Who We Are
The New York City Muslim Center (NYCMC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and home to the largest Islamic center in New York City. Our 60,000-square-foot facility impacts more than 2,000 lives weekly and serves as the headquarters for:
- NYCMC Wellspring Schools
- NYCMC Uplift
- The Jesus Son of Mary Mosque
- NYCMC FKAD Institute
At NYCMC Wellspring Schools, we believe students should not have to choose between academic excellence and a strong Islamic identity.
We are building a school where students are intellectually curious, spiritually grounded, and prepared to understand and contribute to a rapidly changing world.
That requires more than asking students to memorize scientific vocabulary.
It requires teaching them how to observe carefully.
Ask meaningful questions.
Evaluate evidence.
Design investigations.
Analyze data.
Challenge unsupported conclusions.
And recognize the order, complexity, and responsibility present throughout the world around them.
The Opportunity
We are looking for a High School Science Teacher who understands that science is not simply a textbook subject.
It is a disciplined process for investigating questions, evaluating evidence, and developing explanations.
A strong science classroom allows students to read about scientific ideas, but it does not stop there.
Students must observe.
Experiment.
Measure.
Analyze.
Discuss.
Revise their thinking.
And learn how scientific knowledge is developed.
You will be responsible for delivering rigorous, standards-aligned science instruction while building a classroom culture rooted in curiosity, precision, safety, responsibility, and academic integrity.
Depending on the school’s instructional schedule and the candidate’s expertise, courses may include Living Environment/Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space Science, environmental science, or other high school science courses.
You will not simply tell students what scientists have discovered.
You will help students learn how scientific conclusions are reached.
What You’ll Do
1. Deliver Rigorous Science Instruction
- Plan and deliver engaging, standards-aligned high school science lessons
- Teach assigned science courses with clear objectives, strong pacing, and appropriate academic rigor
- Explain complex scientific concepts clearly and accurately
- Balance direct instruction, discussion, scientific reading, demonstrations, laboratory investigations, and independent analysis
- Connect scientific concepts across units and disciplines
- Maintain organized lesson plans, laboratory materials, instructional resources, and course records
2. Build Scientific Thinking and Inquiry
- Teach students to ask testable questions and develop evidence-based explanations
- Help students distinguish between observation, inference, opinion, correlation, and causation
- Develop students’ ability to form hypotheses, analyze variables, interpret results, and evaluate conclusions
- Require students to support claims with credible evidence and logical reasoning
- Teach students to revise their conclusions when evidence does not support their original assumptions
- Use real-world scientific problems to strengthen critical thinking and decision-making
3. Lead Meaningful Laboratory Experiences
- Plan and conduct safe, purposeful, and academically rigorous laboratory investigations
- Ensure laboratory activities reinforce course concepts rather than functioning as disconnected demonstrations
- Teach proper laboratory procedures, equipment use, measurement, documentation, and cleanup
- Maintain clear safety expectations and consistently enforce laboratory protocols
- Organize laboratory materials, chemicals, specimens, equipment, and student workspaces
- Ensure students understand the ethical and responsible use of scientific materials and information
- Adapt laboratory experiences when resources, student needs, or safety considerations require an alternative approach
4. Use Assessment to Strengthen Learning
- Develop and administer quizzes, examinations, laboratory reports, projects, presentations, and performance tasks
- Use formative assessments to identify misconceptions and unfinished learning
- Analyze student work to determine what must be reinforced or retaught
- Provide timely, specific, and actionable feedback
- Maintain accurate grades and communicate academic progress clearly
- Prepare students for applicable New York State Regents examinations and other required assessments
- Evaluate students on scientific reasoning, laboratory practice, analysis, and communication—not only factual recall
5. Differentiate and Support Student Growth
- Differentiate science instruction for students with varying levels of academic readiness
- Provide appropriate scaffolding for students who struggle with scientific reading, mathematics, vocabulary, or data analysis
- Create enrichment opportunities for students prepared for deeper investigation
- Coordinate with school leadership and student-support personnel when students require additional intervention
- Provide tutoring, office hours, review sessions, or targeted support when required
- Help students develop the academic habits needed to succeed in advanced science courses
6. Connect Science to the Modern World
- Connect course content to medicine, engineering, technology, environmental issues, artificial intelligence, public health, and other real-world applications
- Incorporate scientific data, current research, simulations, digital tools, and appropriate technology
