BOSTON WORKERS CIRCLE SEEKS K-7 CURRICULUM DESIGNER: 

Boston Workers Circle (BWC) seeks an experienced curriculum designer to support the implementation of a curriculum update around several key topics for our K-7 Secular Shule Sunday school program.

About Children’s Education Programming at Boston Workers Circle: 

At Boston Workers Circle, our children’s education program consists of our Shule (K-7) program with 82 children; our teen program, TASC - Teens Acting for Social Change, with 13 teens; and our toddler program, Circle Playtime, with 22 children. Our education programming is in many ways the heart of our community. We are proud to be a school community where families from a wide variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds, both Jewish and non-Jewish, feel welcome. We are also proud to be an open and affirming community for LGBTQ families. 

Our educational program serves families who for a variety of reasons - often due to queer, working class, multifaith or multiracial identities, progressive political views, and/or discomfort in overtly religious spaces - have struggled to find Jewish community that can support them as they work to pass on a substantive, rich and positive Jewish identity to their children. The number of families in the Boston area who fit into this category continues to grow as the Millennial and Gen Z generations become parents. Our Shule community is diverse, and Shule families have a range of perspectives on the issues our curriculum is looking to address, particularly around Israel/Palestine. The curriculum will be grounded in our organizational history, values, Israel/Palestine principles and input from current shule families.

Investing in updating the curriculum for our children’s education programming will support us to fill a large and growing need in the Boston communal landscape for progressive, secular, social justice focused Jewish children’s education programming.

About the Curriculum Update: 

The last major update to our Shule curriculum took place in 2011. Since then, much in our community and in the world has changed. While much of our current curriculum remains relevant, we see this moment as a ripe time to intentionally articulate the educational needs of our community today, and what we want to make sure we pass on to the next generation. The overall goals of the project are to: 

• Update Shule curriculum to reflect the current moment and current educational needs of Shule Children with a particular focus on how we teach about: 
  • Israel/Palestine 
  • Antisemitism 
  • Diasporism/Diasporic Jewish identities 
  • Multicultural Jewish identities and communities 
  • Social Justice/Organizing  
• Create a scope and sequence across grade levels that implements the overarching philosophies and enduring understandings identified by the curriculum committee around Israel/Palestine, Antisemitism and Diasporism. Time, budget and capacity depending, create a scope and sequence across grade levels around Multicultural Jewish identities and Social Justice Organizing
• Create a more systematized format for Shule curriculum across grade level
• Identify ongoing support needed for Shule teachers to implement curriculum 

A team of Shule parents, teachers, BWC community members, BWC’s Educational Director and Executive Director–with input from the broader community–is currently working to outline our shared philosophies and enduring understandings around each issue area, which will serve as the foundation for the curriculum update.

Requested Services:

BWC seeks a curriculum writer to work closely and collaboratively with a team of Shule parents, teachers, BWC community members, BWC’s Education Director and Executive Director to:

• Create a curriculum scope and sequence based off of community drafted philosophies and enduring understandings addressing Israel/Palestine, Antisemitism, and Diasporism/Diasporic Jewish identities. Time, budget and capacity depending, create a scope and sequence across grade levels around Multicultural Jewish identities and Social Justice Organizing
• Create sample lesson plans across grade levels K-7 around each issue area
• Support the implementation of the new curriculum including designing a training for teachers and identifying resources for teachers that reflect the philosophies 

The ideal candidate or team will have experience with one or more of the following: 

• Curriculum design and implementation for early childhood, elementary and 6th and 7th grade levels. 
• Experience with teaching 
• Familiarity with Jewish supplementary education 
• Experience with social justice focused education 

Don't meet every single requirement? Studies show that those with marginalized identities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. If you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to send us a proposal.

Timeline: 

After reviewing submissions, we will invite finalists to speak with members of the curriculum update committee. We are aiming to have a consultant chosen by the end of January 2025.

Requested Responses: 

Please respond by December 17th with brief (no more than 1-pg per response) answers to the following questions:

1. Please speak to your skills and experience with curriculum design based  on the qualifications laid out above. 
2. We will be working with a total budget of up to $10,000 for this 4-6 month process. 
   • Please lay out your proposed scope of work, and how you will accomplish the above goals in collaboration with BWC leaders within the given budget. 
   • Please lay out the general timeline you would envision for this process.
3. Please share the product of any relevant curriculum projects you have led. 

All written responses should be sent to Rebecca Hornstein, BWC’s Executive Director, at rebecca@circleboston.org by December 17th, 2025.

BWC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. People who identify as Jews and non-Jews of Color, multiracial, Sephardic, Mizrachi, trans, non-binary, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer people, people with disabilities, and immigrants are strongly encouraged to apply.