Boston Arts Academy and the Center for Arts in Education
A High School for the Visual and Performing Arts
Professional STEAM Lab Director
Founded in 1998 as a pilot school, Boston Arts Academy (BAA) is the city’s first and only high school for the visual and performing arts. It was founded on the conviction that academics and the arts are equally important to student development and achievement. The arts are integrated throughout the academic curriculum, motivating students with a variety of learning styles to succeed in high school and pursue higher education. BAA is committed to providing a rigorous arts and academic education to urban youth who seldom have the opportunity to focus on the arts.
Because of its success with urban students, BAA is a recognized leader in the public education reform movement. Its innovative use of the arts as a strategy for improving teaching and learning has attracted national and international attention. Through the Center for Arts in Education, BAA’s best practices are documented and shared with educators, administrators and policymakers worldwide.
BAA and the Center for Arts in Education are seeking an entrepreneurial, energetic, and organized educator to fill the role of a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) Lab Director to create and execute a new STEAM laboratory. The STEAM approach has existed at BAA informally for many years. We have adapted STEM into STEAM which we believe strengthens the integrative model by injecting creativity. Boston Arts Academy received seed funding three years ago to develop and document our STEAM curriculum. By infusing the “Arts” into STEM, our students discover a passion for their academics and recognize how arts and academics are both intertwined and essential to their success. The STEAM Lab will be a place to play, think, create across disciplinary boundaries; a lab with tools and materials and people for experimenting with STEAM ideas and practices; and, a space to model emerging STEAM inspired curriculum and teaching for outreach to the larger educational community.
Responsibilities
1. As director of the STEAM Lab, the person will lead the creation and implementation of a STEAM Laboratory in a space within Boston Arts Academy that is dedicated to interdisciplinary teaching and learning.
2. Engage students, faculty, and collaborating organizations to build partnerships in active research, design, and creation by utilizing the STEAM lab to co-plan and create curriculum, pedagogical innovation, professional development, measurements and assessments.
3. Develop methods of data gathering and engage in research in order to support the efficacy of the STEAM approach.
4. Supervise all operations of the STEAM Lab, including the acquisition of materials and planning/overseeing the development of the space, overseeing a part-time BAA Alumni Creative Corps member to assist in the Lab, program planning, budgeting, and maintenance.
5. Work collaboratively and inclusively with partners including those already developed by BAA such as TERC, the Broad Institute at MIT, MassArt, and The Museum of Science. Cultivate new partnerships and build a STEAM Advisory Board.
6. Keep current with trends and best practices in technology and the arts, introducing and encouraging innovation among faculty, students and partners.
7. Work closely with staff at the BAA Foundation to cultivate individuals, foundation support, and strategic partnerships to maintain the financial sustainability of the STEAM Lab and its programs. Act as the public face and voice for the Lab at funder meetings, social functions, and philanthropic events.
8. Organize, schedule and host visitors to BAA and conduct workshops that model and demonstrate the STEAM Lab approach.
9. Promote and catalogue the results and findings of STEAM Lab and its curriculum through a website, social media, conferences, and the initiatives of the Center for Arts in Education.
Interested parties should email a cover letter and resume to:
Bob Kollar
Director of Human Capital
Operations, and Finance, Boston Arts Academy
bkollar@bostonartsacademy.org.
An informational webinar will occur on Thursday, March 6, 2014, 2-3 pm EST. If interested in joining, please email bkollar@bostonartsacademy.org to be sent more details at a later date.