Middle and Upper School French Teacher & World Language Department Chair

About McGehee School

Founded in 1912 Louise S. McGehee School is an independent all-girls Pre-K12 school in New Orleans. For more than a century McGehee has educated girls to lead with purpose and confidence and today we are shaping our next chapter.

Our Vision is a world shaped by purposeful women who lead with clarity courage and conviction. From Pre-K through 12th grade each McGehee student is empowered to develop her unique strengths and aspirations in an environment designed specifically for girls.

Our Mission challenges each girl to discover her strengths and reach her full potential as an independent learner a critical thinker and a confident leader. Academic depth intellectual ambition creativity and self-direction define the McGehee experience from the earliest years through graduation.

Our work is guided by the values that shape our community and decisions:

• Commitment to Excellence grounded in high expectations and continuous improvement
• Empowering Leadership that elevates others and builds strong teams
• Honorable Action rooted in integrity and alignment between values and choices
• Independent Thought balanced by curiosity and courage
• Joyful Engagement that recognizes girls thrive when they feel valued challenged and connected

We hold high expectations for our faculty and our students and we align our work with our values.

McGehee advances a distinctive individualized approach to girls education built on close relationships between students and faculty and grounded in research-informed practice. Located on a historic Garden District campus we embrace New Orleans as an extended classroom connecting learning to service internships and real-world leadership. With more than 2200 alumnae worldwide McGehee is both a rigorous academic institution and a lifelong community committed to excellence and impact.

About this Position

The Louise S. McGehee School is now accepting applications for a dynamic innovative full-time Middle and Upper School French Teacher and Language Department Chair who enthusiastically invests him or herself in all aspects of the language education process and the school-wide community. Qualified candidates will possess an educational background in French and will have at least two years of classroom teaching experience ideally in an all-girls or independent school setting. A masters degree in education or language-related fields is preferred. Experience teaching AP French and preparing students for DELF is preferred. The expected start date for the position is August 2026 with the option to start earlier to support planning for the 2026-2027 school year.

Essential Curriculum and Instruction Duties and Responsibilities

• Show a strong passion for teaching and learning with deep knowledge of adolescent development age-appropriate strategies and technology and effective classroom management.
• Design dynamic sequential lesson plans aligned with the departments student-centered workshop-based curriculum and philosophy emphasizing independent reading and writing inquiry and creative thinking.
• Emphasize communication skills and cultural competency in the broader francophone world.
• Meet the individual needs of the students through differentiated instruction and advance their learning in reading comprehension and analysis vocabulary discussion grammar aural and oral skills.
• Use rubrics and assessments in line with departmental expectations to assess students on a regular basis and communicate with students and parents about their progress.
• Model a mindset of lifelong learning and the willingness to take risks that serve as growth opportunities.
• Foster an open inclusive learning environment that supports all students and their families through word action curriculum and teaching strategies.
• Maintain a comprehensive online class syllabus and curriculum guide.
• Set clear expectations for students.

Essential Community and Family Responsibilities

• Communicate regularly and appropriately with the student parent advisor and division head about student academic and social progress.
• Act as a flexible and collaborative member of the community whose work expands beyond the classroom to enhance the student experience at the school.
• Advise a small group of upper school students serving as the primary contact for families leading conferences fostering community and teaching advisory topics that build girls agency self-awareness self-discipline and citizenship.
• Fulfill assigned duties to monitor students in various capacities as designated by middle school protocols.
• Clearly and effectively communicate with administration faculty students and parents.
• Actively participate as a member of the faculty and the greater school community.

Additional Department Chair Responsibilities

• Develop a vision for World Language instruction at McGehee including standards and expectations for each division and aligned teaching methodologies.
• Lead the department and administration in evaluating selecting and/or developing high-quality curriculum aligned to standards and expectations in French and Spanish.
• Organize and lead regular department meetings routine professional learning opportunities including an annual departmental professional development day.
• Collaborate with other department chairs division heads and academic dean to ensure departmental philosophy practices and goals are aligned with school-wide priorities.
• Manage hiring processes organizing visits and interview schedules and conducting interviews.
• Manage departmental budgets.
• Conduct classroom observations in order to foster faculty mentoring.
• Assist division heads in faculty evaluation through discussion of classroom observations.
• Develop and coordinate global travel opportunities for students.

Who Should Apply for this Role

We are most likely to hire a candidate with the following knowledge skills mindsets and qualifications:

• Bachelors degree in relevant subject area; Masters degree or higher preferred.
• Successful teaching experience teaching in the 7th-12th grade range.
• Demonstrated love of high school and middle school students.
• Capacity to teach advanced levels of French up to AP or equivalent.
• Ability to teach DELF preferred.

In addition a McGehee teacher should demonstrate:

• Passion for teaching.
• Adaptability.
• Integrity.
• A willingness to collaborate with their peers students and families.

Salary and Benefits

• Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience and internal equity at McGehee
• McGehee offers a benefits package that includes comprehensive health dental and vision insurance; employer-paid life and AD&D insurance; voluntary life and AD&D; long-term disability; critical illness and accident insurance; identity protection services; and access to an Employee Assistance Program
• Additional benefits include participation in a 403(b) retirement plan with employer contributions after one year of service
• All employees have access to a full-service free lunch daily in our cafeteria
• Employees receive 10 days of paid time off 20 days of annual vacation and paid holidays
• The McGehee team places a high value on the day-to-day experiences of our students and staff and as a member of this team you will join a warm caring collaborative joyful team

McGehee is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is open to all qualified candidates regardless of race color sex sexual orientation creed religion national origin ethnicity age disability veteran status or other applicable protected classification.

All job requirements are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities.