Preschool Teacher

Job Summary:The Head Start Preschool Teacher is responsible for a Head Start classroom of 3- to 5-year-old children. S/he works collaboratively with an assistant teacher, family members, and other staff to achieve positive outcomes for children of all abilities.Essential Job Duties:To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to carry out each essential duty in a satisfactory manner. The job specifications listed below are representative of the education and experience as well as the knowledge, skill and/or ability (KSAs) required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.CLASS teacher-child interactions:• Provide emotional support through establishing a positive climate, being aware of and responsive to children, and encouraging child expression and autonomy.• Use strategies for behavior management, such as clear behavior expectations, being proactive and redirecting misbehavior.• Foster classroom productivity and maximize learning time, while engaging children with a variety of modalities and materials.• Provide instructional support through concept development, fostering children's analysis and reasoning, engaging in feedback loops, and modeling and supporting high-quality language.• Strive to maintain high quality in interactions with children by achieving a minimum scoring level of 6-Emotional Support, 6-Classroom Observations and a 3-lnstructional Support during CLASS observations informally and formally within 1 year of employment with FDS.Learning Environment, Curriculum & Child Assessment:• Ensure classroom arrangement, materials and displays are organized and conducive to children's learning and consistently meet expectations in the Education Department Standard Operating Procedures.• Maintain a clean and safe environment that is conducive to keeping children and adults healthy.• Maintain an inclusive and welcoming environment for all children and families.• Know and understand Family Development Services -Head Start School Readiness Goals and strive to help all children achieve them.• Provide classroom experiences that are developmentally, linguistically, culturally and age-appropriate for the children served.• Establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment, including full supervision of children at all times, in accordance with Head Start and childcare licensing requirements.• Conduct daily health/safety monitoring of the indoor and (as requested) outdoor environment.• Follow all health and hygiene practices, including handwashing, sanitizing, and universal precautions.• Supervise mealtimes and meal service to children; serve children meals/ snacks at least two days weekly.• Cultivate and maintain a positive working relationship with co-workers.• Maintain a clean and safe environment that is conducive to keeping children and adults healthy by following all health and hygiene practices, including handwashing, sanitizing, and universal precautions.• Implement Family Development Services -Head Start chosen curriculum with fidelity by providing developmentally appropriate activities, opportunities and experiences in the classroom which align with the age and stage of each child.• Prepare or modify weekly lesson plans and prepare to implement small-group activities, read-aloud, circle time, and other curriculum components.• Maintain the classroom schedule and by providing children with a consistent classroom routine and facilitate all parts of the routine to support child learning.• Interact with children intentionally throughout the day to provide differentiated support.• Collect documentation of children through ongoing observation, embedded and direct assessment activities.• Complete quarterly assessment checkpoints, reliably, for each child.• Analyze child assessment data and use it to plan and individualize.• Support Classroom Assistant with lesson plan implementation at least 1 day weekly.Meeting all children's needs:• Complete developmental and social-emotional screenings on all children within prescribed time frames.• Complete theme based Individualized Learning Plans to identify specific goals and implement developmentally appropriate strategies for each child in class.• Integrate Individual Education Plans (IEPs) or referral action plans for children with diagnosed or suspected special needs.• Implement positive behavior strategies and practices and Program Wide Expectations.• Complete all reports associated with the children's health and needs in a timely manner and communicate to the supervisor.• Maintain required documentation of activities, including child and family information, assessment data, volunteer logs, etc.Working with families:• Establish positive and productive relationships with families through building rapport and trust.• Schedule and complete two home visits and two parent-teacher conferences each year (workday is 10am-7pm for these scheduled events).• Encourage and engage family members to serve as classroom volunteers.• Collaborate with family services staff to support families in implementing family life practices, extending learning into the home, and meeting expectations for attendance• Follow all guidance and expectations to support the parent curriculum• Maintain a positive rapport with familiesProfessional growth and collaboration:• Participate in ongoing reflective coaching and self-assessment.• Collaborate with the assistant teacher, substitutes and other staff in the center.AA/AS in Early Childhood Education OR BA/BS in Early Childhood Education -OR- state awarded preschool teacher certification with experience teaching preschool aged children-OR- BA/BS in related fields with at least fifteen college courses in Early Childhood Education plus experience teaching preschool aged children. BA Highly preferred.Physical exam and background checks are required for this position.Travel required locally up to 10% of the time for work-related meetings and functions.Must have a valid driver's license and reliable transportation. #J-18808-Ljbffr