Employment Opportunities at Atrium School

Atrium School's PreK – Grade 8 progressive education encourages academic curiosity, creativity, and exploration while fostering each child's intellectual growth. Our students develop confidence in themselves and respect for others within a joyful, vibrant community of nurturing teachers, engaged parents, and enriching partnerships. Atrium School, an independent school in Watertown, serves about 125 students, with each grade typically consisting of 10-17 students.

Atrium School is committed to building and sustaining a richly diverse community that includes a wide range of family structures, racial, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds, and students with various learning styles. Atrium School’s curriculum and school culture are inclusive of, and responsive to, the diversity within and beyond our community. Our motto, Excellence with Joy, embodies the balance we strive for each day.

Current Openings:

Director of Development & Alumni Outreach
Middle School Food & Community Cluster Teacher (part-time)
Substitute Teachers (part-time)

Director of Development & Alumni Outreach (.80 FTE, benefits-eligible, in-person role)

To begin in Fall 2025, Atrium School (PreK – Grade 8 in Watertown, MA) seeks a Director of Development & Alumni Outreach (DDAO). The Director of Development & Alumni Outreach will lead Atrium’s program for annual and campaign fundraising, accelerate and deepen the school’s connectivity with alumni, support joyful community-building, and serve on Atrium’s senior leadership team.

Core responsibilities include:

In collaboration with Board leaders and the Head of School, develop Atrium’s vision, strategy, planning, and execution for all fundraising, including endowment-building.
Successfully lead strategy, planning, and fundraising for the annual Atrium Fund, including identifying and collaborating with community leaders like parent fund chairs, alumni fund leaders, etc.
Plan and manage key community events in collaboration with the Board, leadership team colleagues, and the Family Association.
Build warm and mutual relationships over time with the full community: alumni families, colleagues, students, and current families and donors.
Oversee precise and complete database records, and work closely with the Business Office to meticulously track gifts and pledges.

Contribute collaboratively to Atrium’s strategic vision, communications, and external messaging.
Supervising a part-time (.40) development staff member.

We seek an experienced development & alumni professional with experience in, and/or knowledge of, independent schools and nonprofits.

The Atrium DDAO:

Thinks strategically about fundraising, both for the Atrium Fund and future campaigns, and likewise builds and manages constituent relationships accordingly.
Is a proven project manager who excels at both minding the important nitty-gritty details of a project and also connecting those details to their broader purpose.
Is skilled at event planning, playing a key role in big and small details from beginning to end.
Relishes the effective use of technology and attentive database management.
Is a fantastic communicator, both in writing and speaking, and an effective narrator of the Atrium experience and its importance to all constituencies.
Is a genuine and effective colleague to have around, and who works well within a close-knit team. Diligence, flexibility, and adaptability are prized at Atrium, as is a highly positive attitude.

This is an exciting opportunity to build depth in philanthropy and community with alumni at a young school (founded in 1982). Located on the Cambridge line in the rapidly growing arts, culture- and technology-rich East End of Watertown, Atrium School is a progressive, inclusive PreK – Grade 8 community. Our program encourages deep academic curiosity, creativity, and exploration, fostering each child's intellectual and personal growth. Our students are diverse and original thinkers who develop confidence in themselves and respect for others within a joyful, energized community of nurturing and challenging teachers, engaged parents, and enriching community partnerships.

At Atrium, we believe diversity and inclusion are key drivers of creativity and innovation, and that a diversity of thoughts, experiences, backgrounds, personalities, and identities helps us think bigger and better, enabling us to reach our goals more effectively. We encourage applications from individuals who will add to the racial, cultural, and gender diversity of the school community, and who are committed to building and sustaining a community that is richly diverse and includes a wide range of family structures and racial, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds. We seek candidates with the ability to demonstrate commitment to advancing the school’s mission and core values. For more information on these, please visit our website.

Please submit a cover letter specific to this position, resume, and the names of three references to: Marshall Carter, Head of School, mcarter@atrium.org. The most suitable applicants will be contacted. No phone calls, please. Please note where you first heard about this position in your cover letter.

Salary range for .80 FTE $68-72K.

