus, and during field or community experiences.
• Establish and maintain standards of pupil behavior and develop individualized behavioral plans as needed.
• Serve as Case Manager for students eligible for special education and related services.
• Assist in the identification/child find process to appropriately identify students requiring special education under IDEA.
• Model professional standards when interacting with students, parents, peers, and the community.
• Schedule and facilitate IEP meetings as defined in Virginia Regulations.
• Utilize strong oral and written communication skills with students, parents, and staff.
• Demonstrate effective problem-solving, organizational, multi-tasking, and time management skills.
• Organize and supervise paraprofessionals, including developing schedules, monitoring intervention fidelity, and guiding parent communication and data collection.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with pupils, parents, school staff, district staff, and patrons.
• Evaluate pupils’ academic and social growth, maintain records, and prepare progress reports.
• Communicate with parents through conferences, calls, emails, student planners, and the school website.
• Maintain and uphold school and county policies and procedures.
• Administer and score standardized assessments.
• Design, implement, and monitor personalized goals for each student.
• Maintain student records as required by the Code of Virginia and Virginia Regulations.
• Ensure confidentiality of all student information.
• Understand and adhere to all laws, Special Education policies, and District procedures.
• Maintain professional competence through staff development and self-selected growth activities.
• Use materials and resources in accordance with the adopted curriculum.
• Attend and participate in faculty, department, and division-wide meetings.
• Assist in selecting books, equipment, and other instructional materials.
• Establish and maintain cooperative professional relations.
• Perform related duties as assigned by administration.

Requirements

• Current Virginia Special Education endorsement in Adapted Curriculum K-12 (preferred) or Special Education General Curriculum K-12. Those with a General Curriculum endorsement must be willing to work toward the Adapted Curriculum endorsement.
• Strong understanding of the instructional needs of children with significant educational disabilities.
• Knowledge of the special education process, strong organizational skills, and the ability to facilitate paraprofessionals in the classroom and community.
• Experience teaching students with intellectual disabilities and physical impairments preferred.
• Belief that all students can learn and are best served when included with their peers to the greatest extent possible.
• Understanding of state curriculum standards as they apply to students with intellectual disabilities.
• Knowledge of research-based programs and positive behavior plans, including data collection.
• Understanding of IDEA and associated timelines, as well as the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP).

Skills

• Team player with energy, enthusiasm, patience, and a collaborative spirit.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Effective problem-solving, organizational, multi-tasking, and time management skills.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with students, parents, staff, and the community.

Physical Conditions and Nature of Work

• Duties are performed in school settings, including classrooms, gyms, cafeterias, auditoriums, community, and recreational areas.
• Daily personal and close contact with students to provide classroom management and learning environment support.
• Regular contact with staff, parents, and occasional contact with medical professionals.
• Frequent communication with parents via phone and in person.
• Regularly required to speak, hear, stand, walk, reach, stoop, bend, kneel, or crouch.
• Occasionally required to use hands to handle or feel, and climb or balance.
• Must frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Requires close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, and depth perception.
• Ability to respond to the unique educational needs of students with disabilities in a stressful setting.
• May involve intervention and management of aggressive, self-abusive, angry, or emotional students, as well as students with infectious diseases or personal physical abuse.