On a Mission: Changing Lives to Freedom


We are excited that you are inspired or called to learn more about our mission, values, and potential opportunities. We’d encourage you to explore a few additional resources about us, the recent investment for what’s possible, and why you should consider our community as a place for you to become a part of. We know our teachers join our movement to expand educational opportunities across the South with civil rights in mind. We want to take care of them so they can take care of themselves over the length of their career. We are one of the few networks that centers the whole person and their needs to thrive and support themselves and their families in the South.

Check out some of the unique & rare benefits here, including but not limited to:

  • Paying higher, scaffolded teacher salaries from Year 1 to retirement stage
  • Zero dollar monthly premium healthcare options, including holistic options such as chiropractic or acupuncture care
  • Focus on staff well-being and collective care through our Adult Social-Emotional Learning
  • Support in obtaining licensure, certification, residency and graduate level education

Check out some more details about Freedom Prep's culture:

SMALLER CLASSES: Next year, we will have an average of 20 students in Kindergarten-2nd Grade, 25 in 3rd Grade - 5th Grade, 24 in 6th Grade-10th Grade, and 21 in 11th Grade-12th Grade.

PLANNING TIME: ALL Kindergarten - 8th Grade teachers will have at least 60 minutes of planning time each day and our 9th - 12th teachers will have 60 minutes per course they teach.

EMPLOYEE WELLNESS: Each of our campuses will now have an adult wellness room with meditation areas, yoga areas, and rest areas for our adults to use during their planning and lunch times.

SHORTENED WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE: Our teachers will be done teaching at 1pm every Wednesday and our students will have a homework/study hall until 2pm. Our teachers will have Professional Development two weeks a month, a Wellness Wednesday (group yoga, meditation, etc.), and one Wednesday to leave campus at 1:15pm for “you” time.

ZERO DOLLAR PREMIUM BENEFITS: Employee only benefits are zero dollar and include health insurance, dental, vision, and holistic alternative offerings. Adding a spouse or children is at a lower cost than past offerings.

We know teaching, especially in the past three years, has been exhausting and unpredictable. Our hope is that we, as we learn to live with the COVID-19 peaks and valleys, can return some sense of normalcy for our amazing educators.

If you would like to be part of this amazing team, apply now. We are now accepting applications for the 2022-23 school year.

Image

Compensation & Benefits

COMPENSATION

A teacher at Freedom Prep who has a bachelor's degree will earn $175,568 more dollars in their annual salary over a 20 year career compared to their peers at a large district in the Memphis metro area.

A teacher who has a master's degree will earn $82,068 more dollars in their annual salary over a 20 year career compared to peers who hold a Master's degree at a large district in the Memphis metro area.

We prioritize higher teacher salaries knowing that our teachers are THE number one resource for our students to be prepared to excel in college and in life!

FPA Licensed Teacher Salary Scale (Years Teaching)

  • Year 1: $46,000
  • Year 2: $46,900
  • Year 3: $47,800
  • Year 4: $50,000
  • Year 5: $51,000
  • Year 6: $52,000
  • Year 7: $57,000
  • Year 8: $58,100
  • Year 9: $59,300
  • Year 10: $60,500
  • Year 11: $61,700
  • Year 12: $62,900
  • Year 13: $64,200
  • Year 14: $65,500
  • Year 15: $66,800
  • Year 16: $68,100
  • Year 17: $69,500
  • Year 18: $70,900
  • Year 19: $72,300
  • Year 20: $73,700
  • Year 21: $75,200

HEALTHCARE

The medical, dental, and vision benefits have a zero dollar monthly premium for employee only plans and a lower than market cost for adding a spouse, child, or family to your plan.

Freedom Prep offers comprehensive health benefits for all full time employees through United Healthcare (medical) and Sunlife (Dental & Vision).These benefits include medical, dental, vision, and holistic alternative options such as chiropractic and acupuncture.

In addition we offer both a medical Flexible Spending Account (FSA), a dependent care FSA, life insurance, and a number of other add-on policies for you to choose from each year during open enrollment.

RETIREMENT

Freedom Prep is a member of the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) teacher retirement pension and pays five percent of your salary to the pension each year.

A Freedom Prep teacher who teaches 30 years would have an annual pension of $33,840 or $2,820 per month (1.5% x $75,200 x 30 = $33,840 according to TCRS) for their retirement.

