420
NUMBER OF STUDENTS
90% SAN FRANCISCO
10% BAY AREA
10:1
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO
$4.93 MILLION
TUITION ASSISTANCE PROVIDED FOR 29% OF URBAN STUDENTS
48% 
STUDENTS OF COLOR
38% 
FACULTY & STAFF OF COLOR

Careers at Urban

Urban School strives to ignite a passion for learning and to inspire its students to become self-motivated, lifelong participants in their education and active citizens in their communities. Our educational philosophy and programs emphasize learning as a joyful process of discovery; use of city and Bay Area resources to extend learning beyond the classroom; mutual respect and a strong rapport between students and teachers; and a firm commitment to an inclusive and diverse school community.

Share your materials with Urban

Urban has an ongoing commitment to attract and retain high quality teachers who both align with our mission and values, and can also help the school continue to learn and grow in our pedagogical practices. As such, we accept materials from potential candidates.

  • English
  • Health
  • History
  • Math
  • Performing Arts
  • Science, including Technology, Engineering, and Design
  • Service Learning
  • Visual Arts
  • World Languages (French, Spanish, Mandarin)

Urban teachers are dynamic and creative, have an enthusiasm for working with high school students, a commitment to innovative pedagogy and collaboration with colleagues, comfort and familiarity with the use of relevant technology to enhance learning, and a commitment to equity pedagogy, anti-racist teaching practices, and to their own continued professional growth. Ideal candidates should have curriculum development experience and at least two years’ experience teaching.

Urban School has a trimester schedule that emphasizes depth of learning over breadth of subject matter. Our two-hour periods and full-time teaching load of three classes per term allow for more thorough and integrated learning, field trips, and varied and rich instructional practices.

For a descriptive list of job duties and other responsibilities, please visit here.

Urban School strives to ignite a passion for learning and to inspire its students to become self-motivated, lifelong participants in their education and active citizens in their communities. For further information about Urban’s mission and programs, including the Curriculum Guide, please visit the Urban website.

A comprehensive benefits package is provided, which includes medical, dental, life insurance, long-term disability insurance, employer subsidized commuter benefits, financial planning, and a 403(b) retirement plan.

Send cover letter and resume to: jobs@urbanschool.org
Please put your discipline in the subject heading of your email (e.g. “Science Teacher”)

The Urban School is an equal opportunity employer; the school actively encourages applications from candidates of diverse racial, gender, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. 

2023-24 School Year Opportunities

WORKING AT URBAN

Professional Development
One of Urban’s core values is this: We are committed to reflection, evaluation, evolution and innovation as means to improve teaching and learning. Faculty and staff have abundant opportunities to deepen and expand their practices both in regular collaborative work with colleagues and in conferences, workshops and programs, both in the Bay Area and around the world. Opportunities include but are not limited to:

  • Access to a generous professional development budget
  • Annual goal setting, self and group reflection
  • Institutionalized teacher collaborative teams
  • All-faculty professional development days
  • Summer curriculum grants
  • Funds for staff career and skills development
  • Advanced degree program support
  • Dan Murphy Fund for Education Innovation and Faculty Growth
  • Summer sabbaticals

Support in Transition to Urban
All teachers new to Urban participate in a year-long New-to-Urban cohort designed to orient and support new faculty as they learn the practices and adapt to the systems of Urban’s teaching and learning culture.

Getting Involved in the Life of the School
Faculty and staff at Urban are asked to participate in a range of academic and non-academic programs and experiences in order to better connect with students and with each other. These opportunities may include grade level advising, athletic coaching, club advisory, committee memberships and chaperoning of trips, dances, and performances.
 

Employee-Student Interactions
Urban School is committed to creating a safe, supportive, and healthy school environment dedicated to the welfare of everyone in the community. While the School encourages close, supportive relationships between students and school faculty and staff, all adults must maintain appropriate boundaries between themselves and students to ensure that they avoid even the perception of inappropriate conduct or favoritism. It is also important for the school to maintain a culture where community members understand that reports of misconduct will be met with support and sensitivity without fear of retaliation. Guidelines and policy for appropriate boundaries are enumerated in the Parent/Student Handbook. Urban encourages members of the larger school community who have concerns about adults crossing appropriate boundaries with students to inform the Head of School or the Assistant Head for Student Life.

Nondiscrimination Policy
Urban School is an equal opportunity employer. The school has an institutional commitment to diversity and actively encourages applications from candidates of diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.Urban's employment policy prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, national origin, physical disability, mental disability, pregnancy, medical condition, genetic characteristics, citizenship, military or veteran status, age or any other basis protected by California state law, federal law or San Francisco ordinance. Urban's policy also prohibits discrimination based on a perception that anyone has any of those characteristics, or is associated with a person who has or is perceived as having any of those characteristics.