Middle School Food & Community Cluster Teacher (part-time)

Atrium School seeks a Food and Community expert/professional who is excited to work with middle school students. Previous instructors have included professionals in the culinary, agricultural, and food education fields. The Food and Community cluster class – a two-week, interdisciplinary intensive taught in three-hour blocks – focuses on how different communities connect with their heritage through food. Beyond teaching the hands-on class, this adjunct teacher would be responsible for preparing lessons, developing benchmarks, and writing brief narrative evaluations for each student (~15 per cluster). Teachers should also prepare students to share their knowledge in an end-of-cluster demonstration of learning.

Cluster classes offer a sustained immersive experience, supporting Atrium’s mission of progressive education in a different way than is possible during the regular daily schedule. During this past year’s class, students read children’s stories and watched cooking videos to explore the topic of Food and Community. Each student then picked a recipe from a culture that was of personal interest to them, researched it, and cooked it for their classmates. They compiled their recipes into a cooking website to share with the Atrium community.

Logistics for 2025-2026:

Clusters will take place three times, Monday – Friday:

11/13-11/25 (9 days)
1/12 - 1/23 (9 days - no school on 1/19 for MLK Day )
3/16 - 3/27 (9 days - no school on 3/20 for PD Day).

Daily hours are 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., with a set-up at 8:30 and a snack break from 10:30 - 10:45.
Instructors will receive a stipend of $2,145 for each 2-week course, as well as a budget for supplies. The total payment for the year is $6,435.
Each grade level will rotate through three cluster classes for two weeks at a time; the Food and Community teacher will teach Grades 6, 7, and 8 throughout the year.

Expectations for Instruction:

Instructor to share lesson plans one week prior to course start.
Students should engage in hands-on work each day.
Students should engage in an open-ended project, either individually or in groups, related to the course content. This project should take roughly half of the time of the course, and, when possible, include a social justice theme.

We seek candidates who will add to the racial, cultural, and gender diversity of the school community. Additionally, we seek candidates who are committed to building and sustaining a community that is richly diverse and includes a wide range of family structures, racial, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds.

For further information about the mission, program, and community at Atrium, please visit http://www.atrium.org. To apply for this position, please submit a resume, a cover letter, and the names of three references to Jenee Uttaro at juttaro@atrium.org. In your cover letter, please mention where you first saw this position posted. No phone calls, please.

Substitute Teachers (part-time)

Atrium School currently seeks substitute teachers who take the place of a teacher who is absent for personal, professional, or health reasons. Though long-term subbing situations may arise, the usual commitment is for full or partial days, one or two days at a time. Opportunities for after-school programming subs may also be available.

In PreK to Grade 5, this means assisting the co-teacher who leads the classroom.
In the Middle School, this includes facilitating and carrying out lesson plans for the day for a given class and creating reports to inform the students’ permanent teachers about the day.

Atrium School is a progressive, inclusive PreK – Grade 8 independent school in the East End of Watertown, MA. Our program encourages deep academic curiosity, creativity, and exploration to foster each child's intellectual and personal growth. Our students are diverse and original thinkers, who develop confidence in themselves and respect for others within a joyful, energized community of nurturing and challenging teachers, engaged parents, and enriching community partnerships.

Responsibilities include:

Following lesson plans provided by the regular teacher to create a cohesive and consistent learning experience for students
Managing the classroom effectively to encourage student participation and maintain a positive and creative learning environment
Supervising students in and out of the classroom, including in the halls, on the playground, and at lunch

Qualifications:

A strong candidate for the Substitute Teacher position will possess the following skills and qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree or higher, preferably in education
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Excellent interpersonal skills
Ability to lead and instruct students of all ages
Ability to adapt plans to specific classrooms
Flexibility and critical-thinking skills

Atrium is committed to building and sustaining a richly diverse community that includes a wide range of family structures; racial, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds; and students with various learning styles. Atrium School’s curriculum and school culture are inclusive of and responsive to, the diversity within and beyond our community. Our motto, Excellence with Joy, embodies the balance we strive for each day.

Salary for this position is $24/hour.

For further information, and to apply, please contact Front Desk Administrator Ana Mercado at frontdesk@atrium.org. In your cover letter, please mention where you first saw this position posted.