In addition, we also offer access to a full 403(b) account for retirement investments above and beyond the state pension.

LICENSURE SUPPORT

Freedom Prep supports all teachers in the process of obtaining or maintaining their 6-year professional license with the Tennessee Department of Education.

We have a partnership with iTeach, an online licensure provider, as an Educator Preparation Program (EPP) and Study 240 for ETS Praxis support. No matter where you are in your licensure journey, we can help you either get a license or keep your 6-year professional license current!

ADULT SEL

We know living through the last two years of the pandemic has caused a collective sense of loss and emotional wear and tear. Given this, we've committed the following to ensure we all take care of ourselves at Freedom Prep:

  • Installed Adult Wellness rooms at each campus that have essential oil diffusers, quiet meditation music, and places to meditate during your prep period, before school, or after school
  • Provided EAP (Employee Assistance Program) access to have free mental health therapy through our insurance program
  • Hiring one adult therapist per campus to provide one-on-one therapy as needed
  • Shifting our weekly "Professional Development Day" to have one day for group SEL activities per month (i.e., yoga, meditation, hikes, etc.) and one for all teachers to go home early to take care of things such as appointments or other things that may come up in life!

STAFF TESTIMONIALS

Here’s what FPA Employees and Staff are saying about Freedom Prep!

“Joining the Freedom Prep team has been everything I'd hoped it would be and more. I was skeptical coming in because all charter organizations talk a big game, but many don't back it up with their actions and results. Freedom Prep is the real deal. I genuinely look forward to going to work every day. I'm surrounded by insanely smart, driven, and caring people who are 100% bought in to our mission of preparing ALL students in grades pre-k through 12 to excel in college and in life. Freedom Prep schools are consistently among the top performing schools in Tennessee. What's more, this organization really takes care of its people.” - Dean of Academics

"Very committed to mission, evident in all decisions made. Leaders at all levels willing to learn and there's a fair amount of transparency around decisions. It's clear that everyone wants what's best for kids." - Teacher

"Great place to work if you are dedicated to the educational movement. The staff is very close and they are willing to help in any way possible. The leadership is about developing and growing all of their teachers into leaders. This organization is making sure that ALL students in grades K-12 will excel in college and in life." - Teacher

"+ Supporting brilliant Black leaders in schools that seek radical social change + Close relationships with co-workers, students, and families + Opportunities to take initiative and grow professionally + Increasing focus on intellectual rigor in the curriculum" - Teacher

About our Team

Demographics

  • 81% of our staff members identify as Black or of African Descent (202 staff members)
  • 7% of our staff members identify as Latinx (17 staff members)
  • 2% of our staff members identify as Asian American (5 staff members)
  • 86% of our school leadership team members identify as Black or of African Descent (24 leaders of 28 total)
  • 70% of our team members were with us in the 2020-21 school year

Preparation

  • 38% of our teachers and leaders graduated from a traditional teacher preparation program (65 educators)
  • 29% of our teachers and leaders graduated from the Relay Graduate School of Education (50 educators)
  • 17% of our teachers and leaders graduated from an alternative teacher preparation program (31 educators)
  • 15% of our teachers and leaders completed the Teach for America program (25 educators)

Recognizing our Longest Serving Team Members

10 Years of Service
Jean-Louis, Natasha Allison 
Jones, Elyse M 
Williams, Keith C 

5+ Years of Service
Bullock, Robert E 
Carter, Emma
Castaneda, Yanira
Cook, Cortney 
Davis, Jenice N 
Draper, Monique
Dunn, Baisha
Harris, Maurielle I 
Harrison, Alan
Heck-Howard, Savannah R 
Howard, Jasmine 
Ingram, Auna Danielle 
Iwhiwhu, Carol
Kim, Sarah S 
Layton, Alyxxandria
Mason, Bryanna T 
Mays, Shawana
Miles, Tyra Lynn 
Morgan, Jessica
Morgan, Shayla J 
Norphlet, Treston K 
Phillips, Marcus C 
Quartarone, Christina R 
Ramey, Jessica R 
Ratts, Andrew A 
Stewart, Temica M 
Styles, Xavier Q 
Tartera, Melody C 
Tenner, Britney
Thompson, Larry O 
Walker, Danielle 
Webber, Melody L 
Yates, Vellisa R