Preschool Lead Teacher

What You'll Do

Responsibilities and Duties 

Core Responsibilities and Related Duties:

• Family Partnerships and Community Connections: seeks to know about, understand, and value family characteristics; creates respectful, reciprocal partnerships with families

o  the lead teacher is the primary communicator with families through lesson plans, daily/weekly notes, emails, reports, beginning and end of year conferences, and daily face-to-face communication

• Assessment: lead the initial and ongoing assessment of children and use the information gathered from assessments to guide instruction and intervention; use assessment information to develop and implement Individualized Instructional Plan for students with identified delays or disabilities
• Teaching Practices & Child Development and Learning in Context: create and maintain a learning environment that is Universally Designed and reflective of the culture, needs, and interests of students, and use teaching strategies that are evidence-based, developmentally appropriate, anti-bias, and differentiated to meet the diverse needs of the students.

○ uses assessment data to develop and implement appropriate, engaging activities and weekly lesson plans based on the school curricula (Creative Curriculum) and scope and sequence;

○ provides appropriate adaptations and accommodations as needed for individual learning;

○ creates and implements Behavior Intervention Plans in collaboration with the Family Support Team;

○ maintains a safe and appropriate environment for all children

○ ensures that all children’s daily care needs are met (e.g. diapering/toileting, feeding, medication administration, etc.)

• Collaboration: develops and maintains collaborative working partnerships with classroom team, outside providers, and other staff members to enrich classroom instruction

○ implements techniques and strategies as recommended by therapists, and requests additional support or instruction as needed

• Coaching: supervises, evaluates, and coaches teacher and teaching assistant, as well as supervise and instruct university student interns and/or other classroom volunteers

○ leads a team meeting with classroom team on a weekly basis to discuss student progress and observations, reflect on teaching and classroom needs, and to plan and prepare for upcoming activities

• Professionalism: adheres to program policies and procedures; supervises the classroom to ensure the health and safety of each child; ensures all licensing and NAEYC quality standards are upheld at all times; receives and implements feedback and coaching from directors; maintains professional, open, and direct communication and interactions with teaching team and other staff, therapy team, administrators, families/caregivers, outside providers, volunteers, interns, etc.; ensures that confidentiality of all children and families is maintained; maintains a professional appearance including appropriate dress and grooming; demonstrates teamwork, cooperation, and a willingness to continually reflect and learn.

Requirements

Qualifications and Skills

Required Qualifications:

• CDA, Bachelor’s or associate degree in Early Childhood or education required
• Bilingual (languages include Spanish, Arabic, Amharic, Dari, or Pashto)
• Experience in a child care facility, school, or program
• Certified in CPR and First Aid (or willing to become certified)
• MAT certified (or willing to become certified)

Skills

• Physical requirements

o  Must be physically able to lift and carry a minimum of 45 pounds, engage in physical activity with children, and work indoors or outdoors.

o  Must be able to constantly move and interact with the children on their level (e.g. on the ground, at a table, around a sensory table, assist with sleeping at naptime, etc.)

• Other requirements:

o  Respond quickly and calmly to unsafe or emergency situations

o  Open to receiving and implementing feedback from others

o  Collaborative, reflective, and committed to being a lifelong learner

Nice to Have

Spanish preferred

Benefits