- Help students evaluate the quality and credibility of scientific information
- Teach students to recognize misinformation, unsupported claims, and misleading uses of data
- Introduce students to science-related college majors and career pathways
- Coordinate interdisciplinary learning with mathematics, technology, and other subject areas
- Encourage students to consider how scientific knowledge should be used responsibly and ethically
7. Build a Focused and Respectful Classroom
- Establish routines that protect instructional and laboratory time
- Maintain high expectations for student preparation, participation, conduct, and academic integrity
- Create an environment where students can ask questions without lowering expectations for serious effort
- Address incomplete work, disengagement, unsafe conduct, and disruptive behavior consistently
- Promote respectful scientific discussion and evidence-based disagreement
- Teach students to handle equipment, materials, living organisms, and shared spaces responsibly
8. Contribute to the Wellspring School Model
- Participate in faculty meetings, professional development, planning sessions, and school-wide initiatives
- Collaborate with other educators to strengthen curriculum alignment and instructional consistency
- Communicate professionally and proactively with students, parents, and school leadership
- Participate in student supervision, school events, testing, and other assigned responsibilities
- Support the Islamic values, expectations, and culture of NYCMC Wellspring Schools
- Model professionalism, integrity, curiosity, responsibility, urgency, and continuous improvement
Who You Are
You do not believe science should feel like a list of facts students memorize and forget.
You understand that students learn science by thinking, questioning, investigating, discussing, and applying what they learn.
You notice when a student can repeat a definition but cannot explain the concept.
You can make difficult scientific ideas understandable without making them inaccurate.
You recognize that a laboratory activity is only valuable when students understand the question, the process, the evidence, and the conclusion.
You hold students accountable for precision.
You expect them to use evidence.
You teach them that changing a conclusion in response to new evidence is not failure.
It is part of scientific integrity.
You bring curiosity without losing structure.
Energy without compromising safety.
Rigor without discouraging questions.
And faith-centered professionalism without weakening academic excellence.
Required Qualifications
- Master's degree in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, Environmental Science, Science Education, or a closely related field
- New York State teaching certification or eligibility for certification
- Strong command of the content required for the assigned high school science courses
- Experience teaching, tutoring, mentoring, conducting research with, or supporting high school-aged students
- Ability to plan and deliver organized, standards-aligned science instruction
- Ability to plan and manage safe laboratory activities
- Strong classroom-management and student-engagement skills
- Ability to differentiate instruction for students with different academic needs
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to use assessment data to guide instructional decisions
- Proficiency with educational technology, digital learning platforms, simulations, and classroom presentation tools
- Ability to collaborate effectively with educators, administrators, students, and families
- Alignment with Islamic values and the culture of NYCMC Wellspring Schools
Preferred Qualifications
- Previous experience teaching Biology, Living Environment, Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space Science, or advanced high school science
- Experience preparing students for New York State Regents examinations
- Experience teaching in a private, charter, religious, or college-preparatory school
- Experience managing laboratory supplies, equipment, safety procedures, and chemical inventories
- Experience with inquiry-based learning, project-based learning, scientific research, or engineering-design challenges
- Experience supporting multilingual learners and students with different academic needs
- Experience using student-performance data to develop intervention and enrichment plans
What Makes This Role Different
At many schools, science becomes a series of vocabulary lists, diagrams, and facts students study before an examination.
At Wellspring, science must teach students how to investigate the world responsibly.
Your success will be visible when:
Students ask stronger questions.
They support their conclusions with evidence.
They can analyze data rather than simply copy it into a chart.
They understand why an experiment produced a result.
They identify weaknesses in a method or conclusion.
They use laboratory materials safely and responsibly.
They connect classroom learning to medicine, technology, engineering, the environment, and everyday life.
They recognize that scientific knowledge carries ethical responsibilities.
And they leave your classroom prepared for advanced study and future work in science-related fields.
The strongest science instruction does more than explain what is already known.
It prepares students to investigate what is not yet understood.
That is the work this role exists to accomplish.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $75,000.00 - $80,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
