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. Please read the full Profile of the Ideal Davis Chicago Educator https://www.davischicago.org/idealeducator and more information about our opportunities before you apply.
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 https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/davischicago/01ed8db2-6602-4ceb-a694-aad19d75a356. 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.
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