Synergy Academies operates three charter public schools in South Los Angeles--and elementary, a middle, and a high school. Synergy was founded with the mission to create and share solutions that eliminate the achievement gap. Synergy creates and shares solutions through the operation of public charter schools in South Los Angeles that implement a holistic approach to education, believe in collective accountability, and share best practices through professional collaboration. Synergy Academies now serves nearly 1,300 students in grades K-12 in three schools: Synergy Charter Academy (elementary school at Quincy Jones Elementary), Synergy Kinetic Academy (middle school), and Synergy Quantum Academy (high school). All Synergy schools are focused on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and are intentionally collaborating with and co-located with traditional LAUSD schools on campuses in South Los Angeles. Our Vision is to create model STEM schools that will empower students to be the next generation of problem solvers. Synergy Academies was founded by two former Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) teachers in 2004. Dr. Meg Palisoc and Dr. Randy Palisoc both worked in inner city Los Angeles elementary schools where the majority of students were significantly below grade level. Determined to prove that all students were capable of academic success, Meg and Randy decided to open a charter school with the goal of eventually sharing out best practices with other schools. Synergy Charter Academy opened with 6 founding teachers and 120 K-5th grade students in 2004. The school was located on a church site, where every classroom had to be packed up entirely each Friday afternoon. Despite this challenge, Synergy’s students flourished, and within four years, Synergy Charter Academy catapulted its students’ academic achievement to near the top 10% statewide. In 2008, Dr. Barbara Shannon, also a former LAUSD teacher, joined the Synergy team to help start Synergy's middle school, and in 2011, Dr. Shannon co-founded Synergy's high school. Synergy's schools are some of the highest performing schools in their neighborhood within the 90011 zip code, and Synergy Charter Academy was recently named a 2020 California Distinguished School.

We are searching for educators who will join us in developing the next generation of problem solvers as we focus on the following goals: • Community. Building a strong school community and positive school culture that values diversity, inclusion, and culturally responsive teaching. • Growth Mindset. Helping students develop the growth mindset they need to persevere and succeed in all aspects of life. • Family Engagement. Engaging parents and families in educational programs that result in advocacy for greater opportunities in both their families and communities. • Collaborative Learning. Collaborating weekly with instructional coaches and colleagues to hone our teaching craft grounded in data analysis, reflection, and best practices. • Problem-solving. Providing learning experiences that build critical thinking skills and approaches to problem solving used both in classrooms and in life.

Synergy offers a generous health and welfare package including medical, dental, vision, life insurance and professional liability insurance. Certificated employees are automatically enrolled in either CA State Teachers Retirement System with employer paying into pension. Voluntary benefits include FSA program, long term disability. Supplemental pay available for advisory positions and supplemental instruction (i.e, summer school) Signing bonuses for hard to fill positions.

• Lead Teacher